Herman's horns: an emerging history

Herman Conrad, who I have dubbed "the forgotten giant of the tuba," can be seen with at least eight, and perhaps nine, different horns over his illustrious music career in America (1888-1920). Here they are, in the order of their appearance:

Conrad with a monster helicon in Gilmore's Band, 1889

When Conrad emigrated to the U.S. in late 1887, it was only a matter of months before he became part of Gilmore's world-famous band. The instrument we find him playing, which may have been used in the band prior to his arrival (I'm looking into that) is a BBb bass "Monster" helicon built by F. Sudre and imported by Lyon & Healy under the trade name "Henry Gunckel of Paris."

We don't know much about this horn, and I have yet to find one that has survived the ravages of time, but it had a 21 inch bell, "celebrated French piston valves and improved light action," and sat very strangely below the left shoulder (notice in the photo above, which is how it looks in every photo I have found of it being held; frankly, I'm baffled!). According to a Lyon & Healy catalogue from 1880 - eight years before Conrad started playing it - the helicon sold for $330, which translates to about $11,400 today. So I would imagine it was a pretty decent horn.

Conrad appears to have used this massive helicon for all five years he played with Gilmore's Band (1888-1892), as well as the first three years he was with Sousa's Band (1893-1895). But Sousa was not a fan of helicons, so he had J. W. Pepper modify a helicon into what became known as a "Sousaphone." In 1896, the Sousa Band went on tour with the very first one:

With the very first Sousaphone, built by J. W. Pepper in 1895

This historic horn can be seen today at the J. W. Pepper headquarters in Exton, PA. It is a BBb modified helicon with three valves, a bell diameter of 24 inches, a bore of .680 inches, a height of 4 feet 5 inches, and a weight of 24.9 pounds. Engravings on the bell include a portrait of Sousa in his 1894 uniform, and the words "SOUSA" and "PHONE" laid out separately.

Just how long this new instrument was played by Conrad in Sousa's Band is uncertain, but in early 1898 we see him playing a completely different Sousaphone - the first one built by C. G. Conn:

With Conn's first Sousaphone for Sousa's Band, 1898

This historic horn has yet to be found, but it was likely built in the latter part of 1897 and then introduced to the world in January 1898. Very little is known about it, other than what we can see - that it had four valves instead of three, and a lot of engraving on the bell, including the word "SOUSA" (or perhaps "SOUSAPHONE") in large capital letters. One newspaper article claimed that it had a bell diameter of 26 inches, and a height of 5 feet.

The second Sousaphone built by Conn, which came out barely a year later, was purchased by Joseph Dupere, who was not connected with Sousa's Band. He allegedly paid $250 for the horn, which is around $8,300 today, or, interestingly, about what a Conn Sousaphone sells for now.

By 1900 we find that the Conn Sousaphone played by Conrad had been modified into what we will refer to as version 2:

With Conn's second version of his Sousaphone for Sousa's Band, 1900

This version had a very different valve cluster, although still with four valves. One report, coming from a London newspaper, revealed that this horn weighed 33 pounds. It was likely played until 1903, when we find Conrad playing version 3 of Conn's Sousaphone:

With Conn's third version of his Sousaphone for Sousa's Band, 1903

Once again, the valve cluster is different than either of the previous two versions, but the bell also appears to be different. Whether this horn still exists today is uncertain, but there are numerous examples of this model of Conn Sousaphone still around. Eventually two of these four-valve monsters, along with 2-4 smaller three-valve Conn Sousaphones, were featured in the Sousa Band until the great bandmaster died in 1932.

Conrad played this horn with Sousa until he left the band in late 1903 to join Arthur Pryor's new band and, shortly after that, to become part of the newly formed Victor Orchestra, which served as the "house band" for the Victor Talking Machine Company. Here is what might be a photo of him with Pryor in 1904 (it does look a bit like him, but we can't be sure):

With what appears to be a CC Sander rotary-valve tuba in Pryor's Band, 1904

If this is indeed Conrad, then it is the first time we see him with a standard tuba, and it may be a CC horn built by German maker Rudolf Sander. Tubist and collector Sam Gnagey owns a unique Sander CC tuba that looks very much like what we see Conrad holding in the photo above. Check it out:

Sam Gnagey's CC Sander - possibly the very same tuba

It is perhaps significant that August Helleberg played a Sander tuba, and we think that Helleberg is one of the tubists in the full version of the Pryor Band photo above.

