Posted by Jay Bertolet on August 11, 2000 at 19:59:47:
In Reply to: Lost art form or evolution? posted by Dan on August 11, 2000 at 11:43:10:
I think one of the things that makes our particular situation so unique is the very nature of the music we play. For example, what other orchestral instrument has to play parts originally written for so many different instruments? A tuba player has to execute parts written for contrabass tuba, bass tuba, ophicleide, serpent, tenor tuba, contrabass trombone, and cimbasso. And those are just the ones I know of! One of the curses of being a relatively new instrument is that the current crop of players still suffers from the indecision of the recent past in establishing the tuba as the standard bass brass instrument. So it seems perfectly natural to me that the tuba player has an arsenal of instruments that he really needs to perform the music put in front of him. Could you do all this music on just one tuba? Sure. But why would you when the other option is available. I tend to think of the usage of different tubas not as something that hinders musicality but something that promotes it. Having equipment more suited to the task at hand frees the player to concern himself with the musical concerns. I think anything that eliminates obstacles in the path to musical performance is always a good thing.
My opinion for what its worth...