Posted by Rick Denney on October 22, 2003 at 11:20:41:
In Reply to: Re: BAH! posted by Educate Me on October 22, 2003 at 10:25:50:
I've heard sousaphones that sound like tubas and tubas that sound like sousaphones to the point where I doubt there is any congenital difference between the two, though there is plenty of model and sample variation in both categories.
The helicons I've heard sound somewhere in between the two, heh, heh. In reality, a sousaphone is just a helicon with a bell turned up or turned up and then forward.
Here's my observation: Helicons are fun for dixieland and other vintage applications, just because they look cool and give you the ability to avoid ramming the sound right into the audience's face, but are still carryable like a sousaphone.
Rick "who wouldn't mind a good sousaphone or helicon but who has other priorities" Denney