Posted by js on August 05, 2003 at 22:30:28:
In Reply to: Re: Tastes... posted by Alex C on August 05, 2003 at 22:07:54:
"Audition committees concepts could be shaping the future acceptable sound of the tuba."
-I would guess that audition committees are more influenced by the sounds that are offered to them in an accurate and musical manner, more than the actual timbre of the sounds themselves. I believe this to be unavoidably defined by the pinnacle of the vast army of applicants, rather than by the judges of the applicants.
The first and finest exponent of the (BAT) American orchestral sound was Arnold Jacobs.
-I can't really hear Mr. Jacobs very well on either the Solti nor the Szell recordings. I really don't think that Mr. Jacobs was mic'ed very well on the Szell recordings and the London-Solti recordings (not the orchestra, but the recordings themselves) are so fuzzy and distorted that I have difficulty isolating anyone's sound characteristics in particular.
-Mr. Jacobs was an extraordinarily fine player and was one of few who showed the way for advancement in tuba technique, musicality, and personality. Personally, sound-wise I can never get past the admitted distraction of the fp-followed-by-heavy-vibrato way that he seemed to approach much of his sound production. To me, that aspect of his playing overshadowed anything having to do with timbre of individual instruments that he happened to have been playing - be it a tiny Besson F or a York B.A.T.
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Thank-you for your thoughtful comments in this potential thread!