Three Decades of the Freak Jury

[the elephant]

Sean created the original iteration of this community just about thirty years ago. Does anyone here remember discovering the original BBS community in the Spring of 1996? I found it, but then couldn't find it again for a while because I forgot the dang name and its completely unrelated address.

I became active when I got my first Macintosh and connected via America Online. Before that, I logged on via CompuServe and a PC clone via telnet and a modem, where you had to stick your phone handset into two rubber boots. That setup belonged to a roommate, who moved out shortly after I found you people, and I did not have access again for some time. The AOL account gave me the first email address that I used for work, and gave me access to some of the earlier search engines, like Web Crawled, Mama.com, and Dogpile. I also recall places like Pizza.com and a few other choice examples of the 8-bit life we all led back then. And eventually, there was the tuba-euph list.

Happy approximate birthday-ish, tuba community, regardless of what you have been called or where you have been located.

[dp]

Sean created the original iteration of this community just about thirty years ago. Does anyone here remember discovering the original BBS community in the Spring of 1996? I found it, but then couldn't find it again for a while because I forgot the dang name and its completely unrelated address.
I became active when I got my first Macintosh and connected via America Online. Before that, I logged on via CompuServe and a PC clone via telnet and a modem, where you had to stick your phone handset into two rubber boots. That setup belonged to a roommate, who moved out shortly after I found you people, and I did not have access again for some time. The AOL account gave me the first email address that I used for work, and gave me access to some of the earlier search engines, like Web Crawled, Mama.com, and Dogpile. I also recall places like Pizza.com and a few other choice examples of the 8-bit life we all led back then. And eventually, there was the tuba-euph list.
Happy approximate birthday-ish, tuba community, regardless of what you have been called or where you have been located.

It was a kinder, gentler era...

[graybach]

www.chisham.com/tips/bbs/dec1998/messages/6968.html

I went back and looked, because I was curious.
The first post I could find was from November 23, 1998.
Sean Chisham archived all the old, old forum threads under “Tips“ on the old board.
My favorite post that I read while I was looking there was,
“Is James Self Jim Self’s brother?“ I hope they were joking.

[graybach]

< sorry for the double post. I hit quote instead of edit, and didn’t realize it until too late.>

[russiantuba]

www.chisham.com/tips/bbs/dec1998/messages/6968.html

I went back and looked, because I was curious.
The first post I could find was from November 23, 1998.
Sean Chisham archived all the old, old forum threads under “Tips“ on the old board.
My favorite post that I read while I was looking there was,
“Is James Self Jim Self’s brother?“ I hope they were joking.

Ironic fact—Jim Self was the tuba professor at University of Tennessee before his time in LA. A few miles down the road at ETSU, the low brass professor was Jimmie Self. I could see this being a topic for discussion and speculation in the old days

[graybach]

I lived in Tennessee from 1986 until 2001, and then again in 2007, and Jim Self in LA and Jimmie E. Self, (which I assume he called himself to distinguish the two), at ETSU were still getting confused for one another even when I was in Tennessee, and Jim Self had long before that moved to
Los Angeles.


www.chisham.com/tips/bbs/dec1998/index.html

Earlier, I posted the first link I found from the old, old Tubenet. But, that was a single post, and because of the way the forum is archived, it’s the only post one could see if he or she went to the page. There’s not a way to go back to all the posts on the page that the single post was part of. The link I just provided shows the entire index for the first month of the forum. The oldest posts are at the bottom.
I saw some names on that index page that I haven’t seen in many years. Kelly O’Bryant was one of them.

[the elephant]

Sean did not achieve anything during the first two years. And he told me that he did not remember the date he first went live, but that it was "sometime in early 1996". (This was in a phone conversation back in 2003.)

I remember stumbling across this "World Famous TubeNet BBS", but could not relocate it because bookmarks were not yet a thing, and I could only find a plumbing supply place at "tubenet.com". Remembering "forums.chisham.net" for two years until I had my own Internet-capable computer was a non-starter.

I was a lurker through late 1999 and then only posted under pseudonyms for a couple of years, then started using my real name, and then, in 2004, I made the initial switch to PHPBB. You could post there as a Guest without logging in. When he rolled out "TubeNet Mk III" (moving from the white with dark blue to the mixed light blues and grays), we had to pick a screen name and make an account. This was to cut down on all the wild flame wars we used to have. That lasted for nearly 16 years, then the Marxist Brothers took over, and we came here.

I remember as we settled into screen names that we had several users who changed several times before settling on where they landed. I remember for a few posts at least that Joe posted as Turd after someone called him one. Then he landed on a reverse of his his (I think) granmother's initial/name: E. Kolb. I don't know whether that is a true story, but it was what he told us way back then. That, of course, became "bloke". I think I tried several names before "the elephant" (which I used on a jeep forum) popped onto my radar. I can't even remember my earlier names. All this happened back in 2004 and 2005.

But TubeNet was definitely around before 1998. I made a single post in December 1996, looking for someone. It was made anonymously, and I was looking for the email address of an old friend. No help was forthcoming, though, and I did not post again for a very long time. We had a lot of name players back then, and a wave of jerky kids ran them off. I remember someone offering up their experience, and some kid called him a clueless loser. Et voila, the Freak Jury showed its first signs of life. This was pre-Tuba God.

What calmed things down some after some really terrible flame fests was when browsers started allowing you to read an IP address. You could figure out who was posting based on where their dial-up server was located. If they logged on from Rochester, NY, you knew it was someone at Eastman. If it were in Denton, TX, you knew it was a UNT kid.

