Saturday, May 10, 2014

BMB J-765 BAT live from Chicago

I’ve been asked a few times if I have demo recordings of BMB tubas. I don’t. And I don’t find demo recordings useful. Jake sounded like Jake no matter what he played. Microphone placement is more important than tube on a recording. I listen to old recordings of me in the quintet and honestly can’t tell if I was playing my 184 Miraphone or my Holton/York 345. Not that the horn doesn’t matter. Just that on a recording, without defining microphone placement, the ears can be deceived. That said, there is a broadcast coming up of the Chicago Symphony. Mr. Pokorny used a BMB J-765 for the Scriabin Divine Poem. Not a piece I knew. I was fortunate to have heard it live in the hall. It is a real showpiece for the tuba from the very beginning. This is Chicago live so microphone placement is what hangs in the hall every day. And it is in context with the rest of the orchestra without unusually highlighting any instrument. If it is anything close to what I heard in the hall, you are in for a treat. It should be a great example of what the BMB BAT sounds like in the hands of a great player. May 25, 2014 Muti and Izotov: the Martinů Oboe Concerto Riccardo Muti, conductor Eugene Izotov, oboe Haydn: Symphony No. 48 in C Major, Maria Theresa Martinů: Oboe Concerto Scriabin: The Divine Poem Tune in for a treat: http://www.wfmt.com/main.taf?p=12,11,3,1 To be clear, Gene does not endorse BMB or any other tuba. He primarily uses the York tuba that the orchestra owns. He has on occasion used a BMB tuba because it fit the needs of the situation, piece, or conductor. This is one example of which I am aware and am pleased to alert you to it.

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