Alternate instruments for Tuba Euphonium Quartet

[Davidus1]

Hello,

How many of you have substituted trombones for Euphoniums in a Tuba Euphonium Quartet? I had a quartet going for awhile but people weren't committing to practice and rehearsal and it kind of came apart. I was thinking of rebooting but only have 2 tuba players that I can count on. (I'm one of them). There are a lot of bone players in the area and have been considering using them. I know the tone is different but curious if anyone has substituted a trombone or bass trombone for Euphonium before? I have thought also about playing Euphonium myself and then using a Bass Trombone for the upper tuba part. Would appreciate any thoughts or shared experiences that you may have.

[daruby]

Have substituted English baritone for euphonium 1. You "might" get by with tenor trombone playing euph 1 and bass trombone playing euph 2.

[daniel76309]

Yeah, but trombones sound like trombones, and who wants to listen to that?

[JasonDonnelly]

It depends on what kinds of pieces you choose to play. A lot of the rep written specifically for tuba quartet is very technical and would be very difficult/near impossible on trombone.

I personally would try to either use only tubas/trombones or only tubas/euphoniums. Mixing trombone and euphonium in an ensemble like this could create some blending and balance issues.

[John Morgan]

I have done a fair amount of tuba/euphonium quartet playing and performing. Sticking a trombone in will change the sound of the group, and in my opinion, not for the better. I would not do it, and I have nothing against trombones, I play trombone a lot in several groups. It is just not the sound one is looking for in a tuba/euphonium quartet (kind of why it is called a tuba/euphonium quartet). It is like putting a trombone in the TUBACHRISTMAS group of tubas and euphoniums/baritones (a huge pet peeve of mine, but as of this year, I am the coordinator for Rapid City TUBACHRISTMAS, and there will be no trombones, I will be happy to lend an errant trombone player one of my other euphoniums to use). The trombone sticks out like a sore thumb. Perhaps try encouraging some trombone players to learn euphonium as a second instrument. You can get a Wessex for a little over a grand, and that opens up a lot of other opportunities for trombone players.

[ghmerrill]

I've done a Tuba Christmas kind of thing with mixed trombones and tubas (trombones playing the euph parts). It sounded, ... well ... "acceptable" but a little odd. And it's not just the sound. It's the articulation as well. I'd consider it for an "informal" setting, but it would otherwise be better to have euphs play the euph parts. This isn't to say that trombone and tuba don't sound good together. I think that a bass trombone and tuba combination can sound very good and interesting in some circumstances -- e.g., some of the Walter Sear Advanced Duets for Tuba. But in cases where that's true, it's also often true that the range is quite challenging for the trombone.

[Davidus1]

Yeah, but trombones sound like trombones, and who wants to listen to that?

I do when the choice is to play with trombone or not have a group.

[Davidus1]

It depends on what kinds of pieces you choose to play. A lot of the rep written specifically for tuba quartet is very technical and would be very difficult/near impossible on trombone.

I personally would try to either use only tubas/trombones or only tubas/euphoniums. Mixing trombone and euphonium in an ensemble like this could create some blending and balance issues.

Agree that it would be difficult and agree about trying to get either tuba/bone or tuba/euph. Busy schedules make it difficult to get people to commit for the long term.

[Davidus1]

I have done a fair amount of tuba/euphonium quartet playing and performing. Sticking a trombone in will change the sound of the group, and in my opinion, not for the better. I would not do it, and I have nothing against trombones, I play trombone a lot in several groups. It is just not the sound one is looking for in a tuba/euphonium quartet (kind of why it is called a tuba/euphonium quartet). It is like putting a trombone in the TUBACHRISTMAS group of tubas and euphoniums/baritones (a huge pet peeve of mine, but as of this year, I am the coordinator for Rapid City TUBACHRISTMAS, and there will be no trombones, I will be happy to lend an errant trombone player one of my other euphoniums to use). The trombone sticks out like a sore thumb. Perhaps try encouraging some trombone players to learn euphonium as a second instrument. You can get a Wessex for a little over a grand, and that opens up a lot of other opportunities for trombone players.

Now that's a thought! I have a couple of horns that I could loan. Hadn't really considered that but it makes sense. Might be fun for the bones players to venture out on Euphonium. Thanks for the thought!

[Davidus1]

I've done a Tuba Christmas kind of thing with mixed trombones and tubas (trombones playing the euph parts). It sounded, ... well ... "acceptable" but a little odd. And it's not just the sound. It's the articulation as well. I'd consider it for an "informal" setting, but it would otherwise be better to have euphs play the euph parts. This isn't to say that trombone and tuba don't sound good together. I think that a bass trombone and tuba combination can sound very good and interesting in some circumstances -- e.g., some of the Walter Sear Advanced Duets for Tuba. But in cases where that's true, it's also often true that the range is quite challenging for the trombone.

Thanks Gary. Makes sense. Agree that it isn't ideal. When I was in the Army I did quite a bit of playing with trombone players in small group settings and there is a big difference between Euphonium and trombone sounds. No argument there. This comes down to just have a group or not. For me its simply an enjoyable playing opportunity. Thanks for the input.

[ghmerrill]

The "group or not" situation was partly what faced me. But I also just wanted to open up the performance (holiday concert at a state botanical garden) to more members of the community band I was in. I would have preferred a larger brass choir, but it turned out that a bunch of us already had the Tuba Christmas books, so ... etc. The euph players ended up bailing on me late in the game anyway and so we had something like two tubas and three trombones.

For occasions like that, it's a perfectly okay thing to do. And the audience will greatly appreciate it.