General Tuba-Euphonium Blog

Adams has a long history of making fine musical instruments, which began about 50 years ago with their percussion line. Roughly 15 years ago they began adding brass to their line. Euphoniums started appearing soon after. Adams numbered their euphoniums 1, 2, and 3 based solely on the order in which the models were designed - the numbers are not a hierarchy or indication of relative quality. They are all professional instruments, but made for different tastes.

All 3 models come with ...

On my forum and other places euphonium players have discussed the benefit of replacing the standard bottom cap of the 4th valve with a heavier version. The first I heard of this is when I was a Sterling artist. They sent me one for my Sterling Virtuoso and I liked it. The tone and center seemed a bit better for most music. For music that was light and "bouncy" I tended to prefer the standard cap (but that may have just been in my head). Regardless, it was easy to change the cap when I wanted. ...

The COVID crisis was something we'd like not repeat, but many of us have found some positive outcomes. One of those outcomes is having more time to practice, time that would have been otherwise occupied in pre-pandemic times. Bente Illevold used the time to create another very positive outcome, which is this album of unaccompanied music (i.e. "alone").

In case you are ready to stop reading, give me a minute! Some might ask, "A whole album of unaccompanied ...

I put together a video explaining the need for an AGR and also how to use it. Following that I'll post some photos to further illustrate the concept(s).

One bit of perspective first. As far as I know. ALL receivers will cause a gap between the end of the mouthpiece shank and the start of the leadpipe (hidden inside the larger receiver). If the insertion depth of your mouthpiece creates a good gap on the horn you use, then the AGR doesn't matter. But keep in mind that different mouthpiece ...

I just came up in the testing rotation of the Sinfonico, and it is a real treat to test this new horn! In 2019 at ITEC I tried the prototype for this horn and found it very promising. Now we are looking at an early production model. My impression is that that the instrument has changed quite a bit in that time (which is not surprising - that's how the process works).

The Sinfonico, unlike the less expensive Dolce, is hand made from sheet brass. Most other brands (and the Wessex "Dolce") ...

The instrument choices today make this question more complex. Some of this post applies to tuba and other instruments, but I will specifically address euphonium.

Until the late 1970's, there was a pretty wide line between pro euphoniums (i.e. Besson and Boosey & Hawkes) and everything else. That line was largely drawn by the compensating system, but also included the larger bore of the British instruments. Today we have large-bore, compensating euphoniums that cost less than some student-level ...

NOTE: this advice is good for "normal" times, too (but right now our choices have been unusually limited). If your available band/music opportunities have a long hole in the schedule for any reason, this is good ongoing maintenance. I think many of you have continued with a good practice schedule, but HOW you practice is just as important as how long...perhaps more so.

I think we're all trying to remain positive during the shut-down situation, as we assume bands will be back in our ...

In the connected world we live in one has a chance to hear many different, talented euphonium players from all over the world. There is YouTube, of course, but I prefer to have "hard copy" for any music I want to be sure I can still access years from now. Fortunately, there are many great euphonium CD's available now, and ordering from overseas or from the specialty shops we have in our own country is a simple matter.

Recently it has been my great pleasure ...