Vol. 1, No. 78

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17 January 1997

EDITOR'S NOTE: let's welcome new subscriber Derek Johnson < derek.debbie@zetnet.co.uk >. Welcome aboard!

On another note (low Db, I think), I've included some of the "digest/non-digest vote" posts, mainly so that people who may not have had such a choice in the past can get an idea of what the pros and cons are. I won't put all the votes in, as it is a bit off-topic.

Author: "Irwin; Mike" <MIrwin@cinergy.com>
Date: 1/16/97 9:02 AM
Subject: RE: Contrabass-L No. 77 Question

>Mellophonium? There's one I hadn't heard of (although I'm still catching
>up on the brass family). Would you mind describing it more?

I hadn't heard of a sarrusophone before either. :-)

Imagine a trumpet on steroids, but with round tubing like a french horn. It is sort of a cross between an Eflat alto horn and a french horn in sound, but there is nothing exactly like it.

I don't know if you can view pictures, but here's one : [a mellophonium]

It has a removable slide to change the key from Eflat to F, so the mellophonium can double on french horn parts. There's also an adapter to allow the use of a french horn mouthpiece.

They were primarily (at least in my day) used in marching bands, and the players played french horn in concert season in a lot of cases.

For more info than you probably ever would want, try the following link:

http://www.angelfire.com/pg8/raptor/mellophone.html

This is an "Unofficial" Mellophone/Mellophonium home page, written by a college student who plays a modern day version of the above pictured horn. The modern version truly looks like a trumpet on steriods.

Hope this helps. I could ramble on for quite a bit if I let myself.

Mike Irwin
mirwin@cinergy.com
"Back up my hard drive??? I can't even find the reverse switch!!!"

Author: JbJazzman@aol.com
Date: 1/16/97 9:02 AM
Subject: Re: Contrabass-L No. 76

count me in for the non-digest(immediate gratification) format, Grant.

Thanks, Jeff Brody (Buffalo, NY)

Date: Thu, 16 Jan 1997 21:20:30 GMT
From: derek.debbie@zetnet.co.uk (Derek Johnson)
Subject: subscribe contrabass

Author: gdgreen@contrabass.com (Grant Green) at SMTP
Date: 1/16/97 2:45 PM
TO: derek.debbie@zetnet.co.uk (Derek Johnson) at SMTP
Subject: Re: subscribe contrabass

Welcome aboard! You're now subscribed, and will probably receive your first digest tomorrow (Friday).

Please feel free to post an introduction (e.g., background, interest, instruments, etc.): not required but appreciated.

Grant

Date: Thu, 16 Jan 1997 17:05:50 -0600
From: "William J. Dawson" <w-dawson@nwu.edu>
Subject: list format

Grant:

I'd prefer to read all postings in a standard, not digest, format (also somewhat easier to respond to, I believe).

To let others know that the contrabasoon is alive and well in community music groups, I'm using it for 40-90% of compositions played by my local symphonic wind ensemble (as only, or one of 2 bassoons) and concert band (one of 3 regular bassoons). In addition, the wind ensemble is privileged to have a EEb contra-alto clarinet, so our low reeds really make an audible difference.

Also, our wind ensemble director is working on obtaining a bass sax for specialty use (and for big band sounds, I often switch over to bari sax, if that's not too high an instrument to mention on this list). We're anticipating scaling new depths (puns intended)!!

Bill Dawson

I commend your directors! Good to hear that there are at least some who appreciate the need for the low winds. I'll be sitting in with a new (to me) group next week, to see what I can talk them into ;-) At present they don't have any low winds (well, nothing below bassoon in the woodwinds, at least), so I'm bringing contrabass clarinet, Bb bass and Eb contrabass sarrusophones, and alto and bari saxes (which they may have need for). It isn't a particularly large group (55-60 members, I think) for a band, but then, they don't double up on a lot of the parts.

Grant

From: "Daryl Fletcher" <daryl@www.walker.public.lib.ga.us>
Date: Fri, 17 Jan 1997 12:10:17 EST
Subject: list

Grant,

I know it takes a whole lot of time to manually compile each issue of contrabass-l, and that using real listserv software will make your life easier, but I have to admit that I'm a little worried about how contrabass-l might change because of it. Is there a way you can use this software and still keep the list Spam-free? If you've been on other discussion lists recently, and I know you have, I think you can understand why this concerns me.

I'm thinking about dropping another music-related list I'm on and sticking with just contrabass-l because I'm tried of sorting through meaningless garbage to find the good stuff.

