Posted by Mark on February 21, 2003 at 03:23:53:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: 8va heros posted by JS on February 20, 2003 at 23:59:01:
Even though Tony doesn't need someone to defend him, I want you to know that Tony's low range is extremely solid. Marty is one of the finest players in all aspects I have played with (to anticipate your next thought...I played with him for 4 years). But Tony's low range is comparable.
More to the issue...I feel that the 8va thing is used too much by tuba players in general. I think we should all be very careful in our reasonings to why we do it. I think being transparent and not forceful is a key to making it work well so that it doesn't sound muddy or tubby or whatever other "ubby" or "uddy" you would like to use. And you must have a very competent person on the original part. I also think that waiting for a conductor to say it doesn't work should not be the criteria of saying "I wanted to see if it fit" or otherwise dropping down wherever you want. Knowledge is power! Learning something about the piece, composer and the people you are playing with before randomly trying it out I think is a smart attitude.
I short...listen and research to make smart judgements. As a conductor, I do listen and notice it more than most and tend to be very critcal of it. Remember, just like doing Bydlo on tuba in rehearsal (tuba or euph?), it only takes one time for a conductor to hear what you are doing to make a judgement on it. If you have dropped an octave 1000 times before he ever realized you were doing i....then he notices the 1001st time you did it and didn't like it...then he will be listening for it and never want you to do it again!
Sorry if I was lecturing. Good luck to all.
Mark