Helicon ancient and modern!

[Jonathantuba]

First glimpse of prototype for the new Wessex Tubas Eb Helicon (worn by Jonathan Hodgetts) beside 19th century example (worn by Jim Langley).

I personally find it a lot more comfortable to carry than a sousaphone. Lighter and with lower centre of gravity. Sound is more like tuba and not as woofy as sousaphone.

Expected to be available late 2016 or early 2017.

[ghmerrill]

I would REALLY like one of those, although I'd probably play it only about three times per year.

Also, I'm running out of room around here.

Appears to have 4 valves. ???

[DaveBj]

There was a full helicon ensemble (7) from one of the former Yugoslav republics at IET last year. All sized from soprano (trumpet range) thru alto and tenor, and a big one, like pictured above. Most were kids. They sounded awesome. I can't post links, but go to YouTube and search on "helicon ensemble IET festival".

[SimonettiTubaCollection]

This is great! We'd love to know where to buy them when they are available. We have quite a few helicons in our collection if you'd like to visit. We also had someone contact us about a helicon that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had that had a stovepipe bell (which we found through the wonderful powers of Google that it was probably a Stowasser model) and was wondering where they could purchase one similar. Here's the link to the blog post found through Google: http://www.virtuosityboston.com/p-19...t-helicon.aspx