Stray Hawkeye

Tuba Christmas is coming up again.  If you don’t know what Tuba Christmas is, or why it’s awesome, or want to find one in your own region, see my previous post here.  More details on this year’s Twin Cities event below:

TUBACHRISTMAS 2011
The 24rd Annual MINNESOTA TUBACHRISTMAS Concert will be Sunday,
December 11, 4:00 p.m. at Central Presbyterian Church, 500 Cedar St., St. Paul.

Audience Admission Free.

Free parking (see directions)
For directions and parking info see:
www.cpcstpaul.org/directions.html

To Play the Concert:
If you play Tuba, Sousaphone, Euphonium or Baritone you are invited to play. (NO other instruments)
All ages welcome. There will be over 100 players. (Players age range from 10 to 80+)

Registration: 2:00
Rehearsal: 2:30
Concert: 4:00

Registration fee $5
Music book $18
Hats & Scarves available $15 each.
Head bands $10 each

Decorate your instruments.
Bring a music stand if needed.

Have I mentioned lately that I’d like to start a hard rock / heavy metal band that exclusively does covers of Tegan and Sara? Just crank up the drums, replace the awesome, adorable vocals with a growling bass / baritone, get a little guitar reverb in there. Imagine it with me, won’t you?

And I imagine this one at about 2/3 of the tempo so it grates just a bit, and throw in a few more voice cracks on the long held out notes, with the word “nineteen” breaking into an all out vocal chord spraining scream roughly every other time it occurs:

Note that said metal band would include some awesome special sound effect reverb thing that would make me sound like twins.

Now I just need to learn to sing, or play a normal rock band instrument. Somehow I don’t think tuba would fit in the average metal band. Though I do think it would be great for doing a solo cover of The Cave by Mumford and Sons, or perhaps a tuba / banjo duet with percussion played on the bell of the tuba:

(Previous Tegan and Sara here.)

In case you were planning to go to Tuba Christmas this year in the Twin Cities, it has been postponed due to the snow.  It will be held next Sunday – December 19th, with the concert at 5pm in the same place.  Full details from the organizer are below:

Due to the 17+ inches of snow from which we are all digging out, the TUBACHRISTMAS concert is postponed to Next Sunday, Dec. 19. with registration at 3:00, rehearsal at 3:30 and concert at 5:00. Note time changes are an hour later then previous. Location, the same is, Central Presbyterian Church.
See below for details.

TUBACHRISTMAS 2010

The 23rd Annual MINNESOTA TUBACHRISTMAS Concert will be Sunday,

December 19, 5:00 p.m. at Central Presbyterian Church, 500 Cedar St., St. Paul.

This year’s concert will be a memorial for TubaChristmas founder Harvey Phillips who died Oct. 20.

Audience Admission Free.

Free parking (see directions)

For directions and parking info see:

www.cpcstpaul.org/directions.html

To Play the Concert:

If you play Tuba, Sousaphone, Euphonium or Baritone you are invited to play.

All ages welcome. There will be over 100 players. (Players age range from 10 to 80+)

Registration:   3:00

Rehearsal:   3:30

Concert:   5:00

Registration fee is $5

Music book $18

Hats & Scarves available $15 each.

Head bands $10 each

Decorate your instruments.

Bring a music stand if needed.

I know I’m behind the times on this one, but have you seen the cover for 89.3 The Current’s Live Current Volume 6 CD:

No idea how the music on it is, but with a cover like that, it can't be all bad

As best I can tell, the cover was made by local graphic designer Miss Amy Jo.  The rest of her work seems to be somewhat sousaphone deprived, but I’ll take what I can get.

Tuba Christmas in the Twin Cities this year will be held December 12, at 4:00 p.m. at Central Presbyterian Church, 500 Cedar St., St. Paul. Admission and parking are free. What’s Tuba Christmas? Why would I want to go? Can I play there? How can I get more details? See my previous post on the subject from two years ago – all the details are the same except that it’s on the 12th this year rather than the 14th.

