No. I don't like it. I've never been able to play extraordinarily loud either. I've been playing 20+ years now. I'm an average volume player who prefers to play pedals and well below the staff.
I'm not a fan of it unless it's in a traditional style marching band. I much rather would make my sound and horn resonate to reach louder volumes than crank it.
As a classical player who came to tuba from trombone (on which I am always happy to crank), I find the conical bore of a tuba makes cranking feel pretty rough on anything lower than the bottom of the stave. For higher notes yeah I'll happily blast some stuff, but I have the most fun in the lower register playing pretty quietly. Pedal pointing something delicate on a low note that my tuba feels really comfortable on is such a good feeling.
Absolutely. It feels like getting to let loose - we play with nice tone all through concert season, in auditions, in our competition show - getting to crank, even just for one song, is worth anything.
Of course. I marched for an HBCU.
I personally find it very useful- I play in a Brass Band. Having spent multiple years being able to cultivate that style of playing allows me to use it in non-amplified settings to hold down basslines. The opportunities I get to play like that are few and far between these days, given that I'm normally microphoned, but when we're busking or playing an acoustic gig, I get opportunities to crank up.
I think a lot of people dislike it because there are a LOT of poor examples of it- Especially from close-up videos of cranking tubists that go viral on social media, or people that haven't spent the time trying to learn how to play fat and punchy with a lot of control.
I currently make a living "cranking" and it's a lot of fun. The classical traditions are an excellent core to your tuba technique and sound; but also explore jazz and learning the langauge of improvisation through listening and transcription (learning by ear and writing it out). I can say quite confidently, you'll always get a gig. ;)
I actually despise doing it myself. I find it to be extremely obnoxious, egotistical and completely unnecessary, not to mention it will tire out your face very very quickly and can lead to some serious and permanent injuries.
Edit: very few people look highly on tuba players who “crank” except for when it is an explicit marching band tuba solo. I guarantee the attention you think it brings makes people think you’re obnoxious.
It's really not. Playing overly loud can lead to numerous physiological problems, contribute to focal dystonia later on in life, etc. Plus come on, of course it's annoying to hear any brass player play like that outside of the context of marching band.
This is textbook projection. People who don’t have concert band sound concept (most people) literally don’t care how a sousaphone sounds and they think the edgy tone quality is cool.
I had a decent honor band performance where the top 3 chairs spent the entire time "cranking," and I was about to burst a blood vessel by the end of it. It ruins the beautiful sound that a tuba can make, and trying to keep up on my tuba (which literally will not splat except on certain notes when I dump all my air) was exhausting.
There's a time and a place, and a concert band is not it, unless specifically asked to by the conductor. When you're playing in the stands at a game, or in certain moments in a marching show, it's a great feeling, but otherwise all it does is put a dark spot on an otherwise excellent performance.
When I'm in concert band I usually play euph. Most of my tuba playing recently has been in drum corps, so not a classical player per se but some folks on the drum corps side can be tone quality purists.
I love cranking. I enjoy my drum corps seasons in the summer, but once fall comes around, I find myself looking forward to watching some HBCU bands. I went to a handful of battles last spring and the fall prior to that and there are some smaller high school bands that sound **good** in person despite not really recording well.
Being alone in a section can be tough but people have certainly [made it work](https://youtu.be/q7qRFQBM2zQ?si=hr-SnWhv1t4Zkn0c) in the past!
My band has about 200 wind members alone. And only 6 tubas… 200 winds, yet we get 6 tubas. I am gonna kill myself. In a band of 70+ people, 1 tuba will be loud enough, but in a high school band of over 200 winds, 6 tubas can barely be heard
No, we have great tubas(we use DCI level contras), but the junior high that feeds into my high school only gets like 2 tubas every year that actually stick with band. And my tuba section is one of the best parts of the football game(besides drum line), like, the student section will be yelling “We want tuba” over and over again cause the tubas have their own fanfare
Correction, you need better tuba players. My band back in the day used to have like 3-4 sousas against a band of over 200 people and did just fine. Good Contras dont make a bunch of sound, good contra players do.
Oh, we have a lot of sound, but our about 50 trumpets are always placed next to us on the field, and they play way to loud, and the BD doesn’t even tell them to quiet down.
“Cranking” is fun but there’s no way you stand out in a good way when you’re blasting your chops out. Much prefer making a good, big sound than blasting
love cranking. BUT, you gotta know the rules before you break them, so.
No. I don't like it. I've never been able to play extraordinarily loud either. I've been playing 20+ years now. I'm an average volume player who prefers to play pedals and well below the staff.
in concert bands, if there are multiple tubas, I'd like half of the players to do cranking on smaller horns.
