Posted by Rick Denney on March 17, 2003 at 17:13:05:
In Reply to: Re: Tuba Style Fashion posted by Doc on March 16, 2003 at 11:11:11:
I think the fads in the tuba world are a symptom, not a cause, of the homogenization process you describe. Recorded music seems as much the cause as anything, because it provides a reference sound available even to casual listeners, against which they judge their local orchestra (and against which their local orchestra judges itself).
Another cause of this homogenization seems to me to be the jet-setting conductor. Decades ago, conductors settled in a city for a long haul. Now, a conductor can be the music director of two different orchestras halfway around the planet from each other. And when an orchestra brings in guest conductors, they seem to want to cast the net as widely as possible. All this serves to diminish regional variations and traditions.
But that doesn't mean that different tubas aren't different, or that those differences aren't useful in achieving a given objective. The first-hand accounts of world-class symphony performers lead one to believe that the Yorkish instruments in current vogue have qualities useful in efficiently achieving the effect they desire. These accounts cannot be put down solely to fashion. The sound they are trying to achieve might be the fashionable sound, but the instrument they use to achieve it must actually help them achieve it.
So, if you want to attribute the trend to fashion, I think you have to talk about fashion in relation to prevalent sound concepts, rather than instruments. This supports your thesis. It is certainly true that the fat Amerituba sound is the dominant sound concept in orchestras today, at least in the U.S. (but increasingly in Europe, too).
Rick "waiting for the next big star to establish a new trend" Denney