Re: Tuba Players


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Posted by Joe Sellmansberger on July 14, 1999 at 01:45:43:

In Reply to: Tuba Players posted by Tim on July 13, 1999 at 15:27:41:

I believe that, across the spectrum of band instruments, Yamaha has etched their mark by "showing" and "placing" but never indisputably "winning".

As Yamaha does as a matter of company policy, the decline of the Selmer - Paris, France saxophone from an "artist" to a "bourgeois" line was when the company began to try to satify "everyone" and drastically changed the acoustics of their instruments, as an attempt to do so, in the early 1970's.

Great quality control and fantastic tolerances, but seriously: a Yamaha clarinet in the New York Philharmonic? a Yamaha oboe or bassoon in the Cleveland Orchestra? a Yamaha trumpet, trombone, or tuba in the Chicago Symphony?, a Yamaha sax in the hands of Dave Sanborn? a Yamaha flute in the hands of Jean Pierre Rampal or James Galway?

With a few notable exceptions and/or for a some specific uses, Yamaha has gone after and captured the student, collegiate, and bourgeois market (which is ADMIRABLE - my hat's off to them $$$,$$$,$$$. ), but very little use, percentage-wise, by "leading edge" artists.

"Tuba" is ONE (small) category of Yamaha's band and orchestral instrument manufacturing division. "Professional" tubas are a very limited production subset of Yamaha's overall tuba production. The "F" tuba is ONE (very limited production) type of "professional" tuba. Jim Self and Roger Bobo are TWO guys who have chosen to play that tuba SOMEtimes, yet their names are "dropped" over and over and over by Yamaha tuba apologists. Perhaps the apologists might rethink investing time and emotions defending Yamaha instruments if they are, indeed, so sure that those Yamaha tubas are "right" for them -- and simply just play them and smile. Play them very well (as I have heard many do), and we will applaud!


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