Euphonium

[MoonHill]

Almost all 3 valve marching Euphs I've run across have a bass shank receiver. In the days of old, the King 2 valve was bass shank, and the Deg 2 valve was neither bass nor tenor shank, but some medium / euro / brittish shank. I generally used a tenor shank piece with an adapter, or some tape (duct/electrical) to secure the mouthpiece on the old 2 valve degs.

I seem to remember you preferring those two-valve DEGs. Or, at least, pulling a very nice sound of them.

Aside from those DEGs, though, every marching Euph I've ever seen has been bass-shank also.

[Shadow_7]

I seem to remember you preferring those two-valve DEGs. Or, at least, pulling a very nice sound of them.

Well I played a 2 valve deg 4 of my 5 junior years. Initially it was, I didn't want anyone to play on anything worse than what I had. Which morphed into, I didn't want to polish a silver plated horn.

The Kings were always the better all around horn. Just too much of a maintenance issue for me. Plus I had a one of a kind prototype Deg horn. With a honking metal bar instead of a dual brace setup to the valves like all of the other Degs. If only it wasn't ruined by shoddy shop work finals week my age out year.

On the Bb's, the Yamaha have the better ergonomics. The Kings have the best sound. The Kanstul has the best intonation, IMO. The Deg is decent too. They are all decent horns in their own right. Much better than what we used in the two valve days. Aside from being heavier and harder to get a good grip on with the 3rd valve.

The King 2 valves are still the biggest most awesome looking Euphs ever made. The Kanstul G Euph is close in looks, but is still a couple inches shy in length, and probably half a foot shy in vertical girth when in the playing position.

[Kansan]

The Euphonium we have is a Willson also stamped Dynasty and needs a work ove ### all the slides are stuck. I took a quick class on stuck slide removal and I'm pretty sure with the purchse of a coupel simple tools I can pull those slides and prepare the horn for the shop so the braces can be put back together.

It takes a large shank mouthpiece and we will be looking for two more to form a third part Bari section.

Note: We'll have to sell off some of our 2 valve stuff to raise the money for 2 the Euphs. We'll be looking for used 3 valve Euphs.

[Penn State]

It is pitched the same as the baritone, just a larger instrument, therefore the lower range is a little better at projecting than on a baritone. But it's basically your third baritone part.

To paraphrase, the marching baritone is capable of playing in the same range as a marching euphonium but the marching euphonium's range is not as wide as that of the marching baritone.

I currently own a Yamaha marching baritone (Bach 5G piece, respectable range that will improve when I have more practice time) and have thought of picking up a marching euphonium. From what I can gather on this thread, as stated above, a marching euphonium will not be significantly different from a marching baritone, and for my purpose may be considered a 'waste of money'?

is this a correct assumption I am making?

[Kansan]

To paraphrase, the marching baritone is capable of playing in the same range as a marching euphonium but the marching euphonium's range is not as wide as that of the marching baritone.

I currently own a Yamaha marching baritone (Bach 5G piece, respectable range that will improve when I have more practice time) and have thought of picking up a marching euphonium. From what I can gather on this thread, as stated above, a marching euphonium will not be significantly different from a marching baritone, and for my purpose may be considered a 'waste of money'?

is this a correct assumption I am making?

Well, our Euponium is in the shop so I can't compair them at the moment. We have one and are looking at adding two more. We are hoping they will add to the bottom end of the ensemble. Waste of money? I don't know yet.

Edited November 18, 2008 by Kansan

[Spaml6]

It does add a slight difference in tombre to the baritone sound. With the euphonium, it adds more depth of sound. The euphonium plays sort of like a baritone, but it just requires alot more air. If it was a 'waste of money', why would most line carry both the Bari and the euph (At least in DCA.. I know Bucs, ES, Bush, Corpsvets, and maybe more use them, not counting DCI where most do)

So in my opinion,

The Euph is not a waste of money... the sound and depth it adds is well worth it.

[Penn State]

It does add a slight difference in tombre to the baritone sound. With the euphonium, it adds more depth of sound. The euphonium plays sort of like a baritone, but it just requires alot more air. If it was a 'waste of money', why would most line carry both the Bari and the euph (At least in DCA.. I know Bucs, ES, Bush, Corpsvets, and maybe more use them, not counting DCI where most do)

So in my opinion,

The Euph is not a waste of money... the sound and depth it adds is well worth it.

I feel I wasn't clear enough in my question...I am not questioning the value of the marching euphonium to the brass choir, I am questioning its value to me as an individual performer (outside of the brass choir setting). What I am asking is: if I can accomplish the same musical goals on the marching baritone is it worth paying my own money for a marching euphonium?

[Shadow_7]

From what I can gather on this thread, as stated above, a marching euphonium will not be significantly different from a marching baritone, and for my purpose may be considered a 'waste of money'?

is this a correct assumption I am making?

Open to interpretation I guess. For that matter the marching french horn has the same length of tubing and therefor the same range of the baritone. So why bother having baritones or Euphoniums?

The Euph blends better with an ensemble. IMO the baritone is more of a solo instrument. But lets face it, there's players out there who find it entirely too easy to overplay a baritone. And for these types, the Euphonium is a much better match. It's only a waste of money, if there's no one willing or able to play it.

Edited November 18, 2008 by Shadow_7

[CookieMonster]

A good euph line will add so much depth to your sound, that you will hardly sound like the same hornline from last year. If you think of the trademark "Phantom Sound", from the past years, that is from when they fielded an all Euph-section.

And whoever said that you don't have as much range on Euph, it's all up to the player. If you can move the air, you can get everywhere on a euph you can get on a baritone.

Also, as one of the people who finds it "entirely too easy to overplay a baritone" (which should be your entire third section, IMO), it takes those people from having too bright and blatty of a sound, to a dark, resonant, beautiful tone that has little trouble blending with the ensemble.

Sort of think of it as Bass Baritone or Tenor Contrabass. That's about where the tone falls. I would personally never call it a waste of money, as it should improve your sound a noticeable amount either from the starting gate, or when you teach the people playing it to breathe like brass machines they should be.

[Penn State]

Sort of think of it as Bass Baritone or Tenor Contrabass. That's about where the tone falls. I would personally never call it a waste of money, as it should improve your sound a noticeable amount either from the starting gate, or when you teach the people playing it to breathe like brass machines they should be.

I really like your description, it makes alot of sense to me. I am a primary tuba player who began playing on trumpet. I have never been lucky enough to have been able to get a marching euphonium in my hands, although I have played four different brands of marching baritone, but thats a story for an other thread.

I did some searching on you tube, found this:

If anyone has any audio files of a marching euphonium (Yamaha is possible) I would really love to hear them. Thanks!