Scooby Tuba wrote:Are some folks out there starting beginners on these and then switching to bigger horns?
Yes and no. I have a private student form a local middle school who is using one of these; it turns out that they were purchased by the school accidentally. Apparently, they meant to get a bunch of euphs, but somehow ended up with a handful of these little things instead. (I thought it was an alto horn when I first saw it, but realised right away it's actually a baritone.) So this particular student is starting on one, but I'm not sure he'll switch to a larger horn any time soon, as he has a physical disability which requires him to play left-handed. The small size of the baritone is perfect for him.
MF
Your soul speaks through your music.
Say what you mean.
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I agree with BB is G, that the baritone would make a superb jazz instrument, and have wished that some of the great jazz artists had discovered the instrument, say an artist the caliber of Bob Brookmeyer.
I played one in a Tuba Quartet recently during a Mexican inspired piece.
I have seriously considered using a British baritone in our tuba-euph quartet for an occasional change in color, but I believe it would sound much like my bass trumpet.
How good is the intonation on the pricier British-style baritones? My bass trumpet is rather good, but we're always looking for something better, right?
Michael "sort of trying not to become a collector" Denney
It is impossible to make things foolproof because fools are so ingenious.
From reading the collective wisdom from brass-forum.co.uk and some other brass band sights, it seems that for the standard Besson 3-valve comp baritone, due to the tightness of the comp loops, that 2-3 can sometimes be a little flat, and because of the small bore 1-3 and 123 can sometimes be a bit stuffy, and anything below 1st valve below the treble clef Bb (remember brass band music is written in treble clef like treble clef euph for concert band) gets grainy. Other than that, intonation and tone are supposed to be really good and even, with a definite difference in tone color that is between euph and trombone, but with a little different personality than just a straight hybrid.
