Posted by Klaus on May 28, 2000 at 21:14:54:
In Reply to: BBb helicon vs. the Sousaphone posted by Kevin Eckelkamp on May 28, 2000 at 19:59:58:
If you can get a good helicon, then do so. The sousaphone would be unthinkable without the helicon. Even the Olympia Jazz Band of New Orleans has been performing a street parade in a James Bond movie using a helicon. Conn made them, as did possibly other US makers.
My own first encounters with them had roots in European traditions. But anyway these mighty instruments should be kept part of a live tradition.
My own apartment hardly can room more than my Conn 26K and 40K sousas plus the 2 tubas and the 25 other brasses, so I am not a competitor in the helicon market. Still:
Do go for it!
Klaus