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Thread: Need help with Marching Baritone recommendations

  1. Need help with Marching Baritone recommendations

    Hello. This is my first post so please bear with me as I get the hang of things! I have enjoyed reading the wealth of information offered here but I could not find exactly what I was looking for so thought I would just ask myself.

    My daughter, a trumpet player for 7 years, has become hooked on the euphonium. She was switched by her band director at the beginning of marching season last year due to a lack of low brass as seems to be the case with a lot of euphonium players (loved reading your stories!) and given a nasty, moldy old Yamaha school instrument to play. After giving it a thorough cleaning in my bath tub (ick), a few weeks of tears during band camp and a successful season culminating her school's first trip to State with a marching band of only 9 horns she has decided never to play her collection of trumpets again. Having purchased her a silver Getzen Capri and a beautifully restored vintage Buescher with an engraved bell along with her first Yamaha student trumpet, I am a little disheartened about having to purchase further instruments but happy that she has found her niche.

    She intends to play in college, major in music and become a band director herself, so I would like to purchase an instrument that will serve her well through her secondary education and perhaps beyond. As the school was so overjoyed to have a euphonium player, they purchased her a brand new Yamaha concert instrument which according to her will due for the next two years until we can get her her own. However the marching bari has got to go! I am not sure of the model but it's OLD. The only thing she likes about it is it's size.

    I looked into the King 1127 Ultimate Marching Baritone but all the reviews I have read indicate it is very bell heavy and she is a tiny girl. I have heard good things about the King 1124, Kanstul instruments and a few Yamaha models. I am also perplexed as to the difference between a "marching baritone" and a "marching euphonium" and don't know which would serve her needs better. I want this instrument to grow with her and don't mind paying a bit more now rather than have to upgrade later. The weight distribution is key. We also do not mind buying used to be able to afford a better instrument and we have the time to try and locate the right one. Our goal is to get her the baritone before summer when marching season starts. May would be nice since my self-professed "band geek" has asked for a baritone for her sixteenth birthday. No car for her...that's my girl!

    Are there any suggestions from the experts? Please forgive my ignorance of your instrument and my long winded post. Thank you in advance for any advice you can offer!

  2. Need help with Marching Baritone recommendations

    hehe the car would be the graduation gift

  3. #3

    Need help with Marching Baritone recommendations

    I'm hoping some other folks chime in here, because my experience is very limited with the marching style instruments. I can tell you that King is a very reputable brand and is well made. However, Yamaha and Kanstul are also fine instruments in general.

    Due to the purpose of a marching baritone, I suspect it would be best if your daughter could somehow get hold of the ones you are considering so she can test the "feel" and balance. Perhaps there are some schools around that would have some(?).

    The terms "baritone" and "euphonium" are thrown about rather loosely in the industry. Looking at the Kanstul line, for example, the marching baritone is comparable to an American-style concert euphonium, the kind you often see with 3 valves on the front and a curved bell. Their marching euphonium is more comparable to a concert euphonium. Neither is comparable to a British-style baritone horn. The sound would be similar between their marching euphonium and their marching baritone, except the euphonium would sound larger and deeper. The bore and bell are both larger on the euphonium. In the case of Kings, the bore is roughly the same on the baritone and euphonium, but the latter has a larger bell. I'm not sure which is more widely used, but the euphonium versions will probably feel more like her concert horn.
    Dave Werden (ASCAP)
    Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
    Adams Artist (Adams E3)
    Alliance Mouthpiece (DC3)
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  4. #4
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    Need help with Marching Baritone recommendations

    Sorry, but I don't know much about the marching instruments. I haven't had to march and play for over 40 years. Back then they were all 'G' bugles... and I think they were made by Selmer -- but I wouldn't bet $$ on it.
    Rick Floyd
    Miraphone 5050 - Warburton BJ / RF mpc
    YEP-641S (recently sold)
    Doug Elliott - 102 rim; I-cup; I-9 shank


    "Always play with a good tone, never louder than lovely, never softer than supported." - author unknown.
    Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches
    El Cumbanchero (Raphael Hernandez, arr. Naohiro Iwai)
    Chorale and Shaker Dance
    (John Zdechlik)

  5. Need help with Marching Baritone recommendations

    I'm afraid I can't contribute to a brand recommendation. But I will question the whole endeavor. If Brynne is turning 16, she probably has only two marching seasons left in high school. There is no guarantee that an instrument appropriate for high school will also work in college. My HS band used bell-front marching baritones; my college used bell-front concert baritones. I don't know what would happen if someone tried to use a style different from what everyone else was using, but it wouldn't look uniform, and that's half the point of marching band. They might not have been allowed.

