Images

Thanks to my dad for the sweet digital camera for Christmas - a Kodak EasyShare CX7430 - I finally added a few images to the site. Enjoy!

Happy 2005!

Early Christmas!

Tonight I got an early Christmas present from Carlos: a nice combo amp that will put out more than enough noise to be heard playing with a drummer and full band. It's been in his room (in a box) for about 3 months and I didn't even realize what it was. Sneaky. But an awesome, awesome gift.

I hope he's as happy with what he's getting as I am with the amp.

Basses

In my last post I wrote about my absolutely wonderful tuba. This post is about my bass- which I adore- and reasons for wanting other ones.

My bass really is great, especially for a first bass. I bought it from some random guy on the web (who has turned into a really rad friend) and was lucky to get the quality I got for the money I spent. It's got a killer low end, a fast neck, and I can coax a few different tones out of it. I can slap & pop if I want, or just make it growl.

But there are so many other basses out there with other features that are enticing. And they produce such different sounds. It seems that most bass players have a main bass and a back up bass, and maybe a few others depending on their income. Different strings, different pickups, different woods... there's so much to choose from!

I already know that in my next bass I want a maple fretboard, probably 5 strings, but I'm not sure if I'd prefer jazz or precision style... or maybe a Stingray... It's not like I need another bass. It would just be fun. At least I want a bass that's quite different from the one I have now & would give me quite different results. I have met people with 2 or 3 basses that are almost the same.

Maybe I'll find a perfect bass one day and not want any others. With all of the variety that's not likely, though.

The Best Christmas Gift Ever

I was 16. It was Christmas Eve day. I was sitting in our living room, reading or something. Hearing a car, I looked up and saw the bright cherry red Porsche pulling in to our drive way. (No, that wasn't the gift). It was Joe's car, and Joe taught my tuba lessons.

"Oh, I wonder what he's doing here?" my mom asked casually.

One of us answered the door, and he was standing there with tuba case in hand. About this time my brain went into overdrive. I couldn't believe it - my mom got me a tuba for Christmas! (If you weren't aware, even the least expensive tubas are costly, about a couple thousand dollars). While I wanted one, it wasn't like it ever even crossed my mind to seriously ask for one.

I don't remember saying anything I was in such shock. Joe came in and we headed to the living room, mom and sister gathered around looking thoroughly pleased with themselves, with good reason.

I expected to open the case and find a slightly dented, used tuba. Normal people can't afford to just go buy a tuba. And I would have been ecstatic with that. When I lifted the lid there was the shiniest new tuba I've ever seen, surrounded by royal blue padding. It was brand new. And it was gorgeous.

At the time I thought this was The Best Christmas Gift Ever for several reasons, not the least of which is the sacrifice my mom and sister went through limiting their own Christmas to afford it. I played in tons of ensembles, and planned on majoring in music in college, and it was just an awesome, overwhelming gift.

It's been everywhere, European tour, NE American tours, auditions, competitions, etc. Eventually it got it's first dent and then a second. And there are some dull spots around the bell and on the valves.

It's still The Best Christmas Gift Ever for those reasons, but also because it's just such an awesome horn. My teacher knew my playing well, and knew what I liked to play, and consulted a lot with my mom on what to get me. Initiatlly she was looking for a used tuba she could afford, but Joe went way out of his way to track down an affordable new horn. (It has some barely noticeable coloration spots on the bell which dropped the retail price quite a bit). It's a BBb. Most pros' primary instruments are C tubas, but I love playing in small brass ensembles (playing with 400 tubas not withstanding) and it blends so well with them. It has a beautiful tone, just a little dark, but I can make it bright. That horn can sing. It can cut through an orchestra if I want it to, or it can sound more like the trombones I'm sitting next to. It's got a great response and is just so versatile. While I'd enjoy having other horns, I'll never need another tuba. It's that great.

musical menagerie

The other day I had some time to kill, so I stopped into a music store to try out some larger combo amps for my bass. In the bass section there was a couple looking rather aprehensively at the salesperson who was demoing a bass for them. It turned out they were xmas shopping for their daughter - lucky daughter, because they got her a pretty blue Fender Jazz bass and a nice 60 watt combo amp that will get her through all kinds of high school bands. After they left I took over the jazz bass that they had been listening to and started playing around, but that's not really the point.

