Posted by Dan Bradley on March 30, 2003 at 15:45:55:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Best Tone Quality posted by casual observer on March 30, 2003 at 01:39:08:
Pat Sheridan can do anything on the tuba. If he really, REALLY wanted to be playing orchestrally, than he would have done that. But, he wanted to have more fun. Playing in orchestra can get B-O-R-I-N-G. Get it straight: 90% of the time you sit there for two hours counting rests to play whole notes within a one octave span. Now, I'm not saying that I don't love orchestral music, because I do, and I know that many of the greatist tubists are orchestral players. But you should never assume that a tuba player, if he makes his living as anything else than an orchestral player, could not play orchestrally or with that type of sound. Nobody assumes that orchestral players can't play solos- they're all revered as heros. Arnold Jacobs was great, but there are dozens of tubists today who could blow him off the stage. He couldn't hang with todays soloists. Players like Pat can make make their own schedule, play whatever music they wish, and make a shitload more money than most orchestral tubists. All this while communicating more music more directly with more people. Tuba isn't the greatest solo instrument, but it's definitely not a lame one. Good sound is just good sound- it's what they do with it. Listen more closely.
DanB