Re: Smallest Sousaphone Bell


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Posted by Klaus on September 08, 2001 at 10:11:08:

In Reply to: Smallest Sousaphone Bell posted by Sam Gnagey on September 08, 2001 at 08:52:27:

Very interesting question1

The rather recent thread on the original Sousa sousa section and the illustration of it revealed, that the 1st tubist played an enormous raincatcher with a rather narrow bell diameter (it was told to be lightweight).

The next instrument in the row has a body of almost as huge dimensions. It is wrapped and dimensioned identically to that of my 4 valve 40K sousa. The bell is wider, than that of the soloist’s instrument, but it still is comparatively small to the more or less standard 26" sousa bells.

My 40K is in its original goldplate, of course somewhat worn after 74 years. That fact together with its non-standard bell diameter of 24" induces a suspicion of mine, that this instrument has been made to special order. It quite obviously has never been used to marching purposes. Which also would have taken some Herculian shoulder and spine.

At first I was a bit disappointed of the reduced bell diameter. We have to admit a visual factor in outdoors concerting for the masses.

This disappointment has evaporated. My 40K has no brassiness whatsoever and no afterglow either. I yet have to overblow it, and that is not because I can not play loud. Actually the 40K is a more profound contrabass tuba, than my 22" belled York Master. And that despite the fact, that the YM has a larger .750 bore, compared to the .734 bore of the 40K.

This leads me to pose a question, that I long have thought of: What makes a bass instrument more or less bassy.

The first trombone that I played, was a B&H Academy single valve Bb with a 8.5" bell and a bore, that I never measured those 31 years ago, but which must have been in the .547 area. Definitely a bass instrument, albeit a bit stiff in legato.

A few years later I got my own very good Sovereign .547 symph tenor with a 8.5" bell and 2 tuning slides, one of them with a fourth valve. Same dimensions as the Academy, but most definitely a tenor instrument. Why?

My YEP 641 has a slightly larger bore than the Besson 967, but comes out short 1" in a bell diameter comparison. Yet the YEP 641 comes out as the far darker instrument. As a curiosum the 967 dies above the 9th partial, whereas the 641 easily exceeds the 16th.

My suspicion is, that weight has a bassy/darky influence. And then there is my 1919 Hawkes leightweigth, circa .486 bore, 7.5" inch bell G bass trombone to kill that theory. A very bassy, compressed down to the core, sound. With just that sprinkle of mystery, that makes Chuck(G)’s suggestion of exactly this instrument as an ophicleide substitution in the Berlioz Symph Fant a bit more relevant, than even he might have thought of.

Come on ye deconfusionists!

Klaus


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