A cool, bass-y Franken-instrument made by Diego Stocco, created by combining a piano, an electric bass, a guitar, a cabinet, a chimney (really), and, you know, whatever else was laying around that day:

Apparently it’s an original composition, but I couldn’t help but think of Personal Jesus by Depeche Mode.  I’m not the only one, someone else mentioned it in the comments on the video (on the Vimeo page, which unfortunately isn’t embed-able so you get youtube above) and Diego replies:

A friend of mine, fan of DM, told me the same.
I know some of their music, but I wasn’t thinking about that song. I was inspired by the hours of western music I’ve heard in films, it’s that kind of triplets “horse galloping” pattern you hear in the “bunch of bad-ass cowboys going to place x to fix the situation” kinda scene : )

Which I makes me sort of wish I knew how to do 3-d computer animations and such to be able to make the scene that goes with that.

For some reason it also makes me think a bit of the general vibe of Cowboy Bebop, though that admittedly usually has more horns – perhaps the general Western vibe.

Also, things like this are why I oscillate wildly between thinking I’d really like a really little place in the city with minimal stuff, and (where this comes in) a few acres of land next to a junk yard somewhere out in the country where I could hack together things like this without bothering people in the next apartment (a large reason why I don’t play my tuba more).

And, because I find it amusing, I’d like to point out that the part Animal sings is the tuba part.  Just saying.

Also, if you haven’t visited it yet, pretty much all of the Muppets Studio youtube channel is great.

Perhaps it’s just because I’m a big marching band geek, but this video (youtube) is about 8 shades of awesome (though grumble gumble about not being able to embed it).

Also, at 2:23 – hell yeah bass, go sousies.

Via a link on a friend’s facebook page.

I don’t know what to say, other than I’m jealous I didn’t think of it first:

Anyone know where I can get the sheet music for that? And the flame thrower-esque sousaphone attachment?

As a side note, the cover of Britney Spears’ “Ooops I Did It Again” playing in the background is by Max Raabe.  He has his own orchestra (the Palast Orchester), and does lots of 1920′s German dance music style covers of pop songs (among his other work). Other favorites are his cover of Angel (by Shaggy), Super Trouper, Tainted Love, and We Will Rock You. I didn’t have much luck finding YouTube clips of these, but these two Amazon pages for the albums have little clips of them to at least give the flavor of it.

Have you ever thought to yourself, “I’d love to go to a free Christmas concert, but I just wish I could find one with more low brass”?  Well look no further.  Tuba Christmas is here!

“What is Tuba Christmas?” you may ask.  It’s an extremely loosely organized tradition of groups of tuba (and baritone) players gathering all over the country around Christmas time and playing Christmas carols.  No trumpets, woodwinds, or strings allowed.  The players usually practice together once, for about an hour, right before the concert.  And the skill level goes from junior high band students on up to professional orchestra musicians, and everything in between.  And yes, it is every bit as comical and entertaining as it sounds.  Usually there’s someone dressed as Santa, and people decorate their horns.  Here’s a little sample:

(I have no idea why Jingle Bells turns in to the National Emblem March in the middle there, but it always does, and I laugh every time.)

The Tuba Christmas in the Twin Cities is in St Paul at Central Presbyterian Church this Sunday, December 14th at 4:00pm, and yes, I will be playing there.  Free Parking.  Maps to church and parking: www.cpcstpaul.org/directions.html.  It free to attend (though they pass around a hat, usually literally, for donations), and it’s kid friendly.

If you’re not in the Twin Cities, there are Tuba Christmases all over the place.  There’s a big list of all of them here.  Basically, wherever there are tuba players with strange senses of humor (read: where ever there are tuba players), there’s Tuba Christmas.

If you want to play, bring a horn, registration is at 2:00pm, practice at 2:30pm.  It’s $5 to play, and if you haven’t played at one before, bring $15 for a music book (you can reuse it every year).

Merry Tuba Christmas!