Henry A. Towers' Tuba

[Story]

Found out that a neighbor of mine played tuba in High School and when I stumbled upon this thread, got curious about tuba use during the ACW.

Introducing Catchy Tune Tuesday! | Music & Songs of the 1860's

Let's dedicate Tuesday to catchy tunes from the Civil War era! Catchy Tune Tuesday is open to all, just post a tune you enjoy! Any genre is acceptable, marches, popular tunes, etc. No rules, but let's try to share some of the less familiar ones if possible and keep them in the same thread. There...

civilwartalk.com

Found this technical thread while poking around, good technical backgrounder

Civil War brass band instruments compared to those used in orchestras during that time period. | Music & Songs of the 1860's

Generally I notice that the sound of the reenacting brass bands using antique or reproduction brass instruments have a duller, less brilliant timbre than what we normally hear today from brass instruments in recordings and live music. So I was wondering what was the sound quality of brass...

civilwartalk.com

Now to the point - didn't find this posted before on CWT.

Henry A. Towers' tuba combines his personal story of the Civil War with the broader history of military bands and the changing designs of instruments. Deciding which story to tell can be a challenge and research often sparks new questions in addition to answers.

The Tuba That Marched in the Civil War | Podcast | Berkshire Museum

Henry A. Towers’ tuba combines his personal story of the Civil War with the broader history of military bands and the changing designs of instruments. | Join host Craig Langlois in the podcast What's in the Basement? as he takes listeners inside Berkshire Museum’s diverse collection, sharing th

explore.berkshiremuseum.org

 

[19thOhio]

Found out that a neighbor of mine played tuba in High School and when I stumbled upon this thread, got curious about tuba use during the ACW.

Introducing Catchy Tune Tuesday! | Music & Songs of the 1860's

Let's dedicate Tuesday to catchy tunes from the Civil War era! Catchy Tune Tuesday is open to all, just post a tune you enjoy! Any genre is acceptable, marches, popular tunes, etc. No rules, but let's try to share some of the less familiar ones if possible and keep them in the same thread. There...

civilwartalk.com

Found this technical thread while poking around, good technical backgrounder

Civil War brass band instruments compared to those used in orchestras during that time period. | Music & Songs of the 1860's

Generally I notice that the sound of the reenacting brass bands using antique or reproduction brass instruments have a duller, less brilliant timbre than what we normally hear today from brass instruments in recordings and live music. So I was wondering what was the sound quality of brass...

civilwartalk.com

Now to the point - didn't find this posted before on CWT.

The Tuba That Marched in the Civil War | Podcast | Berkshire Museum

Henry A. Towers’ tuba combines his personal story of the Civil War with the broader history of military bands and the changing designs of instruments. | Join host Craig Langlois in the podcast What's in the Basement? as he takes listeners inside Berkshire Museum’s diverse collection, sharing th

explore.berkshiremuseum.org

Found out that a neighbor of mine played tuba in High School and when I stumbled upon this thread, got curious about tuba use during the ACW.

Introducing Catchy Tune Tuesday! | Music & Songs of the 1860's

Let's dedicate Tuesday to catchy tunes from the Civil War era! Catchy Tune Tuesday is open to all, just post a tune you enjoy! Any genre is acceptable, marches, popular tunes, etc. No rules, but let's try to share some of the less familiar ones if possible and keep them in the same thread. There...

civilwartalk.com

Found this technical thread while poking around, good technical backgrounder

Civil War brass band instruments compared to those used in orchestras during that time period. | Music & Songs of the 1860's

Generally I notice that the sound of the reenacting brass bands using antique or reproduction brass instruments have a duller, less brilliant timbre than what we normally hear today from brass instruments in recordings and live music. So I was wondering what was the sound quality of brass...

civilwartalk.com

Now to the point - didn't find this posted before on CWT.

The Tuba That Marched in the Civil War | Podcast | Berkshire Museum

Henry A. Towers’ tuba combines his personal story of the Civil War with the broader history of military bands and the changing designs of instruments. | Join host Craig Langlois in the podcast What's in the Basement? as he takes listeners inside Berkshire Museum’s diverse collection, sharing th

explore.berkshiremuseum.org

Thanks for providing the link. . . highly interesting!

Such a tuba showed up on Antique Roadshow just last evening, seemingly exactly like the one in your story as far as i can tell.

I am interested a bit in how early/soon these over-the-shoulder instrument became popular. I know the standard answer, they led the men in the Civil War. What got me started in this whole Civil War/19th Ohio thing is a photo (below) of the "Haines Silver Cornet Band" It is taken posed on a wagon with all OTS brass instruments, all sizes. It shows John Columbus Haines with such an instrument. This band played in the Alliance, Ohio area and for several antislavery meetings at the Haines farm. Haines later was in the 19th OH band, the 104th OH band (picture is a popular one in CW media). He later formed what became the Alliance City Band. The history of the Alliance City Band, called a Band of Music, can be viewed online.

So this indicates that such instruments were available before the Civil War. If their purpose was military, were they used in the Mexican War or in army drills and parades before the CW?

This Haines Silver Cornet Band was taken on the day they serenaded Lincoln when he stopped in Alliance on his way to Washington for his inauguration. Are there other examples of non-military bands using presumably military style brass instruments?