For some time, it was popular with some of us to dial into Earthlink or AOL or whatever, from some city far away to spoof our identity.

This was the sort of stuff that eventually led to the loss of anonymity.

[the elephant]

Who remembers Waldo's Tuba World? That predated TubeNet, going live in 1995, I think.

[graybach]

@the elephant If I in any way came across as contradicting you about the date, that was not my intent. I was simply stating the oldest post I could find on there. Apologies if it came across that way.

[graybach]

Who remembers Waldo's Tuba World? That predated TubeNet, going live in 1995, I think.

I don’t remember that one, but I do remember one around the same time that a man named Carl Webster ran. I don’t remember the title.
He does something very “higher up there” with computers, Cisco and/or Citrix, I forget which, certifications out the wazoo, and was an amateur tuba player.

The professional (at least in the incident I’m thinking about) that that jerk know-it-all kid took to task was
Roger Bobo(!)
After that, he, and several other “big names” in the tuba/euphonium world, never posted again. And what a shame, because that was truly a wealth of collective knowledge they had, and it was cool that they interacted with everybody else.

[Casca Grossa]

I was in the Air Force at the time, playing in the band at Travis AFB. I believe I had taken an audition for either the conert band or ceremonial brass in DC right before the site went up. One of the players in the DC Air Force Band told me about it. I believe I was one of the first people to get an account on the site the day it went live. I lurked on it quite a bit until 2004 when I gave up playing for a while. I came back to it around 2015, but couldn't remember my account name or login info. I decided to be a PITA over there until things went south and haven't been back. I'm perfectly content being a PITA over here now.

[russiantuba]

I came to the forums in spring of 2007 after SCRTEC at University of Texas. An orchestral panel led by a full time symphony player and his teacher who held his position before (and who is now retiring from a very large school) led it and mentioned the old site was a great way to find out about auditions. I was enamored that there was a site dedicated to the knowledge and enjoyment of tuba and euphonium. Before, all I knew about was tubanews.com, which was becoming all spam (not sure whoever led that site). From what I gather, a lot of the big names had left prior to that, and some of the most helpful I never found out who they were, but have an inkling (looking at you Scooby Tuba).

I have met Bloke in person ages ago, have had numerous chats with him over the years, have scheduled a day of a trip after the lockdowns to meet buffalobill (formerly known as Doc), have met several others at conferences and such. I originally discovered my future MM professor on here and added him on facebook, discussed how I had a couple auditions in Ohio and he urged me to audition at Miami Univ. I've networked with others from the old forum over the years that I remember. I reconnected with my very first tuba teacher, Mark, who is one of the moderators on here.

Most importantly, not I have learned to be a more knowledgable tubist, spurring research and such, but I feel I have grown as a person and professional in the field thanks to the help of several of the frequent posters here, mainly in private messages and their willingness to help me in my younger days. So glad we have the new site and great moderation and members.

[tubanh84]

I think I first got to the old BBS in around 1999 when I was just entering high school. I thought the whole thing was great. Learned a ton about the then-modern culture, the history, the major players. I was able to figure out what I needed to listen to. For a kid, it was a way to get to know who your heroes should be.

Nowadays, as a dedicated amateur who (sadly or happily, depending on the day) makes his money doing other things, it's a great sounding board for the weird ideas I get occasionally.

And, it's talked about a lot more in snowboarding than in the tuba world (though I think it used to be talked about in the tuba world a lot more), community is an important thing. Simply knowing and connecting with other people out there doing an esoteric thing is more and more important the older I get.

[arpthark]

I joined TN in 2007. My professor told me a valuable thing when I was in college:

"Don't get on TubeNet. It's full of people who don't know anything."

I pretty much heeded his advice and didn't actively contribute much until I had graduated.

Now, almost 20 years later, I am the second-most prolific author on this site, after bloke.

And I'm not a pro, so my professor was right.

[prodigal]

But who's having the most fun? (Us amateurs, I think.)

I forgot how much fun playing the tuba is, thanks everyone!

[hrender]

I think I found it back in 1997 or 1998. I remember I bought an old Buescher Eb in 1999, I think, from someone on the board who said that Harvey Hartman had worked on it and thought it good. The horn was not really that good, but it was the first horn I'd owned in about 15 years at that point, and I remember it and the early board both fondly.

[bloke]

But who's having the most fun? (Us amateurs, I think.)

I forgot how much fun playing the tuba is, thanks everyone!

I rarely play for no remuneration, but reserve the right to do so.
When I do so, it's with other so-called "professionals" who are doing the same thing.

I'm WAY past playing show off "look what I can do" tuba solos in recitals, or - as far as my state or region is concerned ' "I premiered the blah-blah tuba concerto".

The thing that brings me pleasure is being part of really-really in tune chords, setting them up, and being the lowest voice in them.
It's hard to get that type of experience with (though I love people who play "for the love of it") people who are casual players.

[bort2.0]

Now, almost 20 years later, I am the second-most prolific author on this site, after bloke

...and this is how I find out that I've slipped to 3rd place.

[bort2.0]

So... Who else was on the old tuba-euph email list?

I'm not sure what's more interesting to me, thinking about Wade posting tuba stuff (and lots of epic tuba builds) over the last 30+ years, or the fact that he started doing it in his 20s.

The Internet is a weird place. Thanks for making it a little less weird. Or at least, making it the same kind of weird that I enjoy.

[prodigal]

Don't get me wrong, I value the views and opinions of you professionals who play better than I ever will. The variety of views and experiences make this forum great.