[Dixielandjazz] tuba mics (was "Clarinet mics")

[Dan Augustine]

DJML--
     Hold on, i think i'm gonna be sick.  You used a mike (pronounced 
'mic') on your trombone that allowed you to play a tuba part? 
Weren't there any tuba players available?  What did it sound like?
     Better yet, can anyone out there comment on using mikes with 
tubas?  Are there such beasts?
     And yes, sometimes it appears it might be useful.  The last ATJS 
concert we had Dave Stoddard played his upright-bell tuba (and 
sounded great albeit a little faint to me), but he was in the back 
row (well, what was the last time you saw the tuba in the front row, 
and i don't mean Red Lehr, who plays a sousaphone), and his sound was 
muffled or covered up partially by the acoustics of the room (high 
ceiling, no forward-slanting walls behind him to direct the sound 
toward the audience) and partially by the loudness of the other 
players.
     Is there a mike and speaker-system he could have used?

     Dan (who uses a King 2341 tuba with 'recording' (bell-front) tuba 
and usually doesn't have this problem)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>From: "Jim Kashishian" <jim at kashprod.com>
>To: "Larry Walton" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
>Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
>Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2007 5:18 PM
>Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Clarinet mics
>>
>>Larry mentions instrument mics that attach to the horn, and also the octave
>>gadget "Varitone".
>>
>>My thoughts on mics that are attached to the horn(there are plenty out there
>>that are wireless) is that you can't control the distance you are playing
>>from the mic.  It is attached & that is that.  I like to use a mic as part
>>of the instrument...moving in close for a real quiet solo (the sound on the
>>'bone gets big & kinda muffled), or moving back for a good strong blow.
>>Can't do that if it is attached to your horn or your body.  And, on a
>>trumpet or trombone, you can't use any mutes.
>>
>>The Varitone Larry mentions (he said it never amounted to anything) came in
>>very handy for me back in the '70s.  I was hired to play trombone in the
>>theater version of Jesus Christ Superstar here.  One of the reasons I was
>>chosen for the part was I was the sole owner of such a gadget in the whole
>>country, and I was able to play the tuba part for the psuedo-dixie song in
>>the play...but on the trombone with the octave divider set on the tuba
>>position.  That was two 2 hr shows six nights a week for four months...and,
>>I got double pay!
>>
>>I also had a cuartet for awhile using electric guitar, electric bass guitar,
>>drums & amplified trombone (pickup in the mouthpiece), and ran the trombone
>>through a guitar wah-wah pedal, the varitone, & a huge stack of amps (like
>>the rock singers) behind me. Watermelon Man sounded like a whole supermarket
>>full of watermelons!!!   :>
>>
>>I was a little ahead of my time on that one, and it wasn't all that
>>successful, although I did book a few gigs over one hungry summer in the
>>early 1970's!
>>
>>Jim

-- 
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**  Dan Augustine  --  Austin, Texas  --  ds.augustine at mail.utexas.edu
**    "There is no great concurrence between learning and wisdom."   
**              -- Francis Bacon (1561-1626)                         
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