TWOBA
TWOBA
By Roland Szentpáli Szentpáli Szentpáli
Zoltán Juhász Juhász Juhász
& Gerhard A. Meinl A. Meinl A. Meinl
TWOBA
TWOBA
By Roland Szentpáli Szentpáli Szentpáli
Zoltán Juhász Juhász Juhász
& Gerhard A. Meinl A. Meinl A. Meinl
“Step into the Spotlight!”
If you ever played a solo in front of huge crowd, with an orchestra behind you, if you ever played in a jazz band or a chamber group, you know the feeling of being stuck to your seat, with weak projection of your sound to the audience, and being covered by your tuba.
THE SOLUTION IS here: the DOUBLE SIDED PISTON SYSTEM made by ROLAND SZENTPÁLI, ZOLTÁN JUHÁSZ, supported by GERHARD MEINL gives you TWO INTRUMENTS IN ONE. A traditional positioning tuba with all its benefits and the NEW WAY OF HOLDING your instrument with FREE BODY COMMUNICATION to your audience and the BEST EVER PROJECTION of your playing.
TWOBA: STEP INTO THE SPOTLIGHT
GREETINGS FROM GERHARD MEINL
About the instrument
Not much has changed since the tuba patented September 12, 1835. Its valve system has been developed and perfected like any other brass instrument, and its size is growing the most, in line with the expectations of the outdoor brass band, wind band, military band to be as loud as possible.
For the outdoor performances, such as marching or asphalt shows, the instrument makers already had to find a solutions for the players, how to carry the heavy tuba while marching kilometers, or holding it by standing in an outdoor concert.
In the middle of the XIX. century (around 1850) the instrument maker, Stowasser made a marching instrument based on the tuba called „helicon”. The players plays this instrument in a way, that he carries it on his shoulder.
This instrument was minimally adjusted at the beginning of the XXth cemtury, by John Phillip Sousa for his american military band. This instrument is called „Sousaphone”.
This examples already proves, that the size of the intrument was very soon limited its using possibilities and makers had to find a solution already for outdoor use, 15 years after the tuba was patent.
After the middle of the 20th century, Hindemith, R.V. Williams, and Penderecki wrote the backbone of the instrument’s solo repertoire. From the birth of the tuba it didn’t even arise for the instrument to be given a solo role.
Before the turn of the millennium, another major (film) composer, John Williams, composed a concerto for tuba, thus increasingly paving the way for a wider audience and to be a solo instruments.
Nowadays, more and more players, both technically and musically, are well prepared to stand up as a soloist with an orchestra or symphonic band, or play a complete solo recital.
During its evolution, tuba evolved in such a way that, due to its weight and holding position, it can only be played while sitting with it.
This is not a big problem yet, as they play both cello and piano by sitting, but in contrast, the tuba covers the player’s half face, the bell is not projecting to the audience and it is difficult to move the body while playing the instrument.
There are basically two ways for a tuba soloist to play the instrument on stage:
1. Facing to the audience.
The player’s half face is then covered and the instrument bell is positioned towards the upper left corner of the stage.
As a result, although they can see his half face to some extent, he can make limited contact with the audience, but the sounds played on the instrument are difficult to understand because the bell is not aimed at the audience at all.
2. Aside to the audience.
The tuba player’s playing is a little bit more audible because – although still more up, but at least – the bell is positioning to the audience.
The static, almost motionless sitting position is a current problem in both cases. The player is unable to communicate with his body, nor with the audience, or with the conductor, or with the musicians, which hugely narrows the expressiveness of the tuba soloist.
I have struggled with these problems for decades and have always tried to find a solution on how to transform the instrument so that we eliminate them.
Zoltán Juhász, a master instrument maker and instrument renovator, proved to be a great partner for this.
During our collaboration with Zoltán Juhász, we managed to reform the instrument so that it can be played while standing with it.
The player only needs to balance the instrument with a minimal amount with his hands while moving freely on the stage.
He sees the conductor perfectly, he does not cover his face with the bell of the instrument and in the meantime the instrument is aimed at the audience.
The biggest innovation in this mechanism is that the Piston is operated from a completely different position than before. So far the Piston has been pushed into the Piston housing from its upper position, now we are pushing the piston into the Piston housing from below from the upper position by means of a mechanism.
Thanks to this, we were able to turn the instrument 180 °, resulting in the funnel facing the audience while playing. The conversion between the traditional and the new playing position takes two and a half minutes for the musician.
