Sousa’s new bass instrument adds ‘frosting to the cake’

Sousaphones are the darlings of today’s college marching bands, and football fans everywhere can thank the legendary band leader John Philip Sousa for the invention.

 

Sousa had an idea to “improve upon” the funky bass instrument known as a helicon, which was developed in 1845 by Ignaz Stowasser of Vienna, Austria. It was built in a spiral circular form that rested on the player’s left shoulder. 

In effect, the musician “wore” the instrument, making it relatively easy to carry in horseback military bands – it’s intended purpose.

 

Evaluating the helicon, Sousa said: “It was all right enough for street-parade work, but its tone was apt to shoot ahead too prominently and explosively to suit me for concert performances.” He turned to his friend James Welsh Pepper of Philadelphia in 1895. 

Sousa said: “I spoke to Mr. Pepper relative to constructing a bass instrument in which the brass bell of great size would turn upward…so that the sound would diffuse over the entire band like the frosting on a cake!" 

“He built one and called it a Sousaphone.” 

Sousa was pleased with Pepper’s “modification,” but when played outdoors, the sousaphone’s effectiveness could be diluted by Mother Nature. The instrument was dubbed a “rain catcher.”

 

Another of Sousa’s friends was Charles Gerard Conn of Elkhart, Ind. He’s the guy who came up with the idea of tilting the sousaphone bell forward in 1908, so it could send forth “dry music,” and project the instrument’s notes over the heads of other marching band members.

 

Pepper’s original 1895 sousaphone was discovered in 1973. It was “hiding” at Renninger’s Antiques Market in Adamstown, Pa. John Bailey, a 24-year-old tuba player found the instrument hanging from the rafters while “browsing” the store with his mother and sister. Bailey bought the big horn for $50. 

In 1991, Bailey contacted J.W. Pepper & Son, Inc., and company officials “quickly jumped at the chance to purchase the instrument,” reported Brendan Lyons, a copywriter in the marketing department at J.W. Pepper. 

Lyons said Dave Detwiler, a pastor, music history enthusiast and tuba player living in Harleysville, Pa., “approached Pepper with the idea of playing the original Sousaphone in concert for what would likely be the first time in over a century, and J.W. Pepper wholeheartedly agreed.” 

To prepare the instrument to be played, the old sousaphone was delivered to Steve Dillon and Matt Walters of Dillon Music in Woodbridge, N.J. They are “experts in the field of instrument repair and the care of antique instruments,” Lyons said. “Through their hard work, the original sousaphone was returned to perfect playing order.”

Dave Detwiler and Matt Walters

 

“And play it did. In Mr. Detwiler’s able hands, the original Sousaphone joined the Montgomery County (Pa.) Community Band in concert in 2015.”

Famous sousaphone players include the first one to “put on” the instrument, Henry Conrad, a member of Sousa’s concert band. He was a big boy, standing about 6-foot-8, storytellers said.

 

In 1895, Conrad penned a personal note to J.W. Pepper stating: “The sousaphone is admired everywhere and gains in reputation daily. It is in splendid tune and tone and has a wonderful carrying power. It proves an irresistible attraction.”

One notable contemporary female sousaphone player is Jeanie Schroder of the group known as DeVotchKa, which was formed in 1997. Schroder also sings and plays the double bass and flute.

Typically, a brass sousaphone weighs between 30 to 35 pounds. A double bass generally weighs about 25 pounds, while a professional-grade flute weighs a mere 18 ounces.