Gulf Coast Sound Drum & Bugle Corps
February 24th, 2005
The Art of Contra Spinning
By: Scott Miller (GCS Contrabass)
(**GCS is not responsible for damaged horns!**)
The whole trick to spinning the horn is first - be very comfortable with it!
You really have to know how it is balanced, how it wants to torque while rotating, and where all the braces, tubing, etc. are where you hold it.
To spin the horn end over end (standard), first find the balance point. This is the spot where if you hold the horn loosely, it will be horizontal in your hand. If the bracing or tubing is in the way, you might have to either give up or find a less ideal spot. If the horn has a tendency to tip backward, so that the bell wants to rise up, that's not such a bad thing, it will help with the momentum.
You want to grab the horn at the balance point with your right hand so that your thumb is pointing toward the bell, then pretty much just spin your wrist through 360 degrees. While you are doing that, raise your arm so that the horn lands on your shoulder, bell front. It helps quite a bit to use your left hand to push radially on the top bend to give the horn some momentum. You can modify this spin a bit if you want to show off, and instead of spinning it up to your shoulder, just spin it to attention. Another flair is instead of spinning the horn from in front of you (long axis of horn = long axis of you) is to hold the horn off to your right side parallel to the ground and bell facing backward, then do as above...makes it seem to travel farther.
Here's a video clip of Scott spinning a Kanstul 5/4 KGC200.
If you can't get the video to play click here.
Another way to spin, and one I've only seen one other person do well (the one that taught me) is to spin the horn up around its long axis (basically, the axis going straight through the bell). This one is very tough to get right and very bad if you get it wrong. Pretty much you end up throwing the horn over your head and catching it with your left hand as it lands on your shoulder. If you try this, don't blame me if you drop your horn. Start off with the horn on the bell in front of you - top bend at crotch level, bell on ground. Grab the horn with your right hand at the top bend, holding one of the smaller tubes, not the big bend itself. This is going to be your new 'spin' point. To get a feel for what's about to happen, lift the horn so the bell is down and parallel to the ground, and just twist your wrist so the bell stays horizontal, but rotates around the long axis. Now, the easiest way to make this look cool is to just lift up the horn while you twist it this way, and bring it up to attention, twisting through 360 degrees.
To get it to your shoulder is just another extension of this - while twisting and lifting, bring your right arm up over your head so the horn travels in front of the left side of your body and catching the straight tubing that leads to the big bend with your left hand.
This is pretty darn cool looking, but for the ultimate, you just take that last move and exaggerate it. I'll rest the bell on my right foot, grab the tubing at the big bend, and kick the horn up in the air so that the pivot point is where I'm holding the tubing. When the horn is pretty much parallel in the air and about head level, I'll do the wrist-twist over my head and catch it with my left hand onto my left shoulder.
As I mentioned at the begining of this...KNOW YOUR HORN!!! I'm not some huge hulking dude, I've just been doing this a long time - there's no reason that these 'tricks' can't be done with just about any horn...I've done all of these with the DEG Dynasty 2 valves and PR's, the big DEG 3 valves, the K-90's, and the Kanstul Contra Grande (only the 3 valve unfortunately). Heck, I've even done these tricks on a Besson 3-valve compensating tuba...just because I could. Give it a try, start slow, and don't let your director see you until you have it down. Once you've mastered those, then try putting the horn on your head. Most of the ones I've played on will balance nicely, and it's always impressive to walk up to a group with your horn as your hat.
Hope this helps...
Scott Miller, Contra (with a G!)
Black Knights 86-89
Expression 90-91
Bluecoats 92
Bayou City Blues (sr) 95-03
Gulf Coast Sound (sr) 02-present
If you have an interest and would like more information please contact the Corps:
info@gulfcoastsound.org
