I try to refrain from profanity on this board, but...
Holy Moly!!!!
Listening to the overdubbed "duet" of two Bb Eppelsheim subcontras absolutely blew me away! I thought I was listening to low notes, until I heard a L-O-W note played!
Now I have that familiar urge to own one. The only problems are:
- I still need to raise another $1800 to finish paying for my Goodson tenor
- I promised my wife "no more saxes" (the Goodson will be #4)
HEY - Perhaps this isn't a saxophone at all... it's a Tubax! Why, that's completely different from a saxophone, just as an oboe is, or a mellophone. My wife never said "no more tubaxes"! LOL
So - since the price of a "little" Eb tubax is about $16k, what's the price of its big brother the Bb?
If you want to hear the Eb Tubax in a more conventional setting, go to the ultimate contrabass site, contrabass mania, and check their Tubax page in the compendium. Here's the link:
I would also recommend picking up a copy of Jay Easton's CD "So Low". The highest pitched horn he plays on it is the Baritone. It has some great classical pieces (Serenade Basque, Dark Flows the River) and some more avante-gard work - including dualing sub-contra-basses 8) . Pete Hales (saxpics) did a review of the cd over on the SOTW main site http://vintage.saxontheweb.net/HalesReview2.html
Poke around Jay's website too, if you want to see a sweet sax collection! Stacey - it is a great site to show the wife and say 'see..I'm not really that bad!"
I got his cd this past February, just after a heavy freezing rain. The sub-contra duet shook half the 3 foot icicles off the front of my house (unfortunately taking half the gutters with them :shock: ).
Im sorry but other than novelty i believe owning a tubax or a sub contrabass is completly wasteful. Their sound may give u the chills, but it is just not pleaseing to listen to. Atleast to me. I just dont see the big deal over them. I see the big dealm but i dont want one.
Thought the UK based sax enthusiasts might be interested to know that the National Sax Choir are (hopefully) going to be premiering a new work for super-enhanced choir (soprillo, 'nino, 3 x sop, 3 x alto, 3 x tenor, 3 x bari, bass and tubax) at the National Sax Congress in Birmingham on Feb 13th.
Details are yet to be confirmed, but thought I'd give you a sneaky advance warning!
Gosh, I am a lucky man, I had the opportunity to play on a tubax (magnificiemt, superb and all other words that cannot describe this sound) and a soprillo. The soprillo is cute in its looks, but the sound is... lets say not save for glasses. Earprotection would be necessary when playing this. But I am used to bariton saxes, so youi know where my heart is. So if you ever have the opportunity to play one of those saxes, don't hesitate and grab your chance.
To be honest: I stay with my bari, it is carryable ;-)
The Bb Tubax is very big, but the Eb Tubax easily fits in the back seat of a mid-sized car, even in the larger flight case. It is a very practical contrabass instrument, except for the cost.
To hear the Eb Tubax, go to my MYSPACE page, and click "4 Big Brothers":
My dad gave me this piece of advice: "It's better to wish for a rowboat than to own a yacht."
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