Posted by Joe Baker on August 03, 2001 at 17:56:42:
In Reply to: Why tuba and not some other instrument? posted by Les Smith on August 02, 2001 at 16:40:25:
"The Sting".
I was fortunate - no, blessed - enough to have a band director who allowed me to experiment. In our school, there would be 8-12 students in the band hall each hour on tuesdays & thursdays, with the combined band only getting together once in awhile. By seventh grade, I was far enough ahead in some of my other classes that my teachers allowed me to spend several hours a day (tues. & thurs) in the band hall. I had been first chair trombone since 4th grade, and Mrs. Ridlehuber knew I was bored and needed some musical challenges. She let me play whatever part was missing that period: trombone one hour, baritone the next, then trumpet, then drums - whatever. A boy came to our school who played the tuba (I had never even seen one), and almost immediately after the school acquired a fiberglass sousie from a local Jr. High, he was diagnosed with Hodgekins Disease. My director asked me if I'd like to play the tuba, and I was thrilled. It was HUGE!! I enjoyed it, but still thought of myself as a trombonist who could play a bunch of other instruments, one of which was the tuba.
Then, "The Sting" came out. I heard that sound (ragtime, for any of you youngsters that don't know that movie), and fell in love with those warm, bouncing tuba sounds. I wanted to make that sound, and I immediately abandoned all other instruments for the next four years. I did eventually resume my trombone playing, and in adulthood have become better as trombonist than I will probably EVER be as a tubist, but in my heart I still think of myself as a tuba player, and I expect I always will.