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Sounds interesting. I am a little concerned about the use of the term "Bass Horn". Maybe the author got that from one of the band directors?

Mark wrote: Sun Oct 05, 2025 12:13 pm Sounds interesting. I am a little concerned about the use of the term "Bass Horn". Maybe the author got that from one of the band directors?

That's a term that goes way back. Up through the 1960s, at least, our section was referred to as the "bass horn" or "bass" section. The old band music, most of which was orchestral transcriptions, labeled our parts as Basses or Bass Horn. My own high school band director recruited me to the tuba when he announced, "we need more bass horn players", and he himself was a tuba player. Bear in mind also that in that era, almost all high school bands, due to budget constraints, used Sousaphones for both marching and concert band. My band director spent a big chunk of his budget in 1965 to buy a Besson compensating BBb, the first actual tuba owned by the band program. By the early 70s, we decided to be more snobbish and call ourselves Tubas, and the newer band music reflected that in part names, as well.

I think this book looks interesting given the background of the author. A fresh pair of eyes gives a different perspective. I put it on my christmas list. Which is necessary to prevent people from wasting money on stuff I dont want.

Someone was just talking about this book to me...

What were they telling me about it?

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https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/books/ ... s=1&page=1

Wall Street Journal review

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Mark wrote: Sun Oct 05, 2025 12:13 pm Sounds interesting. I am a little concerned about the use of the term "Bass Horn". Maybe the author got that from one of the band directors?

That's how my trombone-playing high school band director referred to tubas and sousaphones.

What's it "called"...?? What am I "called"...??

CALL me for lunch !!!


the book:
poorly researched, as he's never made the pilgrimage here to actually view and audit them

Mark wrote: Sun Oct 05, 2025 12:13 pm Sounds interesting. I am a little concerned about the use of the term "Bass Horn". Maybe the author got that from one of the band directors?

It was more commonly used than "tuba" back in the day.

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I've posted endlessly about a friend of mine who practiced several hours a night under his own instruction and practically auditioned into Pershing's Own in the 12th grade with an economy grade (36K) fiberglass sousaphone.

Even with someone like that in the band back in the early 1970s, I really didn't hear the words "sousaphone" or "tuba" spoken very often by any of us nor our band director. It was "bass horn" which referred to either.

Yes, I know this post is redundant but it is so for emphasis .. and yes, we knew who Bill Bell was, and we even knew that the instrument he was holding in that picture in his etude book was an E-flat sousaphone...EVEN THOUGH our parents' incomes were modest and we lived in "the south". We even knew about Miraphone, Meinl-Weston, B&M, and B&S, if you can believe that.