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davewerden

  1. Dave Werden Review of Wessex Sinfonico Euphonium

    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") ...
  2. Are Professional Instruments Only for Professional Players?

    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 ...