General Interest

NOTE: this advice is good for "normal" times, too (but right now our choices have been unusually limited). If your available band/music opportunities have a long hole in the schedule for any reason, this is good ongoing maintenance. I think many of you have continued with a good practice schedule, but HOW you practice is just as important as how long...perhaps more so.

I think we're all trying to remain positive during the shut-down situation, as we assume bands will be back in our ...

We euphonium players are certainly long suffering! It starts with the very name of our instrument - is it a baritone or a euphonium? (The preceding phrase is linked to an article where I address the question, for those who are confused.)

Beyond that, many amateur and even some non-euphonium-playing professional players are not clear whether a euphonium is pitched in Bb or in C. Most publications that include euphonium parts, which may be called either "Euphonium" or "Baritone Horn," ...

The 4th of July is a national holiday in the USA - today is the 241st anniversary of the signing of our Declaration of Independence.

Let's start with a piece by the iconic American composer John Philip Sousa: Nymphalin. It's a nice little parlor piece with a rather sweet sound.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9uKuq0uKRk

This is the University of Iowa's Hawkeye Marching Band playing "American the Beautiful." Sorry I don't have a real video because there are heralding ...

Reprinted with permission of the author.


Preamble by Dave Werden:

The story below is interesting on a couple of fronts. But the main reason I asked permission to reprint it here is to give my readers food for thought about the whole concept of "ownership" in the digital world. There is also a question of permanency with digital files. That last statement may seem questionable, but consider the following.

I already know that there was a case where Amazon ...

When I was younger I more-or-less assumed that a valve (piston) was a solid rod with holes drilled in it. I never stopped to think about the difficulties of drilling curved passages into a solid tube. Later I figured out that the valves were actually hollow, but how they were made was still a mystery. Now that I have seen the process in person I thought I would share it here. I don't have photos of that experience, but Adams was kind enough to provide me with some photos (not from an Adams euphonium), ...

This is a pretty good explanation from the folks at Harrelson Trumpets. The talk about bare brass, silver plating, gold plating, and lacquer and the way each can affect tone. This is often discussed among brass players and the answers, according to Harrelson, may surprise you. Note the discussion about stripping an existing finish and also the fairly clear answer about lacquer. It does not cover a satin (sandblasted) finish or a brushed finish, and does not mention if any difference in prep for ...

In 1981 the great British euphoniumist Barrie Perrins sent me a letter with some interesting enclosures. One had to do with jokes. It was an article he wrote for the magazine The Musician and was titled "It's a Funny World."

The last part of the article dealt with musical jokes, and it told one of my favorite stories. It's a favorite partly because it points out the ease with which some reviewers (and "regular" people) assume something is good just because it's new. Here is the section: ...

Editor's Note: This story was provided by a user of my website who recently purchased a euphonium from eBay. There were a few complications in the process, and her story may prove instructive.

We were in the market for a good quality used King 2280 for my 8th grade son. Per Dave Werden, it's very difficult to find 2280's in great shape and so when this one listed on E-Bay for $1,699 under the category of "New: A brand-new, unused, unopened, undamaged item in its original packaging..." ...