However, Sam has another photo of this horn from the early 1900s, and it is being held by someone who is definitely not Conrad. Sam understands it to be Fred Geib, who, incidentally, was subbing in the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1904-05, while C. Stanley Mackey was touring Britain with Sousa's Band (Mackey played tuba with the Philadelphia Orchestra from its founding in 1900 until his death in 1915 - with the exception of his brief stint with Sousa). So, it may very well be Geib, rather than Conrad, in the photo above. We just can't say for sure.

But what we can say is that Sam's CC Sander tuba has a 16 inch diameter bell, a .807 inch bore, a weight of only 14 pounds, and a height of 35 inches. He describes the sound as "rather dark but with a good focus and core."

This is the only rotary-valve tuba connected with Conrad at this point. He seems to have preferred front action piston valves, as we shall see, which is one more reason to question that it is Conrad in the photo above.

By 1912 Conrad can be seen playing a unique Holton Mammoth BBb Bass:

With a custom Holton Mammoth BBb tuba at Victor, 1912

This horn appears to have been custom built for Conrad in early 1912 by Frank Holton of Chicago. The two had been in the Sousa Band together in 1893 (Holton played trombone), and had perhaps remained friends ever since.

Tubist and collector Mike Lynch owns what appears to be this exact horn:

Mike Lynch's BBb Holton  - possibly the very same tuba

The serial number is 20192, which squares with 1912, and it has a bell diameter of 20 inches, a bore of .750 inches, and a weight of 27 pounds. According to Mike, the sound is "somewhat between the very pillowy sound of later Holtons, and the crisper sound of the 60's versions."

With an unknown BBb recording bell tuba at Victor, 1913

At around this same time there appeared another photo of Conrad with a very different tuba - one much smaller and with a recording bell - the latter making sense, given that he was recording for the Victor Talking Machine Company!

At first glance, it looks very much like a Conn 48j CC "New Wonder" Phonograph Model, although that horn came along later, as far as I can tell. But according to master tuba technician Matt Walters, there are enough differences to suggest that it was perhaps another Holton, and more likely a small BBb horn.

With another (custom?) BBb Holton tuba at Victor, 1918

The last horn that I found connected with Conrad was from a school poster produced by Victor in 1918 (two years before Conrad's untimely death). Whether he actually played this horn in his work is unclear. But according to Matt Walters, it appears to be another unique Holton BBb tuba with a likely bore of .656 inches. And according to another technician, Robb Stewart, the valve cluster may have come from a Sousaphone, which was not uncommon for front-action American tubas.

Just published in The Brass Herald

As with my first article on the early history of the Sousaphone, Philip Biggs, editor of The Brass Herald was eager to re-publish my follow-up article for his largely European readership. Issue 65 arrived from the UK in my mailbox yesterday! (Thanks to the ITEA Journal for gladly allowing the article to be reprinted.)

The curious concave Conrad Model

In my ongoing research on Herman Conrad (1867-1920), I learned that at some point Frank Holton made a "Conrad Model" tuba mouthpiece. Don Harry let me know about this, as he has one of these in his collection:

On the other side of the mouthpiece it says "Frank Holton, Chicago," which means that it was produced prior to the Spring of 1918, as that is when Holton moved his business from Chicago to Elkhorn, WI.

From 1903 until he passed in 1920, Conrad was part of the elite group of musicians who were the "house band" at the Victor Talking Machine Company, and this mouthpiece probably came out during those Victor years. He was playing Holton tubas during much (and possibly all) of that time, so it's not surprising to see a Holton mouthpiece bearing the great bass player's name.

What is most curious is that the rim is concave, which I'm thinking is something that Conrad preferred (although Holton made a whole line of concave rim mouthpieces, starting at around 1911). According to Don, "the concave shape went horizontally for a very narrow jaw formation." Here's the Conrad Model next to a more standard Holton mouthpiece:

At this point, I am not aware of another copy of this mouthpiece existing - nor have I been able to find any notice of it in a Holton publication from that era (although, granted, I don't have access to everything they produced during those years).

But I would imagine that calling it a "Conrad Model" was a nod to Conrad's fame as a tubist in the early 20th century (and perhaps a way to sell more mouthpieces?!). Conn had his "Helleberg Model" bass mouthpiece around that time, and Holton had his "Conrad Model." Two giants of that era!

Herman's great-great grandson!

