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Are they just a gimmick?

19K views 27 replies 21 participants last post by  BuescherFan 
#1 ·
Besides the Whales, I know of no one else who uses a Contrabass, or a Tubax for that matter. (seriously. where in a score would it call for tones beyond the lowest notes on a piano. Yes, i am talking to you, Mr. Subcontrabass tubax.) I think these things were built just for sheer 'WOW' factor to see a man, dwarfed by these instruments, play them. And these horns are much too expensive for the masses. That has always been the case for anything below a bari; you need a second mortgage buy own one of these horns. Can anyone give me any examples on where these horns are used, besides the Nuclear Whales and, apparently, Uwe Ladwig's Dixieman Four?

Much appriciated,
Action
 
#27 ·
I picked up Jay Easton's CD a few years ago which features bari, bass, contrabass and tubax. The first track is a "duet" of tubaxes (Jay, overdubbed) that can be described as what one would imagine how elephants wrestling would sound. The rest of the album did showcase the positives of these beasts, though. In my opinion, the bass was the highlight -- the tonality and range was much clearer then the lower horns. Part of that could be due to the register, so I might be casting a mild aspersion in the wrong direction.

That said, I would offer up a body part to have a tubax...... The more "compact" design vs. that contra is very appealing, as well as the unreal sound. Is Santa Claus listening????
 
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