Baritone Buying Advice

[dsurkin]

[snip] Any instrument that has a flat 2nd harmonic should be cast in the fires of Mount Doom.

Hah! Nice way of characterizing it. I'm curious about your reference to "2nd harmonic." Were you thinking 2nd partial? The fundamental on a euphonium is pedal Bb, and the second partial is Bb on the staff, one octave above that. I don't think I've every played an instrument with an out-of-tune 2nd partial.

I do have a Getzen bass trumpet that has a 5th partial that's so flat I rejected using it to play Taps (I even tried fingering D 1-2 and 3 and couldn't get that note close enough).

[Magikarp]

Hah! Nice way of characterizing it. I'm curious about your reference to "2nd harmonic." Were you thinking 2nd partial? The fundamental on a euphonium is pedal Bb, and the second partial is Bb on the staff, one octave above that. I don't think I've every played an instrument with an out-of-tune 2nd partial.

I do have a Getzen bass trumpet that has a 5th partial that's so flat I rejected using it to play Taps (I even tried fingering D 1-2 and 3 and couldn't get that note close enough).

Yes. The fundamental never being used, or if it is, for effect only. Perhaps I should have said, every note out of tune in relation to second partial. It’s noticeable on the 3 valve compensators and horrendous on the 4 valve ones. Bessons generally have compressed octaves on euphoniums - sharp in the lower and flat in the higher - but the baritone horn is a totally different beast, especially the Sovereign models. Interestingly the Imperials and New Standards seem to be less prone, but are smaller bore and with a different sound concept. They’re more related to tenor / alto horns, and have a commensurately lighter sound. Trying to make them into mini-euphoniums has introduced needless intonation issues, but I’d guess that that’s a side effect of brass bands getting louder and louder.

Luckily I don’t play the dog-horn any more, so it’s not an adjustment I have to make. A good baritone is a genuinely rare thing and a player who can blend seamlessly with the lighter sounding instruments is even rarer.