After various searches through Herman Conrad's family tree, I was finally able to locate a living descendant of that great tubist who was the first to play the Sousaphone. His name is Daniel Corry, and he is Herman's great-great grandson (Daniel's father was Christopher, whose mother was Henrietta Alice Conrad, whose father was Edward Columbus Conrad, whose father was Herman).

As it turns out, Daniel lives within a few hours of me, so we connected this past Saturday and had a marvelous time! I was able to share the whole story of his great-great grandfather, of whom he was unaware, and we made a trip out to the J. W. Pepper headquarters, in Exton, PA, where Daniel was able to play the historic horn that Herman was the first to play 121 years ago:

 And just for kicks, here's a side-by-side of Herman, 1895, and Daniel, 2016:

Documentary: Pepper's 140th year

Earlier this year I was privileged to be included in a special documentary created to celebrate the 140th anniversary of J. W. Pepper (written and directed by Jeff Blake, who did a fantastic job!). My comments - some of which, of course, mention the Sousaphone! - can be found at 6:10, 7:22, and 25:17. Enjoy!

Seeing Sousaphones at Disneyland!

This past week my family, along with my wife's family, converged on Disneyland for a few days. While I've been there many times, I had yet to see the new Disneyland Band in action, so it was great to catch them a couple of times throughout the day:

What was even more fun was discovering that one of the new collectible pins for 2016 featured Donald Duck with a Sousaphone! I love it (and yes, I bought it!):

Conrad with the Victor Orchestra

In a little Victor publication, about the size of an iPhone and titled New Victor Records February 1906, we learn about the recently formed Victor Orchestra, of which Herman Conrad was a founding member. As far as I can tell, Conrad did not play Sousaphone with this long-standing Victor "house band," but opted for standard upright tubas (more on that shortly). But he stayed with Victor, after leaving the Sousa Band in 1903, until his death in 1920.

Here are the relevant pages, courtesy of Michael Khanchalian, who has a fabulous collection of items from the early years of the recording industry:

Sousa & Sousaphone history for kids!

I had the opportunity to help out with a project this past year that was produced by Alfred Music, and a complimentary copy arrived in the mail today. It is "An Interactive Storybook About John Philip Sousa," but it also reveals the history of the first Sousaphone - which is that part I helped with, of course!

Here are a few of the pages that highlight the history of the Sousaphone:

It is recommended for all ages, but it will be particularly appropriate for younger kids. Alfred Music did a great job with this, and I am grateful for Andy Beck, one of the authors, asking me to participate in the project.

For more info on this digital storybook, click here, or check out this video:

Update: To see other, older, children's resources that don't get the history right, click here.

Sousaphone solo by Herman Conrad

Conrad was often listed among the soloists in Sousa's band, but I have yet to find any record of him actually playing a solo in concert during those years (1892-1903). But in the July 25, 1905 edition of the Asbury Park Press, Conrad is listed as playing the solo "Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep" on the Sousaphone with Pryor's Band.

Whether Conrad was a regular with Pryor at that time is yet to be determined. As far as I can tell, from 1903 onward he was part of the elite group of musicians known as the Victor Orchestra (among other names), making records for the Victor Talking Machine Company, first in Philadelphia, and then in Camden, NJ.

An interesting question would be what Sousaphone Conrad might have played in 1905. Was it the one he had played while with Sousa, or did that remain with the band? Or could he have been reunited with the Pepper Sousaphone? Who knows!

Conrad with Gilmore's Band, 1889

As I continue to research the life and musical career of Herman Conrad, the first Sousaphonist, I am learning a great deal about the great bandmaster who came before Sousa - Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore.

Conrad emigrated from Prussia to the U. S. in late 1887, and within months he had joined Gilmore's Band - which means he must have been a hot-shot bassist already, probably with one of the military bands of the Prussian Army (I'm still trying to track that down).

Had Gilmore summoned Conrad, having heard that he was already an accomplished bass player? I have learned that Gilmore kept track of the best bandsmen in Europe, and often successfully recruited them into his band. He always wanted the best players, so at the very least, we have to assume that Conrad was as good a player as any, and Gilmore was able to add him to the group.

Here is Gilmore's Band a year or so later, in 1889, on the steps of the St. Louis Exposition and Music Hall, and you can see Conrad in the upper right, holding a massive helicon bass (but check out some of the other interesting instruments in the band - the other helicon, which has rotary valves, and seems to have a slightly curved-up bell, the bass saxophone, the sarrusophone, the antoniophones, and more!).

