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Re: In defence of the repiano, etc.

To: brass-band@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: In defence of the repiano, etc.
From: Cameron Mabon <cmabon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 28 Apr 1998 16:05:15 +0100 (BST)
In-reply-to: <483d6313c6saxhorn@gemscore.demon.co.uk>
Priority: low
Reply-to: brass-band@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

On Mon, 27 Apr 1998, Adrian Drover wrote:

> The repiano has no range that the solo or 2nd cornets can't cover. It has
> no special style or tone that one of the other player's can't achieve.

Ours does! And it wouldn't surprise me if the same were true of other 
bands. I think the current repiano player with Black Dyke (Lee Rigg?) was 
their principal cornet a while back (certainly on a recording of 1993, 
his name is listed as the principal cornet). 

> Why can the 2nd or 3rd cornet not play solo? Don't tell me they are not
> strong enough, I have already covered that argument on another thread.

In most bands, the 2nd and third cornets are _not_ strong enough to play on 
the front row, because they lack either the range, stamina, tone or 
technical dexterity to do so. (The top bands may provide an exception 
to this rule). It is especially true in lower 
section bands, where the back row cornet players are often learning the 
instrument and are only just capable of playing the 2nd or 3rd cornet parts.

> Why is there a Solo Horn, when playing solo is not its sole function.

Equally, the principal cornet and solo euphonium don't just play solos.

> He was lost as how to create any contrast in an
> ensemble that had practically no difference in timbre. I had to tell him
> that that was the way the traditionalists liked it. Trumpets and French
> Horns were taboo. The only contrast he was going to get is with dynamics,
> voicing, counterpoint etc. The only timbre variation he would get would be
> with mutes, and many bands are severely lacking in that department.

The sound a band can create can be varied widely. I know from my own 
experience that a band can alter its sound to suit the music (or the 
adjudicator, for that matter). Has your associate tried arranging 
anything for piano? By your reasoning, there could be even less contrast 
imparted in a piano arrangement than a band arrangement. This is not so - 
a piano can be used to create all manner of tones and moods, 
irrespective of volume, speed or any other feature of the music. If a 
fixed pitch, "struck" instrument (i.e. you just hit it and the notes come 
out right every time!) can create such variety, then the scope for 
contrast in a brass band is huge.

As for french horns and trumpets, I don't believe they would add anything 
to the sound of a band that can't be achieved with the current 
instrumentation. French horns in particular would stick out like a sore 
thumb in a brass band. One of the beauties of the brass band is its 
ability to create a homogeneous, organ-like sound. French horns simply 
could not fit into such a sound.

Regards,

Cameron

-- 
  Cameron Mabon (International Idiot)	   cmabon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  Piano, cornet and duck-call
  Fundamental Brass	       http://users.ox.ac.uk/~newc0349/fun
  City of Oxford Band     http://www.jesus.ox.ac.uk/~cmabon/COSB.html

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