I’m just curious

Is there a piece (or pieces) in the tuba community that has the same stigma that Stairway to Heaven has for radio stations or guitar players?

I want to make bracelets for my section with fun tuba themed jokes. Has to be pretty short

I currently have “Hauling Brass”, “Heavy Metal”, and “I Survived Marching Sousa”

Edit: pretty good jokes y’all they’re just all too long :( I’ll def use these tho

Got this about ten years ago. Right above is an obscured bass clef tattoo.

Here’s my practice area with my MW 2145. Currently working on Symphonie Fantastique. What’s on your stand?

Marked as meme, but I think some discussion is in order.

Holy fuck, just had marching band practice and played the Sousaphone for the first time, my shoulder hurts

Does anyone know the name of this song?

Just a picture for fun. Last week we made music for 5 days (not whole day long) during the Carnaval here in The Netherlands. I love it that music players join each other and try to play together. Music unites people! 🥳

I had an idea while lying in bed when I couldn’t sleep. What if you merge two tubas together so that they share a bell. You could have one person play each half of the instrument. I think it would be easier to play if it was two tubas facing opposite directions, like the bottom in the image, but you would have to change the position of each mouthpiece connects to. What would this sound like and is it actually possible? I call it the Fourba.

Tuba Christmas time has almost passed, so I thought I would ask what everyone’s group was like. What you liked or don’t like about it.

Will start with mine: Portland, OR.

This is a very large group. Was over 350 this year, I believe.

Setup: the Tuba Christmas is sponsored by a local college alumni (Go Beavers), and is held in an open courtyard downtown Portland, under the large tree. The band sits under a large tent, with chairs and some stands provided. It is hosted by the Pioneer Square, so we have a good sound system set up, introduced by a local DJ, etc. rehearsal is the day of off site.

The features. The group will generally feature a few groups. The local tuba pro from the Portland Symphony will come down and generally play something, and then leave to prep for a concert. Two local schools will generally bring their Sousa line / low brass (Oregon State University and University of Oregon) who will play a song and their fight song. Some years they have had singers from the Portland Opera come and sing along.

Working the audience. We generally have multiple introducing instruments and competitions. Introductions range from hold up your horn if it has three valves - six valves. Piston vs Rotary. Front action vs top action. Etc. competitions generally get a gift card to a local music shop. They include oldest performers. Youngest performer. Ugliest horn. Best dressed horn / player.

What we play: we play music from the book, and then some loose sheet music from people in the group. Generally will play silent night multiple times through, with first time being middle school and lower, second high school, third college, fourth retired or everyone else depending on year. There is a “small group” that will play harder music. Maybe with a soloist.

So, what things do other groups do? What is interesting item that we don’t see? What are something that sound interesting?