---------------------------------
Daryl Fletcher
daryl@www.walker.public.lib.ga.us
http://www.walker.public.lib.ga.us/~daryl/

Author: gdgreen@contrabass.com (Grant Green) at SMTP
Date: 1/17/97 11:26 AM
Subject: Re: list

>Grant,
>I know it takes a whole lot of time to manually compile each issue of
>contrabass-l, and that using real listserv software will make your
>life easier, but I have to admit that I'm a little worried about how
>contrabass-l might change because of it. Is there a way you can use
>this software and still keep the list Spam-free? If you've been on

I know what you mean: I subscribe to several lists that ocassionally get spammed (and of course, several other subscribers immediately reply back to the list quoting the entire spam, etc.). Procmail fortunately has a few ways to help avoid spam.

First off, it will be set to accept posts only from subscribers.
Second, it can filter mail, based on subject line or text content, and I plan to set it to reject anything that contains "virus", "warning", "money", "$$$", etc. (can you think of any others?). That should cut out 99% of the more common spam.
Finally, I'll probably use the length limit to reject messages longer than some limit (which, admittedly, may be tricky to set correctly without cutting off valid posts): certainly anything like >10K posted to the list is probably spam.

If all else fails, we can convert the list to "full moderated" form, where I approve each post before it gets sent out (still quicker than digest compilation).

I think that with a little careful planning, we can run a list that avoids the vast majority of spammers. I hope that we have enough road blocks in the way that spammers won't find it worthwhile to crack just to reach our comparatively small group. In the meantime, I make it a policy to forward all spam to the postmaster of the spammer's ISP, in an effort to get them off the web as quickly as possible.

And now, its time to compile another digest... :-)

Grant

Author: David V Feldman <dvf@christa.unh.edu>
Date: 1/17/97 8:50 AM
Subject: Re: Contrabass-L No. 77

> We're happy to have you: everyone with an interest in music or instruments
> is welcome. *Especially* if you're going to expand our repertoire!
> I'm sure there must be someone amongst our several contrabassoonists who
> would like to try your piece, perhaps even to perform at the next
> ContraFest. Depending on the range (and other characteristics of the piece),
> I might even try it on the sarrusophone: does it descend below low Db, or
> require extended techniques particular to the contrabassoon?
> Grant

I will send you the PostScript file immediately, but under separate cover. I confess that I don't even know what a sarrusophone is, but your question has the answer no: the piece consists of just pitches and rhythms and could be played on any intrument, in principle. It does depend, however, on the agility of a woodwind, I can't really imagine an effective performance on a string bass, say. On the other hand, I think it would sound great on a low sax.

Thanks for the interest, for the rapid response, for organizing such an interesting list. I'm hoping to learn alot.

David

Author: Grant Green <gdgreen@crl.com> at SMTP
Date: 1/17/97 9:03 AM
Subject: Re: Contrabass-L No. 77

At 12:25 AM 1/17/97 -0500, you wrote:

>I will send you the PostScript file immediately, but under separate cover.
>I confess that I don't even know what a sarrusophone is, but your question
>has the answer no: the piece consists of just pitches and rhythms and could
>be played on any intrument, in principle. It does depend, however, on the
>agility of a woodwind, I can't really imagine an effective performance on
>a string bass, say. On the other hand, I think it would sound great on
>a low sax.

There's a sarrusophone page at http://www.crl.com/~gdgreen/sarrus.html , but the brief description is: its a cross between a bassoon and a saxophone. Brass, conical bore (wider than a bassoon, but narrower than a sax), saxophone fingerings, saxophone range, double reed. They come in every size the standard saxes do: Bb soprano, Eb alto, Bb tenor, Eb bari, Bb bass, Eb contra, and also CC and BBb contra (lower than any saxes). There may be an Eb sopranino sarrusophone, but I've seen only a few references to one. They were popular in the late 1800's and early 1900's, especially in military bands. Only the Eb contra was made in the US (by Conn): the rest were made chiefly in France. They haven't been mass-produced since around 1950, so sarrusophone fanciers are forced to scour the countryside for antique horns (its worth the hunt) ;-). The Eb contra corresponds to the (very rare) Eb contrabass sax, and ranges from the lowest Db on the piano upwards 2.5 octaves (possibly higher - give me a few more months).

>Thanks for the interest, for the rapid response, for organizing such an
>interesting list. I'm hoping to learn alot.
>David

You're welcome!

Grant

I've now had a look at the score ("Ground Rules" for solo contrabassoon): at this point, I can say that it looks interesting, but I realize I'll have to hear the MIDI file before I have any real idea of how it should be played. David, would you mind emailing me a copy of the MIDI file, or letting me know where I can download it?

Grant

End Contrabass-L No. 78

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