Posted by B Harvey on February 27, 2001 at 02:21:39:
In Reply to: Re: Re: BB industry! posted by Matt G on February 26, 2001 at 07:46:21:
Although the CC tuba was played by William Bell and August Helleberg and a number of other tubists in the US, it really wasn't "modernized" and a popular mainstream instrument until Arnold Jacobs advocated it as he astonished and revolutionized the tuba world with his unsurpassable ability as a performer. That's why the CC tuba became the norm of the orchestral world. Bell and Helleberg and others may have used CC tubas, but the US didn't have the same quality of orchestral playing that is common today. If we wanted to listen to the best orchestras we didn't turn to Chicago during the time of Bell, we would rather listen to the European symphonies, and they primarily used, as they do today, BBb tubas.