Courtesy of the Missouri History Museum, St. Louis.

That huge BBb bass was built by Henry Gunckel of Paris and referred to as a "Monster" (and it was imported into the U. S. by Lyon & Healy from as early as 1880). Whether Conrad brought that horn with him, or it was given to him by Gilmore when he arrived, we simply can't say. But here's a closer look at the instrument:

And here's that same horn, advertised nine years earlier, in the 1880 Lyon & Healy catalogue.

Note the price - a whopping $330! By comparison, the second Conn Sousaphone, built almost 20 years later, sold for a mere $250. That helicon must have been some horn! And Conrad played it not only during his time with Gilmore, but also for the first few years he was with Sousa's Band.

But Sousa was not a fan of helicon basses - even expensive, well-crafted ones like this one (assuming it was both of those things)! In 1892, he pitched the idea to J. W. Pepper for a modified helicon that turned the huge bell straight up, and in 1895, Pepper finally made the very first one. From that point on, as far as we can tell, Conrad only ever played a Sousaphone during his remaining years with Sousa (ending after the 1903 season).

Uhm, wait, that's not a Sousaphone!

Found this brief article and photo in the Detroit Free Press, Sunday, April 17, 1904. What is shown here is not a Sousaphone, but a sarrusophone.

Herman Conrad's brother, Gustave

I've been researching Herman Conrad, the world's first Sousaphonist, and learned recently that his younger brother, Gustave, was also a musician. I haven't found out yet what instrument he played, but I did get confirmation that he was a member of the Ford Motor Band - most likely from 1910, when the band was formed, until his death in 1916. He's probably one of the guys in this photo from 1915 - I just don't know which one!

Courtesy of the Hagley Library

Publishing my findings - round two!

The winter edition of the ITEA Journal just arrived yesterday, and I was surprised to find my follow-up article on the early history of the Sousaphone featured on the cover!

And here's the title page inside the Journal:

Finally! Check out this 1896 article!

For almost four years now I have been searching for a reference to the Sousaphone in a newspaper published shortly after J. W. Pepper built the first one in 1895. I figured that horn had to have attracted attention - not only because of its unusual size and shape, but because it was named after the biggest "rock star" of the day - John Philip Sousa. I mean, how cool is that?! Surely some reporter would have at least remarked about it, don't you think?

Well, as far as I could tell, that first Sousaphone managed to fly under the radar while on tour with the Sousa Band in early 1896, and then dropped out of sight shortly after that time. After months of searching, I couldn't find a single mention of a Sousaphone in the press until Conn's first one appeared in January of 1898.

That is, until now.

Check out what appears in the third paragraph of this brief report in the March 30, 1896 edition of The Allentown Daily Leader (Allentown, PA):

Inside the C.G. Conn factory ca. 1911

I couldn't let this leap year day pass me by without posting something. So click here for a great set of photographs that I stumbled upon that provides an inside look at the C. G. Conn factory around 1911. At the end is a brief history of Conn and his company, although the passing remarks about the first Sousaphone perpetuate the wrong understanding that Conn was responsible for it. But they were cranking out some fantastic horns at that time!

So then it's really a Sue-sar-phone?!

Among the gems that I found while at the U. S. Marine Band Library (just over a year ago) that were not directly related to Sousaphone history was this explanation of how to pronounce Sousa's name - written by Sousa himself:

This was in Sousa Band Press Book no. 8, and is a clipping from the April 23, 1899 edition of the New York Journal. Here's the accompanying article:

I'm not entirely sure what the "good old-fashioned way" of pronouncing it was back then, but today we tend to say "Sue-zuh," and "Sue-zuh-phone." But I guess it should be "Sue-sar" and "Sue-sar-phone"!

At the U. S. Marine Band Library

When I was in the thick of my research on the early history of the Sousaphone, I knew that a trip to the U. S. Marine Band Library, located at the Marine Barracks in Washington, D.C., was in order. After all, Sousa was conductor of the Marine Band from 1880 to 1892, and I was aware that the Library contains many important artifacts and files relating to the great bandmaster, both from those years, and from his entire life.

And while I should have posted on this back when I made the trip in December 2014, I thought I'd finally record it and share what I found while I was there. 

