Heavy Metal — The Helicon

 

It's all about the bass.
A primal tone that sends the beat to your feet,
and puts the Oom in Oompah.

 It's the fundamental of all sound
because the bass is the basis for all pitch,
the root of all harmonics.

In ancient times the physics of bass sound,
that is a longer vibration equals a lower pitch,
was understood but rarely experienced in all its musical power.
It wasn't until the invention of the tuba in the 1830s
that composers and musicians came to appreciate
the awesome depths of low vibrations.

Once the principles of bass acoustics
were adopted by brass instrument makers
the tuba's plumbing became longer and longer.
So long that its weight and size became too unwieldy
for most normal-sized players to carry
when their band marched in a parade.
A practical solution was required.

By the 1860s brass instrument manufacturers
came up with a design for tubas that could be worn.
By coiling the tubing serpent-like around the player
and resting the instrument's weight on their shoulder,
the bass tuba was now comfortably portable.

They called this ultimate brass vibe
the Helicon.

It required a lot of heavy metal.




* * *

My first musician has inserted himself
into the Central European version of a helicon.
It is about 18 feet in length with
four rotary valves to add
an additional 4 feet of tubing.
It is a design that originated
in the same Bohemia region of Austria
where many brass instrument makers
developed the first tubas and other low brass instruments.
My post from May 2016 entitled Austrian Plumbing
features two early photos of helicons from about 1865.

This helicon player wears a simple uniform
with short jacket, riding trousers, and high boots.
Since he has no military insignia, I think he is a civilian bandsman.
His postcard has a written date of 27 XI 1946
and I suspect he is Austrian or German. 

* * *

The next grizzled old helicon player
looks German or Austrian
but was photographed in America
by The Empire Studio of Canton, Ohio,
probably around 1895.
On the back of the card he is identified as "Grandpa."
He is sitting outside in the shade of a pergola,
wearing an American style helicon
pitched higher than the first one, and therefor smaller,
perhaps a tenor helicon in B-flat
which is about the same 9 foot length as a trombone.

Helicons were built in different sizes with different pitch centers so that the instrument family together could encompass a larger range of notes. The saxophone family is another instrument group that is still produced in different sizes. Here are two pages from a 1904 catalog of the music instrument collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York that illustrate the seven sizes then available for the American helicon.
 

Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art digital collection
1904 Catalogue of the Crosby Brown collection
of musical instruments of all nations : Europe vol. 1

Helicons and tubas, along with French horns belong to the conical brass sub-group. The plumbing of these instruments has a longer conical flare which gives them a stronger dynamic contrast. Trumpets and trombones have mostly cylindrical tubing which respond differently to the player's lip vibrations.

Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art digital collection
1904 Catalogue of the Crosby Brown collection
of musical instruments of all nations : Europe vol. 1

* * *

The next helicon player wears a stylish uniform
with plumed hat and fringed epaulets.
He is unknown, as is his photographer, Callahan,
whose imprint has no location.
The three valves on his helicon, possibly a baritone size,
are smaller and less robust than the Austrian instruments.
This musician may belong to the band of a State National Guard.

* * *

My next helicon bandsman is Canadian
as the photographer is Maitland of Stradford, Ontario.
This young bandsman wears a plumed shako
similar to the musician in the previous photo,
but I think this man is likely a member of a town band.
He "wears" a bass helicon which has numerous dents and dings.
Like the other cabinet card photo, it dates from the 1890s,
the golden era of marching bands.

* * *

My last helicon player holds a monstrous contrabass helicon
with a bell nearly 36 inches in diameter.
He is dressed in a uniform with colorful embroidery
and a military style cap.
 

This large photo is mounted on extra large cardstock
but there is no photographer or location marked.
However the back does have a date and name:
Taken in July 1909
Uncle Oscar

Helicons, tubas, and other members of the low brass group, like euphoniums, tenorhorns, etc. come in such a bewildering variety of sizes and pitches, that even for a horn player like myself it is often too confusing to make a proper identification. But I think I know big brass when I see it, and this hefty helicon is definitely in a super-heavyweight class. In my attempt to research "giant tuba" I came across one of its so-called inventors. Surprisingly it was not John Philip Sousa, whose eponymous sousaphone was derived from the helicon and is the marching tuba most familiar to the public today. Sousa's first sousaphone was made for him in 1893 by James Welsh Pepper, a music publisher and instrument maker in Philadelphia. But he was not the only bandmaster to dream up the idea of an improved great bass helicon.

Another giant tuba was made in 1897 by the C. G.Conn Company, at one time the largest manufacturer of musical instruments, for the British-American bandmaster, Frederick Neil Innes (1854–1926). Innes began his  career playing trombone with the band of the Royal Life Guards. In 1880 his talent brought him to America to take the position of solo trombone in Patrick Gilmore's band. By 1887 he was directing his own band which proved to be one of greatest concert bands to  tour the nation. But despite the number of fine musicians that he employed, his band still lacked something. It needed more bass.

Nashville Tennessean
18 July 1897

_ _

An article appeared in the 18 July 1897 edition of the Nashville Tennessean, where Innes was  performing a series of concerts. The headline read:

INNES'  GIANT TUBA
Largest Horn Ever Made
and the Famous Leader Invented It.
_____________Takes Place of Four Basses
_____________
Grett was the First Man to Blow
the Big Instrument, and the
Only One Who Can Make
Music With It.

Nashville Tennessean
18 July 1897

Frederick Innes had previously made improvements to trombone design by conceiving of a valve to assist the slide action. This would not be unexpected of someone who was a virtuoso of the trombone. But as a band leader like Sousa, he felt there was a deficiency in a band's collected instrumental sound that  needed some new kind of bass horn. It was while recuperating from an illness that he devoted his energy to design a extra long BBB-flat helicon. He persuaded Charles G. Conn to make one at his band instrument  factory in Elkhart, Indiana. 

It was finished in time for the summer season of 1897. Innes' principal tuba Mr. Grett was supposedly the only musician capable of mastering it. The Nashville newspaper published a picture of it. It may be even larger than the one encircling Uncle Oscar, but it is definitely in the heavyweight class,

_ _ _

The Nashville paper also included a picture of Frederick Innes's Concert Band with 43 bandsmen. Mr. Grett and his monster tuba stand at the back center.

Nashville Tennessean
18 July 1897

Uncle Oscar's splendid uniform is much too elaborate for a local town band. Few bands in 1909 would have a musician who could afford such a large instrument anyway, so I'm convinced he was a member of a professional band. Looking closely at his cap reveals a badge with an eagle and two America flags. Above are letters that are not entirely legible, but I think they read:

BBB Show or B&B Show?

If the later, then Uncle Oscar might be the star tuba player
of the Barnum & Baily Circus Band,
which did not merge with the Ringling Bros. Circus until 1919.
More research is needed before I have a sure answer,
but a circus would definitely be the place
to hear the mighty bass blast of a giant helicon.

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday
where some heavy lifting may be required.