To Chuck Jackson (Re: For Ellis Wean)


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Posted by Ellis Wean on September 15, 2002 at 14:38:45:

Since it's so far down the list, I'm re-posting Chuck Jackson's message for me and then my requested "editorial". It's long. I didn't have much choice. There's a lot to say. Chuck, thanks for asking. -EW

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Posted by Chuck Jackson on September 08, 2002 at 23:34:52:

I had a chance to visit your website. Besides the obvious appreciation of your playing and the really nice tuba, some things intrique me. I hope you will have the time to answer this post and to share with the up-and-coming tuba players that populate this board your opinions/takes/insights on the following questions.

1. Your career is entering it's 33rd year: What do you think has been the biggest contributing factor, physically, to your long tenure as an orchestral player?

2. What is your view on the current "Arms Race" amongst tuba players? What would be your advice as to the optimum horn to be competitive on in todays audition environment?

3. How has the orchestral scene changed, for better or worse, in your long tenure.

4. What, in your opinion, has changed most in a Music Directors conception of the tuba in the past 30 years?

5. Any regrets? Any advice for the young studs out there?

Thanks for your time. I think any light you can bring to bear on these questions would be a great thing for all of us, young and old, in Tubenet Land.

Chuck
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Hi Chuck and Tubenet Devotees,
Sorry it’s taken me a week responding to your questions. We have a couple of quintet concerts (heavy ones) requiring plenty of preparation. So… here goes:

1. 33? Ouch!!

Even in high school I realized I’d have to deal-with/work-on certain playing issues to become and stay successful. I also noticed it could work one day and not the next, without apparent explanation. My training was good, but never really addressed these problems. My personal solution was finding a physical explanation for how the chops make notes speak and what causes them NOT to speak. I felt knowing this = predictability on stage.

You all know this isn’t very conventional. In fact, it’s usually discouraged. I found information on chop analyzing really insufficient for practical application. (If the usual sources are considered ‘knowledgeable’, no wonder analyzing the chops is discouraged.) I had to figure it out for myself.

It‘s taken one hell of a long time to determine (accurately) exactly what goes on, how to connect with it in performance and why certain types of playing will always be challenging (for me). Every playing experience provides clues to answers. There are numerous factors to consider and limitless ways lips, jaws and rim can react, interact, slip, slide, push and pull - unconsciously. (I found the most comfortable position is often NOT best for playing. In many of us even ‘relaxation’ (mainly of lower jaw or mouthpiece position) can produce unintended results. I also believe air is over-rated. We can’t live without air. Air works whether we intend of not.

As my knowledge base constantly expands, I [feel I] continue to improve. I believe it’s possible, perhaps necessary (if your living depends on it), to pursue this approach, especially for maintaining skill and confidence in performance situations (including rehearsals; when you play in front of other professionals, it’s still a ‘performance’ situation) over many years. Surprisingly, I've also found focusing on physical mechanics blocks other distractions (conductor’s glare, argument with girlfriend, kacks during rehearsals, knowing EVERYONE’s listening… you get the idea) – without inhibiting my musical intentions. At this point, I’d have to say analyzing my chops is surfacing as the key to [my] professional longevity.

I started working out (weights and racquetball) a long time ago; this has probably helped. I've had a couple of bouts with back problems, ALL caused by yanking a tuba case (twice! duhhh) from a car’s trunk (don’t try this at home). I think, also, years of playing and practicing the tuba necessitate the gym. Tuba means isometric twisting while balancing a weight (the tuba) hours each day. Is it possible taller players, often curving their spines lowering themselves to the leadpipe, may be at greater risk for back problems? I’d encourage everyone adjust the leadpipe for personal ergonomics.

2.
Unfortunately, the tuba ‘arms race’ is a necessity. The best equipment for winning an audition stays an educated guess, but there’s plenty of room for new instruments making many orchestral passages easier to play while satisfying committees’ ears.

Auditions! It’s REALLY important to consider:
a. Tuba players don’t pick tuba players at tuba auditions; it’s ENTIRELY players of other instruments.
b. Most members of tuba audition committees don’t know and really don’t care about tuba literature; they also don’t know the audition material. Trombone players, who feel most qualified simply from hearing the adjacent tuba, don’t realize they’ve never listened to a tuba alone in a hall. This creates an entirely new equation.
c. Most departing tuba players aren’t consulted about audition material, common interpretations or common difficulties. (Here’s a representative example: a brass player on a committee for a really good job, a few years ago, was disappointed with the ‘level’ of candidates. He pointed out no one could play clear, clean 16th notes before the low E in Fountains. My thought was, “You try it!” I also didn’t mention you almost never hear the low notes in Till played perfectly at a horn audition; yet we ALL know that’s difficult.) He was also surprised at the Fountains lick, itself. He didn’t know it even existed. This is to illustrate we’re dealing with prohibitive lack-of-knowledge from our non-tuba colleagues. I have many other such examples.
d. Tubas sound and act like totally different instruments when heard onstage and heard in-hall. We can’t control venue, probably the biggest influence on what a committee hears.

