Hawkes Resurrection
Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2021 7:04 am
Here we have the-almost-complete result of a five year project. The culmination of a lot of thinking, collaboration, practice, ‘road testing’ ……and a vast reservoir of patience.
Most of the work was done by Clennell Custom Brass in Birmingham with the valve section overhauled by Anderson’s in Indiana.The leadpipe was made and fitted by Mike Johnson in Manchester.
Extra parts and the 5th rotary valve were supplied by Voigt of Germany and assembled/constructed here.
The instrument itself is a resurrected 1911 EEb Hawkes ‘Emperor’ Cavalry tuba and you can see from the photos that the valve configuration is 1+3+1: The 5th valve is a flat whole step.
The idea was to have a left-facing 5 valve non-compensating EEb which could offer an alternative bass tuba solution to the (Over here!) ubiquitous B&H Besson Sovereign, whilst simultaneously getting my bell away from the timps (which were usually right behind me on stage)
I had tried a few commercially available alternatives (Meinl Weston, Besson 983 etc) but I was personally left a little cold by them-fine instruments though they undoubtedly were.
Having played a vintage Boosey cavalry tuba (The actual instrument used by Besson as the template for the first Edgware built 983) and also the even older Hawkes equivalent, I had enjoyed the feel and resonance of these and thought that perhaps a bespoke/hand-built updated version might be the avenue to explore.
How does it ‘go’?
After a pretty exhaustive test and trial period where the instrument was used exclusively day in/day out in a range of repertoire; the results are very satisfying.
The instrument doesn’t have the ‘4/4 CC’ weight of sound that a good Besson has but it makes up for this with clarity & punch that the Besson can sometimes lack.
The intonation is not exactly point & shoot but is certainly easily manageable and less ‘squirrelly’ than a lot of F tubas I’ve tried (Including my B&S 6v F!) : The dual action trigger pretty much sorts everything out.
I’ve used a Schilke Helleberg for the orchestral playing and have tried a DW3 and Bach 24AW in practice on occasion.
(The DW & Bach do give a little more weight and darkness to the sound-but the Schilke works better for me.)
I tested it on the wisest spectrum of orchestral music that I could in the circumstances, and even used it on literature that I wouldn’t normally use a bass tuba to find out exactly what the instruments limits in an orchestral setting might be: Tchaikovsky (Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, March Slave) Shostakovich 5, Glazunov 5, Mendelssohn (Reformation Symphony & Midsummer nights dream) Malcolm Arnold 5, Stravinsky Symphonies of Wind, Brahms Academic, Thomas Ades, Takemitsu & Dvorak is a reasonable cross section I would say.
I haven’t yet had the opportunity to use the instrument in a brass ensemble, but I was primarily much more concerned with how it would function in a full-sized symphony orchestra.
The conclusion: it’s a good all round bass tuba with its own distinctive voice. Not as dark as a Besson Eb not as bright as a 6/4 F but with many of both types desirable qualities minus some of their less attractive faults. ( eg no wayward low C (on an F) or sharp E natural (on an Eb))
The only real problem I can foresee is that I’ll now have to have another one created!!!!
There are a few very small tweaks to make, but-by & large-this is the finished item. (In as much as anything like this can be!)
I hope that this all proves interesting-or at least diverting-read.
The photos are self explanatory but the ‘action shots’ are stills taken from recent online video recordings by the CBSO at Symphony Hall Birmingham and the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall London.
(I have included the size comparison with the Besson New standard for interest.)
My heartfelt thanks must go to the wonderful craftsmanship of Andy Clennell, the superlative engineering skills of Anderson’s and also Mike’s vital contribution in bringing this instrument to the concert platform.
The same also goes to my friends and colleagues in the low brass section: Richard, Tony & Dave-whom I’ve grilled frequently and whom have, mostly tactfully, offered valuable feedback!!!
What have I learned:
For those of you on this forum who do this kind of creative instrument building/design and restoration I have had my respect and knowledge vastly increased for what goes into something that hovers in the mists where craftsmanship,imagination and art reside.
The other thing is to have the timely reminder that, as an instrumentalist (as in everything), there is always something new to learn and new skills to master-whilst at at the same time deepening and broadening the abilities one already has.
Was it easy-No. Was it quick-certainly not.
Was it cheap-Absolutely not!
Has it been worth it-Yes, and would have been so even if the experiment had been a failure.
But then: I suppose that any endeavour truly worthwhile conforms to that test doesn’t it?
