We’re giving the sousaphone some much needed love today!
***Some history…
The sousaphone was invented and designed by the C.G.Conn Instrument Company at the end of the 1800′s. John Philip Sousa was looking for a new tuba to replace the older helicons – a narrower bore version of the sousaphone.
Originally designed as a concert instrument, the bell on orignal sousaphones pointed striaght upwards, giving it the nickname ‘rain catcher’. In the 1920′s, the 90-degree bell angle of today’s instruments was introduced.
Bore and bell sizes on modern sousaphones can vary, and at their largest, were produced at greater than .75 inch bore size, and 32 inch bell diameter! Both brass and fibreglass instruments are common – the fibreglass varieties being understandably lighter than their brass cousins.
Some footage…
Well, that’s some basic sousaphone background… now on to examples of how this wondrous instrument is being used today.
Firstly, in traditional marching band configuration, with the U.S. Marine Corps West Coast Marching Band:
…and now, beat-boxing sousaphone:
…and, finally, the sousaphone as an instrument of war in this amazing battle between NSU and VSU. What an amazing sound this group can make! 
***A note to sousaphone enthusiasts, scholars, and historians:
The facts and figures in the “history” section of this article were sourced from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sousaphone
However, it seems that there is some discussion as to the accuracy of this information.
As you know, BrassMusician.com is an online magazine for brass players, by brass players.
And with that said, we welcome your submissions! We’d like to suggest the following title for an article: “The definitive history of the sousaphone”
Please submit your article here:
http://brassmusician.com/submit-an-article/
The best article(s) will be published here on BrassMusician.com!
Hi!
Great article about the sousaphone! I was blown away the first time I heard Youngblood Brass Band and their brilliant sousaphone player (I believe he’s called Arian Macklin). Here’s a video from YouTube:
Check out Younblood Brass Band on MySpace:
http://www.myspace.com/youngbloodbrass
Best,
Heidi
Thanks for the link, Heidi!
It is unknown who made the first sousaphone. JP Sousa said he had JW Pepper make the upright sousaphone, but later the method was “perfected” by CG Conn – you have to remember that these touring bands had endorsement deals with the band instrument manufacturers – Sousa’s band used Conn instruments (mostly). Even the owner of the original Pepper sousaphone doesn’t know if his is the original (despite it bearing Sousa’s face and name).
The “90-degree bell” modification – also known as a recording bell – was introduced much earlier than the 1920s; Bell front sousaphones show up as early as 1904-1908, right around the introduction of recording bell tubas and other instruments.
The size of the sousaphone has varied, .750″ isn’t all that big, especially since the band manufacturers offered custom bore sizes – I’ve seen a bore of about .840″ (piston) on an old Grand Jumbo Conn sousaphone. The bell size is even larger than stated; many manufacturers offered bells, in the case of Martin – 2 and 4 inches larger than stock – so a Martin Mammoth sousaphone could have a 34″ bell. And let’s not forget the 50th Anniversary Conn Grand Jumbo sousaphone with its 36″ bell.
While fiberglass is indeed lighter than brass, it is not always the case. Since no one has made an Eb fiberglass sousaphone to my knowledge, some brass Eb sousaphones have weighed far less than a standard fiberglass sousaphone. Additionally, as sousaphones became more popular, more sizes became available – certain smaller BBb sousaphones weighed in below 17 pounds – these even had smaller bells (below 22″, some as small as 17″). Of course the weight of a brass sousaphone is related to how thick it is – the Majestic Monster EEEb helicon has 26 ft of brass tubing, a standard BBb sousaphone has 18 ft – one would think it would be heavier, but it the MM helicon only weighs 26 lbs! It weighs just as much as a Yamaha YSH-411.
Should you require sources for my comment, I will be happy to point you toward them (all 30+ from various internet sites, people, books, and old catalogs).
You certainly sound like a sousaphone expert – some very valuable info there – thanks!
More sousaphone:
http://forums.chisham.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=40455
Thanks for the link!
I think it is pretty well established by music historians that J.W. Pepper did design and build the first sousaphone based on a design suggested by John Phillip Sousa. He wanted to replace the directional sound of the helicons that the band had at the time with an instrument whose sound would project its sound up over the band. The first sousaphones were actually intended to be concert band instruments and not to be marched with. Even so, he did end up using Conn sousaphones almost exclusively. I think this had more to do with the influence of Col. Conn than necessarily the quality of their manufacturing or design. I do enjoy playing sousaphone in some ways more than my concert tubas because of the projection and presence that they can provide.
Although the sousaphone was primarily a concert instrument, Sousa’s band did march with them a few times. I recall reading that one sousaphone player carried the 33 pound ‘raincatcher’ a mile and a half or so and by the end of it he said it felt like 330 pounds. Furthermore on certain occasions, when a player was having a ‘raincatcher’ built, Sousa would allow bell front sousaphones to be used. The primary reason for the ‘raincatcher’ demise, was that it was difficult for the sound to be picked up by the early recording systems. This is also why bands like Sousa’s fell out of favor – more people could simply listen to a recording instead of waiting for a grand touring band to arrive in a nearby town/city.
Thanks for all of your valuable comments!
I thought to highlight this recent addition to the article:
——–
The facts and figures in the “history” section of this article were sourced from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sousaphone
However, it seems that there is some discussion as to the accuracy of this information.
As you know, BrassMusician.com is an online magazine for brass players, by brass players.
And with that said, we welcome your submissions! We’d like to suggest the following title for an article: “The definitive history of the sousaphone”
Please submit your article here:
http://brassmusician.com/submit-an-article/
The best article(s) will be published here on BrassMusician.com!
——–
Looking forward to your submissions!
All the best,
Jon
-editor, BrassMusician.com
The title suggests the marching tuba, which a sousaphone is not. The marching tuba is the BBb version of the contra-bugle pitched in GG. These two instruments are vastly different in the approach on how they are built as well as how they sound.
I wouldn’t call it a “beatbox” either, since the player in the video is using multiphonics and a series of tonguing techniques to convey a certain quality.
“Instrument of war”? Hardly – yes there have been advancements in sound technology, allowing for inventions like LRAD, but the tuba in all its forms cannot physically produce enough of a sound to be felt (indeed it can hurt your hearing over a decidedly long period of time).
What do our other sousaphone experts make of this?
@Theodore: “Instrument of war” is a tongue-in-cheek way of expressing “Sousaphone Battle” – the title of the 3rd video.
You’re very welcome to submit your own sousaphone article here: http://brassmusician.com/submit-an-article/
All the best!
As a guy who occasionally plays some dixieland Sousaphone, I find that third video horrifying. What part of that abomination was supposed to sound good?