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Re: Symphonic Sound - basses

On 23 May, Philip Anderton <P.Anderton@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Just a personal opinion about tubas in orchestras and brass bands. I'm
> sure there are exceptions, and of course there is no reason to assume
> any similarity between brass band and orchestral writing, however... one
> could argue that the basses in a brass band provide the roles of three
> elements of the orchestra - the string basses, the bassoons and the
> brass tuba.

This is true. To achieve a correct balance of tuba weight in the band, I
like to think of one bass as being responsible for supporting a quarter of
the band. If the orchestration (or should I say bandestration) calls for
just a light scoring of the horns, then one Eb bass is sufficient to
supply the bottom line. Add to this maybe the flugel and euphoniums, then
two Eb basses would be required. The trombones could play with one Eb or
one Bb, depending on the depth of the bass line required. Bring in the
whole tutti, then all four basses (probably in octaves) are needed. Going
to the other extreme, say just a quartet of instruments (flugel, tenor,
baritone and euphonium), the euphonium alone is quite able to supply the
bass line within the quartet, without any help at all from the big guys.

Although there are obviously many exceptions to consider, in general
practice, the lower is the register of the lead instrument, the smaller is
the tuba that is needed to supply the bass line. I like to think of the Eb
basses belonging to the middle band, and the Bb basses belong to the high
cornets.     

> In my limited experience, when scored ff with the trombones and
> trumpets, the orchestral tuba player often mimics the edgy tone of the
> trombones - this kind of raspy tone is not usually called for in the
> brass band, but it well suits ff combinations with trombones in loud
> orchestral passages.

I would say that this quality of tuba tone is unavoidable when playing
loud passages, just as the cornet tends to take on a resemblance of
trumpet tone in ff.

>  Often the basses in a brass band need to provide a pp accompianiment
> under a solo cornet, horn or trombone melody with pp horn harmonies.
> This is where having 4 tubas (who can all "whisper" pp) is an advantage.
> The thick soft tone cannot be produced by one tuba alone, and to me has
> more of the quality of  a soft sostenuto string bass line in orchestral
> writing.

This is definitely an art form in brass band playing, and I would think,
quite difficult to achieve. The tuba by nature is a bombastic creature.

> Also playing bass in a brass band is one helluvalot more interesting!

You can say that again, unless you prefer listening to the strings.

Adrian :-)

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