Posted by Rick Denney on November 09, 2003 at 20:44:11:
In Reply to: discussion fodder... posted by 6/4 mania on November 09, 2003 at 17:19:55:
I thought Pokorny had his Yorkbrunner when he auditioned for Chicago (and, therefore, also for LA, though he may have chosen not to use it). I was pretty sure he had it in St. Louis. For a while, Mike Sanders and Pokorny seemed to be covering for each other in various orchestras, and Mike got his YB in something like 1984 or maybe 1985. I had the impression that Pokorny had his at the time as well.
Not that Pokorny couldn't have demonstrated his superior musicianship on a Miraphone, I'm just not sure he did. As I recall the story, he did win his auditions in St. Louis and Utah using a Miraphone. But you know him and I don't, so you can check your understanding at the source.
From my distant observation, it doesn't seem that all jobs are won playing BAT's. But there are those who do win jobs playing big tubas, and these musicians seem to me to be the ones who can retain a high degree of clarity in expressing their musical ideas on the large instruments. Sanders is a good example, I think. When he switched to the Yorkbrunner, his sound did not get bigger. It got mellower and sweeter compared to the big, commanding sound he'd gotten on his Alex. It was akin to a flute player who achieves what I can only describe as a silvery sound as opposed to a whistley sound, if that makes any sense. There is more warmth and personality in it. But I think this is achieved not by using a big instrument to make yet bigger sounds, but by maintaining control over the big instrument so that it is used for its quality and character of sound rather than the quantity of it.
So, again, it isn't that the BAT is so often the wrong tool, it's that it is so often used wrongly. Or so I theorize from the undemanding comfort of my armchair.
Rick "who likes the quality of sound from his BAT, but who can't play anything really loud due to lack of skill" Denney