Posted by semi-anon on January 31, 2004 at 13:28:01:
OK, I'm a middle-aged guy and I attended high school many years ago at a poor-cracker-trash school...surrounded by some pretty extraordinary tuba players.
All of the tuba players (though we had B - C grade equipment) were remarkably fine, and all from that era are still today somehow involved in the music industry. One of them went almost straight out of high school into Pershing's Own...and during the height of the Vietnam War when everyone our age was trying to get into any military band.
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This story, however, is about another high school tuba colleague...one that was a year younger than me, and who went into college for a year or two and then into an army band in Germany - playing tuba and bass guitar.
He invented a way to make an INCREDIBLY loud "sound" (a ffffff staccatisimo high-pitched BLATT!!!) through the tuba. Obviously, I (being another high school kid who liked to be able to do annoying things) quickly learned his trick as well.
We were actually able to blow out lit matches by making this sound - with the match being held at the end of the bell, and inserted no further than the bell's rim.
I wonder if it has ever occurred to anyone else to waste their time (trying to) do this stupid trick, and if they succeeded? ...To this day, I've not come across any other tuba players with the ability nor the stupidity to try or execute this feat.