Stuff the IMC Shop Found Stuck in Band Instruments

You Won't Believe What We Found

1. Hockey Puck (in Sousaphone)

2. Legos (in various instruments)

3. Old reeds (in Saxophone)

4. Mouthpiece cap (in Bari Sax)

5. Cleaning Swabs (in various instruments)

6. Petrified Banana (in Tuba)

7. Change of gym clothes (in Sousaphone)

8. Pencil (in Trumpet)

9. Matchbox Car (in Euphonium)

10. Cork Grease Container (in Saxophone)

First Instrument- Patty Scansy

What was Patty Scansy's First Instrument?

When I was 5 years old, a neighbor girl would let me play on her piano.  Occasionally, she would give me a lesson.  When I was in second grade, I really wanted to take piano lessons.  My parents were hesitant because money was tight and they were afraid that it was just a passing phase.  They told me that if I still wanted to take piano lessons in third grade, they would consent.  After the first day of third grade, the only thing I came home with was the paper to enroll in piano lessons.

I continued with piano lessons through my junior year in college, but piano was just a starting point for my musical career.  In fifth grade I began playing the cello and in seventh grade I took organ lessons and became one of the organists at my church.  Since our high school did not have a string program at the time, I started playing the French horn.  Eventually a string program was started in the high school and I started playing the cello again as well as continuing with the French horn.

I had always wanted to be a music teacher and so I attended the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh and majored in Instrumental Music Education.  I was a French horn major with a piano and cello minor.  After graduation, I came to Green Bay and taught Instrumental Music in the Green Bay Public Schools for 34 years.  Throughout those years, I also played with the Green Bay City Band, The Heritage Hill Silver Cornet Band and was a church organist.  I am now retired, working part-time for IMC and playing French horn in the Allouez Village Band.

I am thankful that my parents consented to those piano lessons in the third grade.  The piano gave me such a wonderful foundation for all of my music studies and opened up a world of opportunities!

First Instrument- Kevin Baker

What was Kevin Baker's First Instrument?

"I started playing my first instrument- the drum set- in the 4th grade. One of my older brothers was in a band with his high school friends.  They practiced at our house, so I got to watch and listen.  I was in awe of the drummer and knew I wanted to be like him.  The band left their instruments at our house, so three of us Baker boys would mess around on them.  The first song I learned to play on drums was “Talk Dirty to Me” by Poison.  I knew right then that someday I would play drums on a big stage.  I started formally learning drums the next year in 5^th grade band and have been playing them ever since.  I may not have made it big, but I have had the opportunity to play some big stages…and make a little money doing it.  Wouldn’t trade that experience for anything."

First Instrument- Chuck Iken

What Chuck Iken's First Instrument?

"Technically, when I was 4 or 5, my great-grandmother had an old upright player piano (affectionately known in the industry today as a “boat anchor” because of its extreme weight)  I used to sit at the piano and pick out tunes.  By the time I was 10 in the mid-1960’s, my parents purchased a Lowrey electronic organ and I started taking lessons. If you ever watch “That 70’s Show” you get the picture of the organ in the living room like so many families had in that era.  I took lessons for about 4 years and also started in the summer before 7^th grade in the school band, playing the saxophone which I still play today. While I did not have any major accomplishments playing the electronic organ, I did play as house organist for the first Bart Starr’s Rawhide Telethon c.1966, playing fanfares for totals.  I also played keyboards in high school for my Chicago cover band, “The Approaching Storm”.  We marginally made enough money to pay for the equipment we used, which is not unusual for an 8 piece band.  I continued playing the sax, studying with Wayne Jaeckel and Lovell Ives at UW-Green Bay and recently finished my 38^th year as a member of the CP Telethon Orchestra.  A 13 year veteran of the Green Bay Packer Band,  I have also played dozens of shows for entertainers including The Manhattan Transfer, Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis, The Four Tops, The Temptations, Lou Rawls, Johnny Mathis and Shari Lewis to name a few."

The Instrument that was in Demand before it Existed

What do the Serpent, Ophicleide, Bass Horn, Russian Bassoon, Helicon, Bass Saxhorn and the Sousaphone all have in common?  Give up?  They are all forms of what we now call the tuba.

The tuba is the largest and lowest sounding member of the brass family as well as being the youngest brass instrument.  The tuba itself was in demand long before it was actually invented.  Many inventors and instrument makers attempted to satisfy the need of composers, bandmasters and orchestra conductors for a brass instrument that could supply the bottom end of the music along with the bassoon and the string bass.

During the 1820s, various instrument manufacturers produced the ophicleide, a precursor to the tuba. It was a type of keyed-bugle instrument that could reportedly produce a pitch as low as F. However, these instruments were difficult to play. In 1835, the first bass tuba was patented by Johann Gottfried Moritz (an instrument maker) and Wilheim Wieprecht (a bandmaster). It was completely distinct from the keyed ophicleide in that it was equipped with a new type of short piston valve called the Berliner-Pumpe.

In 1849, the Helicon Bass was introduced.  It was a circular coiled instrument that was meant to rest on the player’s shoulder.  It has been said that, John Philip Sousa, the famous American bandleader, commissioned C. G. Conn to manufacture his redesigned ophicleide which eventually became known as the sousaphone.  One opposing piece of information states that it was actually J. W. Pepper that suggested the design to Sousa and manufactured the instrument 5 years before C. G. Conn.

The tuba can be found in many kinds of ensembles ranging from the symphony orchestra to Dixieland Jazz bands.  The tuba is capable of being more than a bass instrument that supports the other string and woodwind bass instruments in an ensemble.  Concertos have been written for the tuba using it as the featured performer.

FYI:  The first Friday in May is International Tuba Day which celebrates tubists around the world!

If you are interested in owning a piece of tuba history, stop in at the Instrumental Music Company, 2908 Ontario Rd., Green Bay, WI 54301.  We have an William Frank Helicon Bass made around 1915 on display and it is for sale!

Time to dance, Trish, it’s the Clarinet Polka!

Author: Pat Scasny- IMC Representative, Retired Green Bay Public School Instrumental Music Teacher

While I was growing up, many Saturday nights were spent at a relative’s wedding reception.  The highlight of the reception was the dance that followed the usual chicken and ham dinner.  Unlike many of the wedding dances today, they always featured a live band.  Since I am of Czechoslovakian heritage, the bands were always polka bands.  There was one piece that I always looked forward to hearing, usually featuring a man with a black, tube-like instrument.  I marveled at how rapidly his fingers flew over the silver keys producing a multitude of sounds ranging from low, dark tones to the high shrill tones.  It was a fun piece to listen and dance to.  I can still hear my dad saying, “Time to dance, Trish, it’s the Clarinet Polka!”

The clarinet is a woodwind instrument played with a single reed.  The modern clarinet developed from a Baroque instrument called the chalumeau.  This instrument was similar to a recorder but with a single-reed mouthpiece and a cylindrical bore.  It had a limited range of only one and a half octaves.  German instrument maker, Johann Chrisoph Denner, is credited with modifying the chalumeau by adding a register key, thus increasing the playing range of the instrument. This instrument played well in the middle register producing a loud shrill sound.  It was for this reason that it was given the name clarinetto, meaning little trumpet.

The clarinet family is the largest woodwind family with more than a dozen types.  The most common is the Bb soprano clarinet which is the primary beginning instrument.   The other more common members of the clarinet family found in orchestras, bands and other ensembles are the Eb Soprano, the smallest and highest, A soprano, Eb Alto, Bb Bass and the very low and more rare, Contra-Alto and Contra-Bass clarinets

.

Here are just a few interesting bits of trivia concerning the clarinet:

• Excluding the saxophone, the clarinet is the most recent addition to the woodwind family and was the last woodwind to be included in the symphony orchestra.
• Julia Roberts played the clarinet in bands when she was in school.
• Steven Spielberg can be seen playing the clarinet in an orchestra early on in his movie “Jaws.”
• One of the most popular symphonic clarinet solos is the one in George Gershwin’s  “Rhapsody in Blue.”

Whether you are interested in playing the “Clarinet Polka,” some New Orleans Jazz or a Mozart Clarinet Concerto, you can find an instrument that will fit your style at the Instrumental Music Company, 2908 Ontario Rd. Green Bay, WI, 54311.

Meet Erich

Meet Erich Rusch- Co-Owner, Repair Technician, Rental 

Manager, Road Representative and IT Manager

Q. Where did you go to school? 

A. I attended the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point where I graduated with a B.A. in Music and a Psychology minor. I then attended Southeast Technical College in Red Wing, MN for Band Instrument Repair, graduating in 2001.   After graduation, I found my way to Green Bay where I started my career in the music industry. I have been working in the music business for the past 12 years.

Q. What is your favorite instrument?

A. The tuba is my favorite instrument.  The tuba is the foundation and the meat and bones of the brass section, it can be found in several different groups.  Such as Orchestra, Concert Band, Polka and many other different ensembles.  The tuba is one of a kind and an unique instrument, just like myself!

Q. What do you love about working at Instrumental Music Company?

A. I love just about everything with working at Instrumental Music Company!  I like being able to take on many different projects in the store and to help oversee all different aspects of it as well.  It is a great family orientated place to work with a very fun atmosphere.  Our customers are great to deal with and I enjoy helping them with their musical needs!  It’s always great to either find an accessory that helps improve their musical experience or to do a repair that helps improve their instrument.  I love working with all my fellow co-workers, the comradely is great between all of us and it’s like having a second family!  It’s a very relaxed environment to work in!

Q. Do you do anything with music outside of Instrumental Music Company?

A. Currently I do not have the time to play in any groups outside of Instrumental Music Company.  In the past I have played with the Pulaski Community Band, Manitowoc Marine Band and Topless Brass (a group just featuring euphoniums and tubas).  I do attend a fair amount of music concerts of all genres outside of work!

Q. What is your advice for beginning musicians?

A. To find an instrument that you really enjoy and that fits you and your personality well!  To keep practicing and to keep challenging yourself!  When first beginning a new instrument it can be very hard and frustrating at times.  If you can get through those times the rest will be easy and fun for you.  Once you learn an instrument it will stay with you for life!