So far, I've only been able to characterize tuba auditions by type – louder worked here, softer worked there, but there’s rarely a way to anticipate. I've seen such diverse committee-member opinions for EVERY OTHER instrument, it’s near impossible for me to determine what [type of] tuba works best, especially without serving on a tuba committee. Other musicians haven’t been able to communicate what THEY hear in terms of what WE hear. This would mean hearing us up close, under the horn, then translating for hall sound.

For the past few years, I've tried, whenever possible, to hear good players play alone onstage in my hall. (It’s a very good hall.) In a hall, I hear most articulation and center disappear. Tone becomes bottom heavy. Bottom is the quality varying most with dynamic change. Since most hall sound isn’t direct, articulation is rarely the sound’s loudest part (especially when you want it to be). Differences between [similar-type] horns are almost indistinguishable. Even a German F tuba’s low register isn’t objectionable!!

Pinpointing horn distinctions is quite a work-in-progress; I’m not close to final conclusions, but here’s what’s suggested so far. In the hall’s house, taller horns seem to project more center. (I need to re-create this experiment more to be sure.) Big horns usually sound very even throughout the whole range, but don’t change sound (or volume) much if you play them really loud. F tubas generate more bottom than you’d think. Does anyone else have hall/stage observations?

I'm still amazed how little we can judge sitting under a horn. Piggies first illustrated this dilemma. They felt great up close, but projected very little. Tubas are big and wide enough that the hall influences hall-sound more than any other brass instrument. Virtually all tuba sound heard in a hall is non-direct. I'm not sure it’s possible to predict what will work for all auditions.

3.
More orchestra jobs now pay a living. That’s better. Otherwise I’d have to say it’s pretty much the same. Colleagues’ attitudes are the same. String players still openly (aggressively, sometimes) resent you don’t play everything. If an exposed line is clean an musical, they still, “didn’t know a tuba could do that.” The tuba (and player) still must fight like hell for respect as a musical entity. Political dynamics are still the same, but that’s understandable when viewing a symphony orchestra as a social structure, which, indeed, it is.

The biggest change is musician involvement with management. For those not totally familiar, a symphony orchestra (not the super biggies) depends on fund-raising. REALLY talented fund-raisers don’t work for symphony orchestras. (You see them with the Red Cross, United Fund, YMCA, hospitals, etc.) We don’t attract the cream of the crop and suffer for it. Symphony orchestra managements are often made up of people with zero music (let alone symphony orchestra) background. They neither have great connections (necessary for raising money) nor understand/indentify personalities drawn to symphony music. Musicians, for their very survival, have demanded and received direct involvement (not difficult if an orchestra has severe financial difficulties) with management and board of directors. This didn’t happen 30 years ago. Musicians are more aware of their roles within a symphony organization. We’re not stars. We don’t sell tickets or put butts in seats. Audiences are music, not musician oriented. Most can’t differentiate between good and not-so-good playing. This isn’t my jaded perception. It’s an unfortunate conclusion I've been forced to reach with years of exposure to our “consumers”. They don’t know because we haven’t told them. We haven’t put the baseball in their hands to make them part of the game, if you catch my analogy.

Managements (maybe musicians?) haven’t kept up with the times. There’s MUCH more competition for the consumer dollar; our profession is quite un-creative at filling halls. Insisting we’re art-only, not entertainment could easily put us out of business.

I've also seen tuba positions axed from full-time to part-time positions. I know of others proposed (using these as examples?), though not enacted (thank goodness). I don’t have enough of a crystal ball to predict the future of symphony orchestras and tuba positions. (I have enough of a challenge predicting my chops.)

4.
Orchestra music is still the same, so the tuba’s perceived place is still the same (i.e., role instrument, color instrument, blending instrument). Therefore, music directors’ perceptions of ‘tuba’ are still the same! European conductors, especially, often treat the tuba (and player) less respectfully than other orchestra members. The best road to survival has proven to be mechanical execution. All music directors are thrilled with a tubist who can make clean entrances at the right time, play in tune and match articulations/character of other instruments.

The ONLY music director I've ever met with ANY respect for the tuba as a musical instrument is our present boss here in Vancouver, Bramwell Tovey. BUT he’s a former tuba player. He’s also an anomaly because he has a great sense of humor, is always respectful to the musicians and is a good guy. Obviously, he’s not representative of music directors. (Actually, there’s more pressure on me; he gives cues ONLY a tuba player would know. I'm not saying this for my own benefit. If I didn’t feel this way, I would’ve said nothing.)

5.
I sincerely wish my training had included symphony orchestra social dynamics. I was totally unprepared and much of my early professional survival was luck, until I could see these dynamics re-occur and figure them out (i.e., how people work). Anyone seeking a tuba-in-a-symphony-orch career really should be prepared mechanically, musically and socially to WORK for colleague acceptance, recognizing how THEY see you, not how you [want to] see yourself.

Regrets? That’s a tough call. I do this for a living, so I have a vested interest in staying motivated. I tend to accept things as they come. History is history, best for learning, so regrets doesn’t accomplish much. EVERYTHING gets old with time, so I'm happy I'm still motivated enough to work at keeping it working.

Sorry this is so long-winded. Thanks, Chuck, for asking my opinions.
Sincerely,
Ellis Wean



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