can be rather heavy for marchers. He also invented a brass instrument called the sousaphone. Invented the Sousaphone. When he did, what he found was a shock. In 1973, Bailey had recently graduated from West Chester State College and was traveling with his mother and sister to a local flea market in Adamstown, PA. At the market, he noticed an old three-valve “rain catcher” Sousaphone. The Helicon was popular across Europe and the United States. The Sousaphone is a splendid instrument. The Helicon is one of the first instruments to have a distinct tuba shape. II began teaching 5th grade in Torrance, California in a K – 8th grade. Glen then became the first sousaphone player to dot the "i" on October 23, 1937. The John Philip Sousa House, also known historically as Wildbank, is a historic house at 12 Hicks Lane, overlooking Manhasset Bay, in Sands Point, New York. highly enthusiastic about the sousaphone, once predicting that It is a result of searching for an instrument that produces the deep sound of a tuba. Alternatively, it may be a comment about someone’s alcohol consumption! Saxhorn Family of valved brass instruments that have conical bores and deep cup-shaped mouthpieces. a warmer tone (more like that of the concert tuba) and allow the An instrument manufacturer completed it as a special order in 1890. The sousaphone was created by redesigning the tuba in a larger size. The tuba I purchased was made in Gastrolitz, Bohemia for the Carl Fuches Music Company of Los Angeles sometime in the 1880s. invented the sousaphone in the late 1800s, and toured with his own band for forty years. As said earlier, the Sousaphone is the descendent of the Helicon. The controversy settled, the only mystery left to solve was the whereabouts of the original horn. John Philip Sousa House. Thanks, Dave for your work, and for sharing it with us all! Adolphe Sax was born on Nov. 6, 1814, in Dinant, Belgium. It also includes a snapshot of the booming business that Pepper was doing toward the end of the 19th century. But the framed information sheet that declared it to be “The Original Sousaphone” raised some questions in my mind, so when we returned home to PA, I began to research the early history of the Sousaphone – just for fun. To prepare the instrument to be played, they brought it to Steve Dillon and Matt Walters of Dillon Music, both experts in the field of instrument repair and the care of antique instruments. Named after an ancient instrument? The photographs of the Sousaphone are in the windows of one of the principal music stores in Olive Street (St. Louis), which is the street of this city, and are a great attraction.”. and using several of his suggestions in its design. The founding company, J. W. Pepper and Son The trombone is actually one of the oldest orchestral instruments around, dating back to at least the Renaissance. John Philip Sousa. Hoss and even Pa spend time practicing with a Sousaphone, an instrument which was not invented until 1898. The school had a band, a Sousaphone, and no one to play it so I rehearsed with the band before classes began, The band director gave me the phone number of the Palos Verdes Symphonic Band and I was soon playing with this community band. There is more direct evidence, however, and it comes in the form of a quote directly from the composer himself, John Philip Sousa. map | Privacy Policy. Sousaphones were invented to be a "marching tuba" It is called the sousaphone after John Sousa a well known Composer and Conductor Unlike the tuba the sousaphone has little to no history (it… Sousa remained 300. Back in the summer of 2012, I was visiting Interlochen with my family (I am an NMC alum, 1979, and was on staff at NMC, 1981, and IAA, 1984-86). Life has many surprises. Up until the 1890's, the instrument closest to the modern day sousaphone Marching through the history of the Sousaphone - and other big tubas! Which school did you work as a teacher? Sousa is well known for the patriotic marches he composed. Brendan started at Pepper in 2012 and currently works in the Marketing department as a copywriter. The first known mention of the word trombone was in 1488, but that mention was made in reference to its appearance at the wedding of the Duke of Burgundy 20 years earlier. Yet another update: A few days ago I found another very early reference to the Pepper Sousaphone – this time in the July 1896 edition of The Dominant, an obscure music journal published in Philadelphia at that time. As you listen to Sousa's compositions, … THE ORIGINAL SOUSAPHONE For many years there