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Thread: Guidance/Opinions on giving a baritone a try?

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Indianapolis area
    Posts
    1,003
    Ann...
    The big question remains unasked, hence unanswered:
    In what kind of ensemble are you playing?
    If you are in a brass band, a baritone will be ok on a baritone part, not on a euphonium part
    If you are in a wind ensemble, a British baritone will be out of place tonally.
    If you're just playing at home, enjoy anything you want!
    ALSO: If you successfully and comfortably negotiated a Wessex Duplex, a heavy and bulky horn for sure, a baritone will be feather-light!! So I guess I'm not sure why you would want a baritone if you were able to negotiate a Duplex.
    Jim
    Jim Williams N9EJR (love 10 meter CW)
    Formerly Principal Euphonium in a whole
    bunch of groups, now just a schlub.
    Shires Q41, Yamaha 321, 621 Baritone
    Wick 4AL, Wessex 4Y, or whatever I grab.
    Conn 50H trombone, Blue P-bone
    www.soundcloud.com/jweuph

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Jan 2019
    Location
    US East coast
    Posts
    193
    I play in a darn decent sounding community band, and my end goal since beginning low brass is to audition for a really good selected wind ensemble, at college level if possible. I’m not at all satisfied playing for myself alone. I’ve always been into wind ensemble, especially everything written before 1970 or so.

    If I had access to a group that played music written for both euphonium AND baritone, I’d probably be happy doing either, based on the assumption that music using both tone colors would be reasonably challenging. I like to push myself.

    The Wessex Duplex sits straight on my lap, so almost no stress with holding it. My Conn Connstellation balances equally as comfortably. Nothing else I’ve tried is even remotely pain free.

    The Conn is also the tone that stays in my memory from five or so decades ago when I was playing the most. I’ve never played in an ensemble in which matching tone was a topic or concern, and I find the concept interesting, but whatever I played was apparently usually OK, since it never came up.

    I can imagine that issue as kind of a “brass” thing, but I will say that as a woodwind specialist all that time, the raspyrazzy sounds used by low woodwinds now actually are not my idea of “good” tone.

    Summing up, I just want to find something I can play for an hour or two every day without pain. I consider it my job to make it sound right.

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Location
    Sacramento, CA area
    Posts
    309
    Quote Originally Posted by ann reid View Post
    Summing up, I just want to find something I can play for an hour or two every day without pain. I consider it my job to make it sound right.
    And with that outlook, you may be able to make the baritone work regardless of the type of ensemble you are in. Just ask the folks sitting near you, the person who assigns the parts, and the conductor, if your sound/tone is matching what they want to hear. If they are good with it, then feel free to disregard the conventional wisdom of what kind of horn belongs in what kind of ensemble. Play for good sound and for joy (smile)! The rest is gravy.

    - Sara


    PS - Look for musical material published by the Salvation Army. We use both the euphonium and the baritone in our groups, so both parts will be there. But then, TSA is patterned after British Brass Band, because that is its roots.
    Last edited by Sara Hood; 09-01-2021 at 09:34 AM.
    Baritone - 3 Valve, Compensating, JinBao JBBR1240

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