The goal of this instrument is, that this is still a fully functioning tuba, not a compromised instrument, such like the helicon or sousaphone.
Our instrument is playable in traditional way, that makes it useful in any symphony or opera orchestra or symphonic band, where the player can take a seat with the instrument.
But in the new playing position our tuba is playable by standing position, so its great for playing solos with any accompaniment, great for any jazz soloing where the player have to move, and it’s easy to marching with as well in a military band.
This two positioning tuba is solving all the acoustic and positioning problem and covering all the genres of the instrument.”
About the instrument
Not much has changed since the tuba patented September 12, 1835. Its valve system has been developed and perfected like any other brass instrument, and its size is growing the most, in line with the expectations of the outdoor brass band, wind band, military band to be as loud as possible.
For the outdoor performances, such as marching or asphalt shows, the instrument makers already had to find a solutions for the players, how to carry the heavy tuba while marching kilometers, or holding it by standing in an outdoor concert.
In the middle of the XIX. century (around 1850) the instrument maker, Stowasser made a marching instrument based on the tuba called „helicon”. The players plays this instrument in a way, that he carries it on his shoulder.
This instrument was minimally adjusted at the beginning of the XXth cemtury, by John Phillip Sousa for his american military band. This instrument is called „Sousaphone”.
This examples already proves, that the size of the intrument was very soon limited its using possibilities and makers had to find a solution already for outdoor use, 15 years after the tuba was patent.
After the middle of the 20th century, Hindemith, R.V. Williams, and Penderecki wrote the backbone of the instrument’s solo repertoire. From the birth of the tuba it didn’t even arise for the instrument to be given a solo role.
Before the turn of the millennium, another major (film) composer, John Williams, composed a concerto for tuba, thus increasingly paving the way for a wider audience and to be a solo instruments.
Nowadays, more and more players, both technically and musically, are well prepared to stand up as a soloist with an orchestra or symphonic band, or play a complete solo recital.
During its evolution, tuba evolved in such a way that, due to its weight and holding position, it can only be played while sitting with it.
This is not a big problem yet, as they play both cello and piano by sitting, but in contrast, the tuba covers the player’s half face, the bell is not projecting to the audience and it is difficult to move the body while playing the instrument.
There are basically two ways for a tuba soloist to play the instrument on stage:
1. Facing to the audience.
The player’s half face is then covered and the instrument bell is positioned towards the upper left corner of the stage.
As a result, although they can see his half face to some extent, he can make limited contact with the audience, but the sounds played on the instrument are difficult to understand because the bell is not aimed at the audience at all.
2. Aside to the audience.
The tuba player’s playing is a little bit more audible because – although still more up, but at least – the bell is positioning to the audience.
The static, almost motionless sitting position is a current problem in both cases. The player is unable to communicate with his body, nor with the audience, or with the conductor, or with the musicians, which hugely narrows the expressiveness of the tuba soloist.
I have struggled with these problems for decades and have always tried to find a solution on how to transform the instrument so that we eliminate them.
Zoltán Juhász, a master instrument maker and instrument renovator, proved to be a great partner for this.
During our collaboration with Zoltán Juhász, we managed to reform the instrument so that it can be played while standing with it.
The player only needs to balance the instrument with a minimal amount with his hands while moving freely on the stage.
He sees the conductor perfectly, he does not cover his face with the bell of the instrument and in the meantime the instrument is aimed at the audience.
The biggest innovation in this mechanism is that the Piston is operated from a completely different position than before. So far the Piston has been pushed into the Piston housing from its upper position, now we are pushing the piston into the Piston housing from below from the upper position by means of a mechanism.
Thanks to this, we were able to turn the instrument 180 °, resulting in the funnel facing the audience while playing. The conversion between the traditional and the new playing position takes two and a half minutes for the musician.
The goal of this instrument is, that this is still a fully functioning tuba, not a compromised instrument, such like the helicon or sousaphone.
Our instrument is playable in traditional way, that makes it useful in any symphony or opera orchestra or symphonic band, where the player can take a seat with the instrument.
But in the new playing position our tuba is playable by standing position, so its great for playing solos with any accompaniment, great for any jazz soloing where the player have to move, and it’s easy to marching with as well in a military band.
This two positioning tuba is solving all the acoustic and positioning problem and covering all the genres of the instrument.”