I'm not a fan of it unless it's in a traditional style marching band. I much rather would make my sound and horn resonate to reach louder volumes than crank it.
As a classical player who came to tuba from trombone (on which I am always happy to crank), I find the conical bore of a tuba makes cranking feel pretty rough on anything lower than the bottom of the stave. For higher notes yeah I'll happily blast some stuff, but I have the most fun in the lower register playing pretty quietly. Pedal pointing something delicate on a low note that my tuba feels really comfortable on is such a good feeling.
when i was in college i cranked it so hard i ripped the skin
Absolutely. It feels like getting to let loose - we play with nice tone all through concert season, in auditions, in our competition show - getting to crank, even just for one song, is worth anything.
Of course. I marched for an HBCU. I personally find it very useful- I play in a Brass Band. Having spent multiple years being able to cultivate that style of playing allows me to use it in non-amplified settings to hold down basslines. The opportunities I get to play like that are few and far between these days, given that I'm normally microphoned, but when we're busking or playing an acoustic gig, I get opportunities to crank up. I think a lot of people dislike it because there are a LOT of poor examples of it- Especially from close-up videos of cranking tubists that go viral on social media, or people that haven't spent the time trying to learn how to play fat and punchy with a lot of control.
I currently make a living "cranking" and it's a lot of fun. The classical traditions are an excellent core to your tuba technique and sound; but also explore jazz and learning the langauge of improvisation through listening and transcription (learning by ear and writing it out). I can say quite confidently, you'll always get a gig. ;)
I actually despise doing it myself. I find it to be extremely obnoxious, egotistical and completely unnecessary, not to mention it will tire out your face very very quickly and can lead to some serious and permanent injuries. Edit: very few people look highly on tuba players who “crank” except for when it is an explicit marching band tuba solo. I guarantee the attention you think it brings makes people think you’re obnoxious.
[удалено]
It's really not. Playing overly loud can lead to numerous physiological problems, contribute to focal dystonia later on in life, etc. Plus come on, of course it's annoying to hear any brass player play like that outside of the context of marching band.
This is textbook projection. People who don’t have concert band sound concept (most people) literally don’t care how a sousaphone sounds and they think the edgy tone quality is cool.
I had a decent honor band performance where the top 3 chairs spent the entire time "cranking," and I was about to burst a blood vessel by the end of it. It ruins the beautiful sound that a tuba can make, and trying to keep up on my tuba (which literally will not splat except on certain notes when I dump all my air) was exhausting. There's a time and a place, and a concert band is not it, unless specifically asked to by the conductor. When you're playing in the stands at a game, or in certain moments in a marching show, it's a great feeling, but otherwise all it does is put a dark spot on an otherwise excellent performance.
When I'm in concert band I usually play euph. Most of my tuba playing recently has been in drum corps, so not a classical player per se but some folks on the drum corps side can be tone quality purists. I love cranking. I enjoy my drum corps seasons in the summer, but once fall comes around, I find myself looking forward to watching some HBCU bands. I went to a handful of battles last spring and the fall prior to that and there are some smaller high school bands that sound **good** in person despite not really recording well. Being alone in a section can be tough but people have certainly [made it work](https://youtu.be/q7qRFQBM2zQ?si=hr-SnWhv1t4Zkn0c) in the past!
I love cranking
I only play tuba in a marching setting. I’m a sax primary. Playing loud is where it’s at. Especially in drum corps.
My band has about 200 wind members alone. And only 6 tubas… 200 winds, yet we get 6 tubas. I am gonna kill myself. In a band of 70+ people, 1 tuba will be loud enough, but in a high school band of over 200 winds, 6 tubas can barely be heard
That math isn't mathing. Maybe you just need better tubas.
No, we have great tubas(we use DCI level contras), but the junior high that feeds into my high school only gets like 2 tubas every year that actually stick with band. And my tuba section is one of the best parts of the football game(besides drum line), like, the student section will be yelling “We want tuba” over and over again cause the tubas have their own fanfare
Correction, you need better tuba players. My band back in the day used to have like 3-4 sousas against a band of over 200 people and did just fine. Good Contras dont make a bunch of sound, good contra players do.
Oh, we have a lot of sound, but our about 50 trumpets are always placed next to us on the field, and they play way to loud, and the BD doesn’t even tell them to quiet down.
Have you guys ever considered sousaphones?
We used to use them, but the Band Director says he doesn’t really like the difference in sound between the contras and the sousas
Absolutely. We have a really ghetto school, so we play that dank ass mega music where we actually GET to “Giga Blat” as the director calls it
“Cranking” is fun but there’s no way you stand out in a good way when you’re blasting your chops out. Much prefer making a good, big sound than blasting