    Past college, there are few opportunities for a marching instrument. I have friends who do summertime parades for a few bucks on the weekends, but I doubt they justify the cost of an instrument that way.

    Maybe instead of buying an instrument, you could have the school baritone professionally chem-cleaned and de-dented instead. What about it makes it "got to go"?

    Some people march with the concert Yamaha instruments, aided by a neck strap.

    If you're serious about purchasing, you might consider a road trip to the Woodwind and Brasswind showroom, in South Bend, IN; one of the biggest brass instrument retailers in the US. She can try out the instruments there, and determine what she likes and dislikes. They do some used instrument sales too, though I don't know how much. Call first to see what they have in stock, and so they can be ready for you when you arrive.

  6. Need help with Marching Baritone recommendations

    I think Steve is right on the money here. If your daughter is going to be a serious euphonium player, she needs a serious instrument or at least one that comes up to the standards of a concert band. The marching horn isn't that. Rent, beg, or borrow the marching horn; but get her a quality euphonium for serious playing. By the way, I assume a marching "baritone" is one of those oversize trumpet looking things I see. I've never played one. Last time I marched and played it was a bell front, 3 valve horn. Years and years ago. But you mention your daughter is looking long range about this, so she needs a serious and real euphonium. Lots of recommendations here about those!!!

  7. Need help with Marching Baritone recommendations

    Unfortunately I have to chime in my two cents as well. When I was in high school the euphoniums all marched with yamaha yep 321's granted they took a little getting used to because we had no straps but they were not hard to march with at all. We also used the same horns for concert seasons but luckily for us euphoniums and tubas we got all new instruments like the year i started playing, thank god. I agree with others about putting money into a marching baritone that your daughter may only be able to play for 2 more years or so seems kind of like an unneccesary risk to me. My personal opinion is to try out some different concert euphoniums and put the money into purchasing one of them as I can gaurantee it will get more use,and I could be wrong but most colleges, at least the ones i have looked into, are not that picky about the euphonium you use. Also, even though I have never worked directly with the woodwind and brasswind I have heard absolutely wonderful things about them and I get a new catolog from them whenever one comes out just in case :-) . Given your location I think that would be your best bet. They seem to have a pretty good selection of marching baritones in the catolog and if they let you try instruments before you buy that is definately a good reason to make the trip. At least then you can weigh all your options and make an informed decision.


  8. Need help with Marching Baritone recommendations

    Wow...you've given me plenty to consider. She feels there will be more scholarship opportunity by staying with the euphonium rather than being yet another trumpet player, plus she has flat out fallen in love. She also really wants the experience of marching in college. Since she has a new euphonium to play she was more intent on getting her own marching horn, but perhaps we need to rethink that and do the reverse. I wasn't aware that some colleges want all their marching instruments to be the same at all! She's considering Ball State, Indiana University and Louisville so far but that changes on a weekly basis so maybe waiting is the better option. A 15 year old will love that answer, will she not?

    She lives in Evansville, IN during school and I live in Louisville, KY so a trip to WWBW is definitely doable. I've always dealt with Miles Ahead Music in Louisville for my oldest's flute/piccolo needs and servicing Brynne's trumpets but I don't know that they have a lot of bari/euph options, though they are a Kanstul dealer. They're a small location and I doubt they'd like to get a bunch of horns in just for her to try, so WWBW does sound like our best bet.

    Thanks so much for the advice!

  9. #9

    Need help with Marching Baritone recommendations

    My knowledge of marching instruments let alone the marching band world is limited. I would think that some of the mid. size colleges would have decent marching euphs and marching baritones so a person isn't using their willsons and bessons etc. for marching or pep band. I tend to agree with a couple of others about getting an euph. that meets the standards of a concert band would be the way to go at it. I just don't see how a marching instrument is going to get a person any future gigs after college. There are plenty of solid, used professional euphs. for about the same price (if not cheaper) then a marching instrument. Its a matter making sure you have a solid source to buy them from, making sure the instrument is good condition After getting a decent euph. , investing in a trombone (likely an used one might be best for cost reasons) may be an option but that decision can wait until college. In the meantime, get the school to clean up and look after their instruments.

  10. Need help with Marching Baritone recommendations

    I have played many Highschool style marching Bb things. My favorite is the Blessing "Euphonium". They made 3 different things, a valve trombone, a Baritone and a Euphonium. The Euphonium is more dark. Its still a small horn.

    My advice is to get a used Marching Euphonium and a real nice mouthpiece. She may also need a Kelly Mouthpiece (plastic) for thoes cold winter days if we ever get them again. (read the mouthpiece threads) and then start saving for a compensating euphonium for her.

    Try the Woodwind / BrassWind in Elkhart. Also check the local repair shops.

    If she can play it loud without sounding like a trombone / buy it!

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