To begin with, the historical significance of the area, and its resident band, is apparent from the street as you approach the Marine Barracks. Here is the sign that is posted along the walkway, about a block away:

And here's a close-up of the text, if you're interested in the history of the band, as well as its most famous leader:

I had driven down to D.C. from Philadelphia on Sunday night, December 28th, in order to spend all day Monday, the 29th, in the Library. Welcoming me warmly was Gunnery Sergeant and Assistant Chief Librarian and Historian of the U. S. Marine Band, Kira Wharton (who was not required to be in uniform that day):

Kira graciously gave me the grand tour of the Library, and pulled all of the relevant documents for me to look at, which included copies of the Sousa Band Press Books (the originals are locked away in fire-proof cabinets), as well as the Library's files on the history of the Sousaphone. She set me up with a great workspace (below), and even helped by doing some online newspaper searches for the earliest references to the Sousaphone (the Marine Band was on break, so she offered to assist me, which was wonderfully kind!).

So what did I find, over the course of the day, as it relates to the history of the Sousaphone? Well, the most important thing is what I didn't find. 

As it turns out, while the Sousa Band Press Books are a fantastic resource - a kind of scrap book of news-clippings on Sousa's band over the course of it's 40 year history - there is a gaping hole in the series. Book no. 3 ends with September 3, 1894, and book no. 4 begins with June 14, 1896! That gap is the very period in which the first Sousaphone was built by J. W. Pepper and went on tour with the Sousa Band! I was totally bummed!

What happened to the news-clippings from that period? Were they lost at some point, or were they perhaps not kept for those months? We simply do not know at present.

But all was not lost for my day at the Library. I did find a number of important references to Conn's first Sousaphone, which was introduced in January 1898 (probably having been built in late 1897, although Conn has only ever mentioned 1898 as its birth year).

It was Kira who found the most historically significant reference in the course of her online newspaper searches. Notice what it says on page 7 of the January 17, 1898 edition of The Washington Post:

This is now the earliest known reference to a Sousaphone in the press (apart from a few J. W. Pepper publications in 1895 and 1896). It almost certainly is speaking of Conn's new horn, which was more formally introduced five days later, on page 11 of the January 22, 1898 edition of The Music Trade Review (which I found in Press Book no. 5, although I had seen it before):

While this notice seems to speak of the Sousaphone as if no one would have seen one yet, the Washington Post reference above, from a week earlier, suggests the new instrument was already known by that time (perhaps from the Pepper Sousaphone travelling with the band in 1896?).

The next reference I found in the Press Books was from a month or so later (February 1898, although this is just a guess, based on where it appears in Book 5). The Sousaphone is mentioned in a poem by F. W. Wadsworth, which is part of a larger article titled "Sousa and His Band: Matchless Organization Plays to an Immense Enthusiastic Audience." (unfortunately, neither the newspaper nor the date accompanies the clipping). Here's the entire, rather cheesy, poem for your reading pleasure!

Did you catch the reference?

In this fundamental trio [of basses],
   Noted for volume and depth of tone,
There's one of tremendous size,
   Known as the "Sousa-Phone."

The extra attention given to the "Sousa-Phone," as well as the hyphen in the name, suggests that the instrument was a recent addition. But notice also the reference to "volume and depth of tone." This was what Sousa was searching for in creating the Sousaphone in the first place - a big, warm sound that would pour over the band from the huge, upright bell.

In Press Books 8 and 9 we get our first look at a "Sousa-Phone" - a drawing from the September 17, 1899 edition of the Pittsburgh Post. The extensive article, written by Gustave Schlotterbeck, was titled, "March Master and His Method," and featured this:

The horn matches one made by Conn, but interestingly, it is not the first model of Sousaphone that Conn built (the valve cluster changed at least two times before Conn was satisfied; for more on this, click here).

Here's one last find from my day at the Library. In Press Book 12, I came across an actual photograph of the Sousaphone in use in Sousa's Band - and on parade at that (something Sousa rarely did). It was in the August 4, 1900 edition of Collier's Weekly, which featured the band in Paris. This was not a photo I had seen before, so Kira pulled the original so that she could get a quality scan of it for the Library. Check out what can be seen on the far left of the front rank, as you are looking at the photo:

I'll zoom in so that you can see the big horns up front - a Sousaphone and three tubas:

This wasn't the first time a Sousaphone was seen on the march (that happened back in the States), but it may very well have been the first time for such a spectacle in Europe.

Of course, I found many other interesting things in the Press Books, but these are the most relevant to the early history of the Sousaphone.

In wrapping up this long post, let me take you outside of the building, where stands the one and only statue of the namesake of that great bass horn: