I first met Thomas Lange almost two years ago when he attended my
Didjeridu class at the Multnomah Art Center. Since then, Tom has
introduced me to the Tuba. We have recorded and performed didjeridu
and tuba duets, most recently on stage at the Willamette Folk Festival
in Eugene Oregon. Since that time, Tom has attended the Boulder
Didjeridu gathering, the Oregon Country Fair and the "In-Didge-N-US"
Didjeridu gathering near Albany Oregon. I decided it was a good
time to ask Tom a few questions about the didjeridu, the tuba and
the happy combination he calls "Tuberidu".

 Tom, when we played together at the Wilamette Folkfestival,
 the presence of the Tuba on stage drew a *lot* of interest. Is
 there a kind of "tuba cult" or following in the US? Is there a
 personality associated with Tuba players? Tuba fans?

 When I tell people I play the tuba, they see me with a sousaphone wrapped
around my body, resting on my shoulder, with the big bell pointed forward. 
They see me as someone with a generous belly, producing a sound that is not
exactly noted for tonal quality.  True, I did play the sousaphone for 4
years of marching band, and I had a great time, but the tuba is much more
than that.  The tuba is actually an upright instrument rested on the legs
with the bell pointed up.  It's designed for good sound, not the ability to
march with it.  

 An accomplished tuba player with a good instrument can play up to 4
octaves, which happens to be one of the widest ranges of traditional band
instruments, and the quality of the sound can be quite wonderful.  I took
private lessons throughout high school, and one of my most memorable tuba
memories was my teacher performing the Carnival of Venice and Flight of the
Bumblebee during a recital.  When you hear those played on the tuba, and
played very well, then you know the tuba is capable of some impressive
music!
 
 When I bring out my tuba, it tends to get a lot of attention.  I suppose
part of this is due to the fact that it's a big beautiful shiny thing, but
I don't think most people have really heard a tuba before.  At least not by
itself, or in a small group.  Maybe they expect something like an angry
elephant or sea lion - I'm not sure.  

 Every year for the past 10 years or so I have played in at least one
TubaChristmas.  This is probably as close to a tuba cult as I know about. 
Every year across the country, many cities have TubaChristmas performances.

 It's basically a gathering of tuba players playing Christmas carols.  The
age of the players range from about 8-75 years old.  Last year in Portland
we had about 70 tuba players performing at Pioneer Square.  I played in my
first TubaChristmas in San Jose, CA.  They have an average turnout of over
150 tuba players these years.  That's my kind of heavy metal music!  When
the time comes closer, you should all look for a TubaChristmas performance
in or near your town.  It's a beautiful new way to hear traditional carols.

 When did it first occur to you to play the tuba as if it were
     a  didjeridu?

Once in a blue moon, I find something with lots of potential.  In fact, it
was  last summer on the night of the Blue Moon when I first decided to see
what I could do with the tuba after playing the didjeridu for a few months.

 I had some friends over to play music to celebrate, and after an hour or
so I realized that whatever didj I picked up was always just a bit out of
key.  It really bugged me to not be in tune, so I decided to go get my tuba
and be in tune.  I came out of the back room playing in key and joined in
the group.  

 A few minutes later I decided to see what the response would be if I played
a different note.  The result was everyone except Ed stopping in suprise. 
The two of us played for a while and I decided that the tuberidu had
potential.  Since then I've brought it out a few times, mostly with friends
since it's not that convenient to transport.  I've brought it up on stage a
couple times.  It seemed to go well at the Willamette Valley Folk Festival
in Eugene this spring, and I had a good time playing it at the Boulder
Solstice gathering this summer.  

 I'm hoping to explore it's potential much more in the near future.  The
tuberidu sounds great in the hands of an experienced didjeridu player, so I
figure I should be able to come up with something good as an experienced
tuba player.  I actually held back quite a bit at those two performances
because I had never been on stage before alone or in a small group.  
Right now I'm finding out what works well alone, with a didj and with a
guitar.  Hopefully you'll hear the results in Didjeridu Planet 2.