The point is that it got me thinking about a couple different things:
The Best Xmas Gift Ever, which then got me thinking about how with my tuba, I have the best instrument I could ever want and it doesn't occur to me to go try other ones. With bass, there seems to be a few different instruments I'd like to have for various reasons and I love trying out different ones.

So the next couple of posts will be dedicated to those two things.

Tuba Christmas

Tuba Christmas.

What could be more exciting, more beautiful, and more Christmas-y than a few hundred tuba & euphonium players coming together to perform Christmas carols?

It started when I was quite young, going to see my uncles and then my brother perform. By 6th grade I, too, was a tuba player. (Several years later my cousin would join our elite family group of tuba players). By far, one of the most amazing musical experiences I witnessed as a child was Tuba Christmas. And it's never quite Christmas at our house until we've been to see or play.

It started in NYC and now I don't think there's a city in America without one - or at least there shouldn't be. A lot of smaller towns host them, too. (I know, I've played in a couple). I usually play in the Akron one, which is typically the second-largest after NYC (in large part due to Tucker Jolly, professor of tuba @ University of Akron).

Imagine 400+ tubas - just the sight of it! Now imagine 400+ tubas, but about 1/2 are decorated - garland and tinsel, Christmas lights gleaming off of the shiny - or sometimes dull- silver and gold and brass. Christmas scenes across the bells. And there's every size and shape imaginable.

You would expect a few hundred tubas playing together to sound muddy and dull, boomy and - well - boring. I assure you it's anything from boring. It's loud and sometimes boomy and majestic.... the way the instruments blend together is astonishing. The tuba players, used to being the foundation of any band, play their melodies out whenever they get the chance, but pull back when they're supposed to. And hearing 400 tubas playing pianissimo (very quietly) is like a beautiful, quiet rumble of thunder.

Tuba Christmas is an audience-participation event, too. The tubas will play through a carol once, everyone listening in amazement at the beauty of the tubas. Then they play again, with the audience singing along. So now, the roaring of the tubas is accompanied by voices of all shapes and sizes. Except for when they play "The Holly and the Ivy" because no one except my mom knows the words to that carol. And I suspect she learned them immediately following her first Tuba Christmas experience, knowing she would now be singing it every year.

I hate to miss Tuba Christmas, which I am this year due to a paying gig (an excellent problem to have). But I have my Tuba Chrismtas tape, which I will listen to as I finish wrapping everyone's Christmas presents this year, to make sure I'm in the holiday spirit.

So what are you waiting for? Go find the Tuba Christmas in your city and experience the most amazing Christmas show there is.

Women Who Rock

Last night was opening night for the Christmas show. It went okay... not bad, not great.

Before the show I was talking to Karen, who's playing bass. She mentioned something about how when she started playing music, she was the lone girl, always playing with the boys. This was sometime in the 70's. So lots of rock. She said something really cool:

When she started playing her family didn't have a record player, she only heard the music that was on the radio. So she just assumed that men and women were both playing. It wasn't until a few years later when her family got a record player and she started buying albums that she realized the rockers were all men. She was like "where are all the women?"

I thought it was very cool that she related to the music and just figured that women must be involved. Yea for women who rock.

Connections

Another decent rehersal tonight. Aside from that, a couple of the guys that play in the orchestra said they would keep me in mind for future gigs with their other bands. That's very cool. I have to remember to give Alan my card tomorrow night. His daughter is considering learning tuba (she's currently a trumpet player) and I want to email him some resources. He's one of the best sax players I've played with, so his daughter probably has at least some talent. Here's hoping opening night goes smoothly...

Practice Makes Perfect

Tonight's rehersal went surprisingly well, even though it ran over a few minutes. It seems like we've practiced less this year and it's coming together quicker than in the past. Only one more rehersal left until opening night. I hope it goes as smoothly.

Karm Chameleon

Saturday afternoon I was at a jewelry show at Heather's house. While we were there chatting and browsing jewelry and eating one of the girls started talking about her & a friend wanting to start a band. She's a singer and the friend a drummer. The basic idea is that it's going to be a girl cover band - Madonna, No Doubt, whatever.

They need a bass player for the project. If she gives me a call and we end up getting together it sounds like it will be very fun and very cool.