Posted by Rick Denney on April 24, 2003 at 12:50:51:
In Reply to: auditions and BAT's posted by Jim L. on April 24, 2003 at 10:43:41:
There is a fairly wide gulf between a 186 and a grand orchestral tuba. I have both, though in BBb. I can play both softer and louder on the Holton than I can on the Miraphone, though the sound is broader at both dynamic extremes. While broader, though, it is also warmer and more resonant, and inoffensive even when edgy. But that breadth seems to me inappropriate in some circumstances.
But you can get that dynamic range and warmth without so much breadth in the sound. One tuba I've played that provides it is the Meinl-Weston 2000, but there are many great tubas that could do this that other better players might prefer for individual reasons. The Beuscher/Dillon seems to me the epitome of that concept.
I've heard lots of players on BAT's, and it seems to me that they try to explore the dynamic limits of the instrument for their own sake, and in so doing run the risk of woofiness and a spreading tone. The top guys don't seem to push their BAT's to the limits of loud, but rather use them for the character (read: range of in-tune upper harmonics) that they give to the sound. I think that's why most players are not using toilet-bowl mouthpieces on the big horns. When I listen to Mike Sanders, for example, I don't hear a big horn, I hear a warm and friendly sound that is at once inviting. The big horn makes that result easier for him, but it's that result he's after, not earth-moving. Jacobs's sound on the York had that same quality, and his earth-moving was always kept in context.
Another consideration is that during an audition, you are not heard in the context of the entire orchestra. And what is appropriate during the general orchestral tutti might be overpowering by itself.
It seems to me that the concept is as important as the instrument. The more I play the Holton, the more I realize how much it appreciates the light touch.
A Miraphone might not be the ideal instrument, but it seems to me that current audition results indicate that auditioners must have firm control over their sound concept within the context of their musicality no matter what their instrument. This may be easier to maintain in the audition situation with a resonant and warm 5/4 or 4/4 tuba. Of course, it's hard to know what sound concept is going to really ring the bell of the selection committee, so you have to pick something and then make it work. Maybe for you a 5/4 Rudy or an Alex is more in line with your sound concept than would be a BAT, and maybe a particular committee will have greater appreciation for the resulting power sound of those instruments.
Rick "whose Holton is teaching him how to hear better" Denney