Hey! Don't shoot the messenger! I've seen it happen, that's all. I've seen 8va markings for extreme ranges ignored, occasionally, sometimes accidentally, sometimes on purpose. They seem to be taken less seriously, sometimes, by some players, then are leger lines.
I have to agree with Ray's very practical observation. I happen to be playing tuba in our Community Band. (Bass trombone is my band axe, but we have a full trombone section and needed tubas.) The tuba I was able to borrow is a 3-valve Eb, so it lacks the low range. (Yes, I've finally figured out how to get the half-wavelength notes, but the instrument is a nice English Besson and what I would have considered logical fingerings didn't work, so I had to experiement.) Some composers and some arrangers assume that every tuba in every band is a BBb, and write accordingly. When we play that music, I have to make continuous choices and basically rewrite the part to fit my instrument. The opening to the John Williams theme from "Saving Private Ryan," for instance, sits down on an Ab, piano, for a real long time, and my half-wavelength low Ab isn't all that pretty, but the note's needed so I try to produce it. If the note were fast, I'd automatically play it an octave higher than written.
John
-- John & Susie Howell Virginia Tech Department of Music Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A. 24061-0240 Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034 (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]) http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
