Posted by Leland on September 19, 2003 at 17:08:24:
In Reply to: college marching tuba sections posted by me on September 17, 2003 at 08:19:20:
Also having marched both, there are benefits & drawbacks to each.
Aw, heck, I was going to regurgitate everything I've posted before about contras vs. sousaphones, but here's some stuff from the archives:
http://www.chisham.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?Search=%22contra-style%22
http://www.chisham.com/tips/bbs/sep2000/messages/33408.html
http://www.chisham.com/tips/bbs/jan1999/messages/8256.html
http://www.chisham.com/tips/bbs/jul1999/messages/14444.html
Dig around in these threads to find some answers (well, maybe.. lol).
Also, in one of those threads, I mentioned King's K90 contrabass bugle -- arguably the "best ever" -- hopefully being manufactured in BBb after the infamous "Bb Rule" passed DCI's rules congress for the 2000 season. Well, it's happened -- Phantom Regiment marched a King 4v BBb marching-only tuba that is VERY similar in design to the original K90, and it sounded really darned good. Heck, their whole King hornline had one of the best sounds this year, especially with full-size marching euphs.