were claims and counter claims about who invented the Sousaphone. This brings the story back to Dave Detwiler. Herman Conrad, the first Sousaphone player. I began playing Tuba in 1956 as a high school sophomore in De Smet, South Dakota. The design was adapted from the tuba and the helicon. Everybody, listen to THIS!" They are, at least, using the early model with a bell pointing directly up like a … 95 Theses. It now resides in the Greenleaf collection at the Interlochen Center for the Arts. popular for school marching bands due to their lower cost and lighter A 'march' is music for marching and features a strong beat. I went to k-5th grade at Meadow Park Elementary School, and my first band teacher was a Mr. Marcus. On the horn of the instrument, a series of engravings told the story of a pioneering instrument made especially for Sousa. Pepper's first sousaphone still exists - it is covered in elaborate Fantastic article and exciting to know the original is back in service! PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: The sousaphone is basically a tuba that coils around the performer's body with a flared bell that faces forward. the player's left. Serious electronics connoisseurs might have a dozen remotes scattered on their coffee tables for their entertainment system; even your friends who are less fond of electronics likely have a handful of remotes at their disposal, controlling everything from TVs and air conditioners to car door locks. Contrary to popular belief, the Sousaphone was not invented by John Courtesy of The Ohio State University library archives. He then contacted J.W. Ironically, Sousa came to prefer the sousaphone produced Developed in 1845 by Ignaz Stowasser of Vienna, it has a spiral circular form that allows the helicon’s bell (the flared end of the instrument) to rest on the player’s left shoulder and, thus, makes the instrument relatively easy to carry in marching or horseback military bands, for which it was designed. Sousaphones with a forward-facing bell were first produced by Conn Antoine-Joseph " Adolphe " Sax (French: [ɑ̃twan ʒɔzɛf adɔlf saks]; 6 November 1814 – 7 February 1894) was a Belgian inventor and musician who created the saxophone in the early 1840s, patenting it in 1846. Aerophone, Brass instrument, Cylindrical bore; Brass instrument invented by composer and conductor John Philip Sousa, and the instrument maker J. W. Pepper (Philadelphia). On the field, in the stands, or on the street, the Sousaphone is one of the most recognizable instruments in the world. A wealth of newly gathered evidence has proven that the first Sousaphone was manufactured by none other than J.W. In marching bands, a specially designed tuba called a sousaphone is used. Good eye Dave! That is, until now. But the very first Sousaphone ever built came from the J. W. Pepper factory in 1895, as I share in the video above. instrument to better project its sound over the rest of the concert Conn with its construction, because of the first sousaphone he built later in 1898. The Helicon. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. However, brass sousaphones produce a sound which is far engraving, including a freehand portrait of J.P. Sousa which is engraved Tuesday, November 24, 2015. Pepper’s YouTube channel. Pepper of Philadelphia, in 1893. Many believed that C. G. Conn made the Sousaphone in 1898. Developed by Adolphe Sax, who is also known for creating the saxophone family. brass bands. © 2007-Present Sousaphone.net | Contact us | Site Field hollers and work songs. Dear readers, I believe it is time for me too explain the difference between tubas and sousaphones Sousaphones are basically giant tubas. Sold the … Featured in the August 30, 1922 edition of the Christian Science Monitor is an article where Sousa discusses the creation of the instrument, saying, “The Sousaphone received its name through a suggestion made by me to J. W. Pepper, the instrument manufacturer of Philadelphia, fully 30 odd years ago…I spoke to Mr. Pepper relative to constructing a bass instrument in which the bell would turn upwards and be adjustable for concert purposes. The new instrument had an oversized bell pointing straight up, rather than the directional bell of a normal hélicon. Recognizing the possible historical significance of the instrument, he purchased it for $50 with the intention of refurbishing it. maker (who created the instrument in 1893 at Mr. Sousa's request You may wish to be in touch with him to learn more about it. The average size of superior and are the variety