[Dixielandjazz] Juba Plays the Fluba in Aruba.

[david richoux]

Well, I still really don't know why Jim Self had his Fluba made - maybe 
for dramatic effect? Bell points forward directly to the audience but 
the horn is so unbalanced it needs a stick to hold it up, so that is a 
big trade-off. There are all sorts of unusual configurations of brass 
(and other wind instruments) that have been made over the last 160 
years or so - always room for more!

As for the Flubas that are used in the San Jose Tubafest Christmas® - 
the original reason was that trumpets and trombones (even valve 
trombones) were not allowed in TubaChristmas© as they are not part of 
the "Tuba Family" but if you study the history of the  tuba it becomes 
obvious that Fluglehorns actually are. However, the usual configuration 
of a Fluglehorn looks too much like a trumpet and it was thought that 
this would cause confusion and envy among those trumpeters that were 
struggling with Eb Alto Horns or Euphoniums, so the Fluba was developed 
to fill the gap in "Soprano Tuba" range ;-)

Or at least that is the way it was explained to me!

Dave Richoux


On Apr 18, 2004, at 4:41 PM, Bob Romans wrote:

> Are there any advantages to having a Fluba as compared to a tuba, or
> flugelhorn, other than a conversation piece?
> Just curious...
> Bob Romans