Posted by Rick Denney on January 08, 2001 at 21:51:49:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Tubas In Movies (On-Screen) posted by Max Tunnell on January 08, 2001 at 20:33:37:
Max, I met a fellow at TubaChristmas in Harper's Ferry who had an over-the-shoulder Eb bass saxhorn. It was an original instrument, and he sounded pretty good on it. He told me that he'd played many of the modern reproductions, and they were just awful, with unmanageable intonation and other problems. Proceed with caution.
Seems like the Heritage Brass has been talking about this since the beginning. As you probably recall, I was a founding member of the group, and I was scared to death at the idea of making sounds that could impress modern ears on such an instrument. Not to mention that some of the music we played was more modern, and wanted a tuba with more range than a three-valve Eb bass horn. The folks at those reenactments are not impressed by too much realism, such as foul food, bodies stinking from marching for weeks without a bath, bands that often barely made recognizable music (let alone produce a sound that could compete with the listeners' recordings of the Canadian Brass), and (lest we forget) real blood. To an average member of the public, my 621 was realistic enough, though it was definitely too shiny!
By the way, I found a WWII uniform that I owe you guys. It was in a box that had not been emptied since my move from Texas, and I'd forgotten that I still had it. Send me an address and I'll mail it back to you.
Rick "still have my blue-gray stuff" Denney