All About the Contra: A Contra-mentary (feat. the '15 BAC Contra Line) 

AHAHAHAHAHAA NORMAL PEOPLE PROBLEMS. 😂😂😂😂

DUDE SAME THIS HAPPENED TO ME WHEN I WAS WASHING IT IN JAZZ BAND

Well then.

LMAFOOO

I had a wasp fly into my bell. It came out the tuning slide pipe when I went to empty all the spit. It was painful

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Kira Kildal that is the thing that made me like it instantly, and when it takes away your soul

Yes

What brand did you march as a contra player?

Why does tallness matter?

Musicman195 Gaming because the shorter you are, the less you typically weigh, and then the tuba is a greater fraction of your weight, making it harder to balance. I'm a 5'3" contract player and it's about 1/3 of my weight.

5'2" Contra girl....... =dream woman

In my band, im the smallest guy tuba at 5”6

Weird that I play both...

Put the kid in the sousa

time to beat that ass

I Play tuba lol

Somebody in our band poured acorns into a Sousaphone once.

Dog885 we try to throw acorns in each others horns at practice lol

Shit I forgot to cover my bell last night

I agree

KevoTheReaper ask and ye shall receive...

+KevoTheReaper damn baby tubas trying to do us :)

agreed

jupiter sousas m8

can't get the same quality of sound from a sousaphone tho

Frozengames i know, they're fucking garbage Ok, they sound as good as any other sousa, but the piping configuration is retarded And then my director makes me march a four valve Percussionist band directors

our corps matches jupiter quantums(with detachable bells) and holding them at carry does indeed = 💀

I saw you in the 2 year old DCI audition video lol.

Please

Kaitlyn Hicks did you?

As someone who's marched Contra and currently marching Baritone, your brain instinctively slows down the instrument immediately before hitting the shoulder, and when you do hit yourself to hard your shoulders already numb from carrying it.

I guess it would be a pit-umentary.

He said MARCHING brass. Anyone who would try to march Big Carl would literally explode like the eardrums of anyone who is in front of a trumpet screamer. Then again, Purdue's AAMB marches a huge bass drum, so I guess you could just wheel it. The one cocky flute player around the corner: dude it isn't even that heavy. WATCH THIS JIMMY! (*freaking explodes*)

DENIED

That's painful

That's nuts. You should have had a strap. Never will tire of these corps geeks talking about how a shoulder horn with a 21 inch bell and a .689 bore sounds better than a Conn 20K . Not physically possible. Not enough metal on board or air being moved for that. If held properly, they do look pretty sharp but they sound thin and brittle. Sousaphones blend better with woodwinds. Always have, always will.

Or should I get a marching euph. I can play either one

Jeff K They're BBb contras. I know the old contras were in G but things have changed.

+Samuel Cai (no i havent marched in a drumb corp... yet) isn't it a Contra bass Tuba, which is a bugle?

+mesirpez drum corp

+mesirpez drum corp

Definitely also requires a lot of chest/back/core strength too!

I didn't even think about that! I play a marching euphonium and my shoulders and arms hurt 24/7. I can only imagine how much it would hurt for contra.

Contra player in a drum corps here. By far the two things that require the most strength for me are 1) getting the tuba up off the ground to set, and 2) the absolute worst part of playing tuba: when you have to stand at set for a few minutes. Absolute hell, requires a lot of strength.

+mesirpez 4 valve contra = death

+hank tank I'm guessing it adds even more weight?

yes

it would becom proble a 45 pound instrament which = death

yea im fine with 3

As far as I know, sousaphones still aren't allowed in DCI. When they used only G bugles, there was nothing in the sousaphone configuration. It was always the contra. They kept that when they switched to Bb. They have started to allow other instruments in, so we MIGHT one day see a sousaphone. I doubt it though.

and then Ghostlight happened. A violin made a guest appearance too

Contras sound better, are better for visual stuff, and I find that they're easier to play. Wait, this was commented 4 years ago, why am I responding

Although they might not be "contras" but the name just stuck and we use it now XD

There were 3 valved G Contras for a time.

I'm a sousaphonist myself. Email the corps you are auditioning for and ask if they have contras for the auditon camp. 9/10 times they wil, and they give it to you for the weekend. In the meantime, PRACTICE THE PACKET!!! It doesn't' matter what tuba you use to practice. If you don't practice, YA DON'T GET IN. (sidenote. Don't bring your sousa. They should have contras. That's why you email! To make sure. They will work something out if they don't have one) If you get a contract, I'm pretty sure they give you your horn, but im not 100% sure. When you go to spring training, you will know what horn you have for the summer. Once the season ends, all equipment is returned, including instruments. Hope this helps.

Anyone can. There's like 3 international corps. One in Japan, one in the UK, and one in Canada. Some guy traveled all the way from INDONESIA just to march with the Blue Devils B. Anyone can auditon. You just have to be willing to sacrifice time, money, get really fit, and learn to play a drum corps instrument to an intermediate/ professional level. Remember, they look for people who can make changes to do something better. If they ask you to do something, do it. Change something? Change it! Do it again? FREAKING DO IT AGAIN 1000x BETTER. (not that serious, but show improvement) anyone can auditon, but few can make it. Go out there and show the world your talent. Hope this helps