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0l2WpXZ ... ji83JPmCag
https://share.icloud.com/photos/03SPhHm ... NMJRsFw2XQ
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0EnCsLT ... dRQM_lpz9Q
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0bV4fan ... xDV272i1KQ
Most of the work was done by Clennell Custom Brass in Birmingham with the valve section overhauled by Anderson’s in Indiana.The leadpipe was made and fitted by Mike Johnson in Manchester.
Extra parts and the 5th rotary valve were supplied by Voigt of Germany and assembled/constructed here.
The instrument itself is a resurrected 1911 EEb Hawkes ‘Emperor’ Cavalry tuba and you can see from the photos that the valve configuration is 1+3+1: The 5th valve is a flat whole step.
The idea was to have a left-facing 5 valve non-compensating EEb which could offer an alternative bass tuba solution to the (Over here!) ubiquitous B&H Besson Sovereign, whilst simultaneously getting my bell away from the timps (which were usually right behind me on stage)
I had tried a few commercially available alternatives (Meinl Weston, Besson 983 etc) but I was personally left a little cold by them-fine instruments though they undoubtedly were.
Having played a vintage Boosey cavalry tuba (The actual instrument used by Besson as the template for the first Edgware built 983) and also the even older Hawkes equivalent, I had enjoyed the feel and resonance of these and thought that perhaps a bespoke/hand-built updated version might be the avenue to explore.
How does it ‘go’?
After a pretty exhaustive test and trial period where the instrument was used exclusively day in/day out in a range of repertoire; the results are very satisfying.
The instrument doesn’t have the ‘4/4 CC’ weight of sound that a good Besson has but it makes up for this with clarity & punch that the Besson can sometimes lack.
The intonation is not exactly point & shoot but is certainly easily manageable and less ‘squirrelly’ than a lot of F tubas I’ve tried (Including my B&S 6v F!) : The dual action trigger pretty much sorts everything out.
I’ve used a Schilke Helleberg for the orchestral playing and have tried a DW3 and Bach 24AW in practice on occasion.
(The DW & Bach do give a little more weight and darkness to the sound-but the Schilke works better for me.)
I tested it on the wisest spectrum of orchestral music that I could in the circumstances, and even used it on literature that I wouldn’t normally use a bass tuba to find out exactly what the instruments limits in an orchestral setting might be: Tchaikovsky (Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, March Slave) Shostakovich 5, Glazunov 5, Mendelssohn (Reformation Symphony & Midsummer nights dream) Malcolm Arnold 5, Stravinsky Symphonies of Wind, Brahms Academic, Thomas Ades, Takemitsu & Dvorak is a reasonable cross section I would say.
I haven’t yet had the opportunity to use the instrument in a brass ensemble, but I was primarily much more concerned with how it would function in a full-sized symphony orchestra.
The conclusion: it’s a good all round bass tuba with its own distinctive voice. Not as dark as a Besson Eb not as bright as a 6/4 F but with many of both types desirable qualities minus some of their less attractive faults. ( eg no wayward low C (on an F) or sharp E natural (on an Eb))
The only real problem I can foresee is that I’ll now have to have another one created!!!!
There are a few very small tweaks to make, but-by & large-this is the finished item. (In as much as anything like this can be!)
I hope that this all proves interesting-or at least diverting-read.
The photos are self explanatory but the ‘action shots’ are stills taken from recent online video recordings by the CBSO at Symphony Hall Birmingham and the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall London.
(I have included the size comparison with the Besson New standard for interest.)
My heartfelt thanks must go to the wonderful craftsmanship of Andy Clennell, the superlative engineering skills of Anderson’s and also Mike’s vital contribution in bringing this instrument to the concert platform.
The same also goes to my friends and colleagues in the low brass section: Richard, Tony & Dave-whom I’ve grilled frequently and whom have, mostly tactfully, offered valuable feedback!!!
What have I learned:
For those of you on this forum who do this kind of creative instrument building/design and restoration I have had my respect and knowledge vastly increased for what goes into something that hovers in the mists where craftsmanship,imagination and art reside.
The other thing is to have the timely reminder that, as an instrumentalist (as in everything), there is always something new to learn and new skills to master-whilst at at the same time deepening and broadening the abilities one already has.
Was it easy-No. Was it quick-certainly not.
Was it cheap-Absolutely not!
Has it been worth it-Yes, and would have been so even if the experiment had been a failure.
But then: I suppose that any endeavour truly worthwhile conforms to that test doesn’t it?
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0l2WpXZ ... ji83JPmCag
https://share.icloud.com/photos/03SPhHm ... NMJRsFw2XQ
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0EnCsLT ... dRQM_lpz9Q
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0bV4fan ... xDV272i1KQ
I can see a manufacturer knocking on your door! Or someone with a cheque wanting to buy it