Tommy Johnson's Cimbasso
Earlier in my career, there was a lot of confusion regarding the
word "cimbasso". Today, thanks to the Internet, the whole world
can read up on such obscure topics. After such a statement, I do
want to encourage skepticism to be part of every Google search,
but I did check the information that Wikipedia provides about
cimbasso and it's pretty good. In our modern terminology a
cimbasso is always a contrabass valve trombone, pitched in F or
CC or more rarely in Eb or BBb. Historically, contrabass valve
trombones were almost always pitched in either BBb or F, keeping
in the tradition of Germany and almost all of Eastern and Northern
Europe. They were not termed "cimbasso" but were called on to
play that part in Italian opera in the late 19th century. The original
instrument intended to play those parts was a serpent or bass horn
and later the ophicleide and more easily manageable instruments.
In the early 1990s, I purchased a used Rudy Meinl cimbasso in F
and offered it for sale. I thought that it would be a difficult
instrument to resell for anything approaching half the price of a new
one. At the time, they were only occasionally used in either
recording or opera. When Tommy Johnson came in for a repair he
was surprised to see it here and bought it immediately, telling me
that he had been needing one for the demands of his studio work
(Jim Self tells of the changing recording scene in "The Studio
Tubist"). A short time later he asked me if I could make an
alternate tuning slide to play in CC. I figured how much length
would have to be added and convinced him that such a long slide
would be very clumsy and may not play well. The next time he
came in he brought his Mirafone 184 CC tuba that he never used
anymore. This was the tuba that George Strucel had added a sixth
valve and second bell to. The bottom photos shows a younger
Tommy Johnson playing that tuba in my office. He had used it
extensively in the 1960s and 1970s for movie and television work
to get the contrabass trombone sound through the small bell. He
also had a BBb slide trombone but really hated to play it. He
wanted me to use the tuba valve section to build a CC valve section
for the Meinl bell. I did this and it worked quite well. The top
photo shows Tommy trying out the new valve section; the original
is in the case behind him. Tommy was actively promoting the use
of cimbassi to the composers and arrangers in the studios. Next, of
course, he needed a new bell for his cimbasso kit. This was a lot
easier than modifying the valve section. I used a Kanstul marching
baritone bell and made up the rest of the tapered tubing from sheet
stock. I knew that this bell would work from Larry Minick, who
used Olds marching baritone bells for Roger Bobo's cimbasso and a
succession of valve and slide contrabass trombones. Now Tommy
had a second instrument with a lower range to use as well as to
lend to other players when both were needed. This instrument was
loaned to both Doug Tornquist and Fred Green many times and
eventually, Fred talked Tommy into selling it to him. Fred uses it
regularly, including recently for the two latest of the Pirates of the
Caribbean franchise.
PS: I'd like to hear about a good, affordable valve section/parts
horn Mirafone 184 tuba that I can use to reconstruct Tommy's
double bell tuba. Contact me.
word "cimbasso". Today, thanks to the Internet, the whole world
can read up on such obscure topics. After such a statement, I do
want to encourage skepticism to be part of every Google search,
but I did check the information that Wikipedia provides about
cimbasso and it's pretty good. In our modern terminology a
cimbasso is always a contrabass valve trombone, pitched in F or
CC or more rarely in Eb or BBb. Historically, contrabass valve
trombones were almost always pitched in either BBb or F, keeping
in the tradition of Germany and almost all of Eastern and Northern
Europe. They were not termed "cimbasso" but were called on to
play that part in Italian opera in the late 19th century. The original
instrument intended to play those parts was a serpent or bass horn
and later the ophicleide and more easily manageable instruments.
In the early 1990s, I purchased a used Rudy Meinl cimbasso in F
and offered it for sale. I thought that it would be a difficult
instrument to resell for anything approaching half the price of a new
one. At the time, they were only occasionally used in either
recording or opera. When Tommy Johnson came in for a repair he
was surprised to see it here and bought it immediately, telling me
that he had been needing one for the demands of his studio work
(Jim Self tells of the changing recording scene in "The Studio
Tubist"). A short time later he asked me if I could make an
alternate tuning slide to play in CC. I figured how much length
would have to be added and convinced him that such a long slide
would be very clumsy and may not play well. The next time he
came in he brought his Mirafone 184 CC tuba that he never used
anymore. This was the tuba that George Strucel had added a sixth
valve and second bell to. The bottom photos shows a younger
Tommy Johnson playing that tuba in my office. He had used it
extensively in the 1960s and 1970s for movie and television work
to get the contrabass trombone sound through the small bell. He
also had a BBb slide trombone but really hated to play it. He
wanted me to use the tuba valve section to build a CC valve section
for the Meinl bell. I did this and it worked quite well. The top
photo shows Tommy trying out the new valve section; the original
is in the case behind him. Tommy was actively promoting the use
of cimbassi to the composers and arrangers in the studios. Next, of
course, he needed a new bell for his cimbasso kit. This was a lot
easier than modifying the valve section. I used a Kanstul marching
baritone bell and made up the rest of the tapered tubing from sheet
stock. I knew that this bell would work from Larry Minick, who
used Olds marching baritone bells for Roger Bobo's cimbasso and a
succession of valve and slide contrabass trombones. Now Tommy
had a second instrument with a lower range to use as well as to
lend to other players when both were needed. This instrument was
loaned to both Doug Tornquist and Fred Green many times and
eventually, Fred talked Tommy into selling it to him. Fred uses it
regularly, including recently for the two latest of the Pirates of the
Caribbean franchise.
PS: I'd like to hear about a good, affordable valve section/parts
horn Mirafone 184 tuba that I can use to reconstruct Tommy's
double bell tuba. Contact me.
Click on image for larger view.
