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From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of Chuck Israels Sent: Mon 13-Feb-06 14:30 To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Finale] Scoring for Band On Feb 13, 2006, at 10:20 AM, Christopher Smith wrote: > It was also hard not to make everything REALLY BIG AND LOUD, which > is my weakness. This just reminds me of an old recording I heard a few times (cannot find it now - though I haven't searched extensively) of Sousa Marches - played under the direction of his descendants. It was so much lighter and more transparent than the versions with which we are familiar that it sounded almost Mozartean. Part of this was a result of scoring (fewer instruments per section) and part from interpretation. Mark your score "Non-Bombastico"! Not only that, Chuck, but the (low) brass instruments were MUCH smaller in Sousa's days than they are now. I soloed a couple years ago on a double-bell euphonium that used to belong to one of Sousa's Euphonium players and it was a "pea shooter" of the first order--smaller bore than today's "student" models! Many of the Eb tubas of that vintage were the same bore size as my Willson Euphonium pitched a FIFTH higher. Simone Mantia's trombone was smaller bore than a current King 2B. My experience with high brass is not as extensive, but my guess is that there were both Cornets and Trumpets in the old bands, which also would have taken some of the edge off the sound as well. One of Harvey Phillips's biggest gripes with current orchestral brass playing, esp. in the trombones/tuba, is the sheer SIZE of the instruments and the associated volume. Have you seen live performances with the plastic shields up isolating the brass? Some of those things they call 6/4 tubas are scary...more than one famous orchestral player blew their chops out from playing those things. They need to be licensed. I would also talk about bass trombones, but Louisville is not far from Indianapolis, and Mr. Horton might wrap his triple-trigger bi-valve low BBB XL-bore nitro-cylindrical confabulator around my size 16.5 neck seven or eight times. Jim W.
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