of choice for concert instruments (est. Kudos! The sousaphone can be made out of either Brass or Fiberglass. A graduate of Villanova University, Brendan has been a musician for over twenty years. a much smaller bell, which was pointed upwards and slightly to During his youth, Adolphe studied the clarinet and flute at Brussels Conservatory. And play it did. Learn how your comment data is processed. In Mr. Detwiler’s able hands, the original Sousaphone joined the Montgomery County Community Band in concert on May 3, 2015. Indeed, Conn instruments were in use by the Sousa band by 1898. This bass instrument was the forerunner of the Sousaphone, which is the self-same instrument with a directional bell grafted on. I am still playing that Tuba in the New Horizons Band of Colorado Springs, CO. some day every household would have one - just like a piano! Since then, a sousaphone player has dotted the "i" over 800 times. But I do have a really cool picture of me holding it (and I saw one of you doing the same)! The word tuba originally was the name of a straight-built Roman trumpet and was the medieval Latin word for trumpet.Valved bass brass instruments for bands are mentioned as early as 1829, but little is now known about them. It was invented circa 1820. 300. The sousaphone was invented in 1893 and also known as marching tuba. As a flutist and OLD Army Bandsman, I was mesmerized by this presentation. The Tuba was invented by Willhelm Friedrich Wieprecht and Johann Gottfried Moritz in September 12, 1835. John Philip Sousa, the famous American conductor and composer of many marching tunes, came up with the idea for the sousaphone. That is, until now. Wikimedia/Svíčková/CC BY-SA 3.0 . The sousaphone was developed by J.W. of the instrument and couldn't be moved. You can watch clips of the concert, parts of the repair process, and the full interview with Dave Detwiler at the top of this blog post or on J.W. on the bell. Later on, the sousaphone would be made in its image, grafting a bell on so that it would face towards the front of the user. The Sousaphone, developed at the request of John Philip Sousa (from whom it takes its name) was created by J.W. Pepper and the famous march composer, John Philip Sousa. Contrary to popular belief, the Sousaphone was not invented by John Philip Sousa himself, but by J. W. Pepper - a Philadelphia instrument maker (who created the instrument in 1893 at Mr. Sousa's request and using several of his suggestions in its design. Two key pieces of evidence are firsthand accounts: one from Sousa and one from Herman Conrad, the first Sousaphone player in history. Here’s the link to the historic photograph that was discovered that changed what we know about that historic instrument: http://tubapastor.blogspot.com/2015/10/a-truly-historic-photograph-1896.html I also finally found a reference to Pepper’s new instrument in a newspaper article from the time of that Sousa Band tour: http://tubapastor.blogspot.com/2016/03/finally-check-out-this-1896-article.html The work of the historian is never done! The conventional wisdom has held that the instrument was invented by the C. G. Conn company. That part of the story skips over 70 years from when the original Sousaphone mysteriously disappeared, to its miraculous discovery in 1973 by a man named John Bailey. Where might you have heard Princess Anne on sousaphone and John Wayne on xylophone, and what was Eric Clapton playing? While I'm no expert at this, I think they can also be made of colored plastic. His love of the tuba family of instruments is what led him to investigate the history of the Sousaphone. Now a staple of show bands and parades, the instrument had its start in the late 1800s as a piece in John Philip Sousa’s Peerless Concert Band. And while we are on the topic, what is the origin of the word 'button'? It wraps around the marcher’s body, so it can be carried more easily. The helicon, thought to have been invented in Russia circa 1845, was designed to be a marching horn, carried on the shoulder. The helicon was invented around 1845 (nine years before John was born), and was for all practical purposes, a sousaphone, albeit with smaller bore (tubing diameter) and bell (the flared opening where the music comes out). Fact, John Philip Sousa’s face appears engraved on the bell in recognition his... Helicon, a large, valved bass brass instrument called the Sousaphone is the term multiple! With a flared bell that faces forward time practicing with a flared bell that forward! 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