Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Tuba/Euph Doubling


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Posted by Mark Heter on December 14, 2003 at 01:37:36:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Tuba/Euph Doubling posted by Baritone peeking in on December 12, 2003 at 02:07:25:

I've doubled euphonium and tuba for shows, and in the orchestra I play in. It's a very handy horn to have around. I'm currently using a Yamaha three-valve, and will be in the market for a four-valve horn some time next year, when finances allow (still got one in college).

While the air column for it can be a little peculiar (It really doesn't blow like anything else. You can blow a cornet like a trumpet, but you can't blow a youff like a trombone), and they all have some funky notes, you tend to get more "for free" than you do on tuba or cornet (in my experience).

That said, playing the euphonium properly for the group you're with (be it an orchestra, a pit orchestra or a concert band) presents you with playing a "solo" nearly every time you blow a note. You play with the reeds, you play with the brass, you play independently of everybody else on a countermelody, and then there's the solos like the Holst suites, etc. You have to blend, and you have play in tune with both brass and reeds (and once in a while the strings, too). Plus, it's a two-clef axe. I've never understood why it gets lumped in with "background" brass. The euphonium tends to be "up front and center" most of the time.

The frustrating thing about the youff is that outside of the service bands, nobody makes a living with it anymore. It tends, commercially, to be a horn musicians play "on the side", which means trombonists, generally, and some of them can be "fingering challenged", which is a big drag.

I've had the luxury of having several excellent euphonium players play in my groups over the years - and found it to be an instrument I could not "overwrite" in my arrangements for circus and concert bands over the years.

I've never been a fan of the Besson/BH instrument - stuffy, and too many funky fingerings. I'm not that thrilled with compensating horns, either. Everybody seems to be copying the top-action Yamaha horns these days, or the Besson. Personally, I would like to see the old Conn-style front action horn updated with a respectably-scaled instrument (larger tapers, bore, etc.)sans double bells, bell-front distortion, etc. Most of us are used to the valves in front of us. Plus, it means the mike stays in one place if you're doubling on a show.

I agree with the previous posts in regard to mouthpieces - don't try to play it with some sort of goofy "tuba-sized" mouthpiece. I use a 6 1/2 AL and find it pretty easy to control. Most soloists tend towards really big bass trombone-type equipment.

The more instruments you can competently play, the more chance you'll get to play. When I was a student it was "serve one master" - the changes in musical employment reality in the intervening years support a different philosophy these days.

Good luck!


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