  I often tell people that a Tuba is like the ultimate didjeridu.
 You can play in any key, put in bass rifts and do multiple overtones.
 Some of the tuba-didj combinations we've had has you switching between
 playing straight tuba [sic] and "tuberidu" (or playing the tuba as
 if it were a didjeridu).  Are these changes always obvious to you or
 have you had to work on them ?

 I really haven't had a chance to play the tuba much with other people due
to it's size and weight.  It just isn't the easiest thing to carry along if
I don't know I'm going to get the chance to play it.  Anyone who comes over
to my place with an instrument of any sort usually has to sit and play for
a little while so I can get my tuberidu fix.  I've actually started
carrying around what might be the opposite - the backpack didj!  After
seeing the spider didj that Karl Sacksteder created and shared at the
Oregon Country Fair, I decided to see what I could create with ABS.  I had
a lot of potential configurations, but one day I had to head downtown.  I
really wanted to bring a didj, but it wasn't convenient to carry one with
me.  Then I decided to break down what I was working on and stick it in my
backpack.  It all fits, and even has a mouthpiece that looks like it was
made just for the purpose.  (See mouthpiece note at end)

 The result so far is that I have a tremendous amount of exploring to do.  I
haven't been playing the didj for a long time, so I suppose I'm approaching
it more as a liberated tuba player of sorts...  I'm doing a lot of
experimenting and have a feeling I'm going to be playing it more often. 
There's no telling where the tuberidu is headed, but I know it will be
wonderful.

 I understand that you're quite interested in playing in ambient
 spaces like caves, stairwells and other reverberant areas. Can you
 explain the fasination didj players have for rebverberation and echo?

It might have to do with the fact that we're more in tune with the sound we
produce because it is one primary note.  We take that note and create music
with it, and we can concentrate on ways to manipulate that sound instead of
being obliged to play more notes.  
 I think the effects of reverb and echo are also somewhat similar to the
sound of the didjeridu.  It has a more natural and earthy quality to it
than something like a trumpet or clarinet or other traditional band
instruments.

 I know you're interested in group improvisation and growth. Perhaps
 you could share some of your plans for future projects and how interested
 people might contact you about ensemble playing...

 This summer I've been feeling a much stronger need to play music, and I've
been lucky enough to have a couple didjeridu gatherings occur at convenient
times.  I had a wonderful time at the Boulder Solstice celebration
organized by Dave Crowder.  I got an idea of the work that went into that,
but don't think I'm quite ready to try to get something of that magnitude
going here yet.  Dave put a tremendous amount of work into it and had a
supportive community and a large base of didj players in the area.  I
haven't found that many people around Portland yet, but I hope to make more
connections at the other summer event.

 By the time this is out I'll have gone to the 2nd Annual Gathering of the
Didjeridoo Tribe near Salem, OR, at the end of August.  I'm really looking
forward to this 3 day retreat full of camping, didjing around the campfire,
lots of happy people and shared food and good vibes.  Since this is
occuring close to home, I plan on letting people know about my desires to
get together regularly to play, not just an occasional unexpected jam
session on the waterfront.

 At this point, I'm just trying to get more people in Portland together to
play.  I've collected lots of phone numbers, but all that has led to so far
is people saying they'd like to play soon.  Not much actual music is being
created, and I'm frustrated to the point where I need to do something about
it.  Hopefully I'll be able to get my website functional soon, one that
will include a way for musicians of all sorts to find other people to play
with in the area.  It will be oriented towards didjeridu players, but it's
always fun to have a few other instruments in the mix.  We've made some
great tunes with a couple didjs, a tuba, guitar, banjo and drum.  Soon I
hope to add a string bass, harmonica, and more percussion - and this is
just people I already know.  Who knows what we'll be able to come up with
if I can get the word out to others in the area?  A joyous conglomeration
of merry musicians, I suppose...
(Mouthpiece note)
If anyone's interested, this mouthpiece is found in among the ABS bins at
hardware stores.  One end of it fits onto a 1 1/2" pipe, the other is
threaded.  It comes with a rounded white semi-transparent piece screwed
onto the threaded end that just happens to be a perfect mouthpiece size. 


     Copyright 1997 Ed Drury