Posted by Rick Denney on July 01, 2003 at 11:56:49:
In Reply to: Re: canTUBAllada posted by Greg on July 01, 2003 at 10:35:09:
For one thing, Nickel sounds like he's playing an F tuba--a true cross between a contrabass tuba and a euphonium. That seems to buck the trend towards F tubas that have a round, contrabass sound. We hear lots of complaints from people that such-and-such F tuba sounds like a CC, but those instruments they complain about are among the most popular on the market, so somebody must want to sound that way.
When I compare the sound with Lind, for example, it has more edge and more brassiness, and less roundness. It's like the difference between Bobo and Jacobs. And Lind recorded with an Alex, so I assume the difference is conceptual as much as hardware.
Nickel's tone is certainly not "rich in fundamental" in the way I hear from most who are playing an F tuba. Because it is so characteristic in my experience, I just assumed that it was not what most were striving to achieve. To me, this is what "character" is all about. The growliness of his sound in the low register means that you can hear his fortissimo low F at the end of the Vaughan Williams over the general orchestral tutti. Pretty impressive, huh? Yes. But not necessarily "pretty."
Rick "striving less for prettiness and more for character these days" Denney