Marching Baritones

[zrocks003]

So, I know this is a tuba forum, but someone is bound to have this information. I am buying a marching baritone for college and beyond, and would like to know pros and cons of each of these horns and which of them is the best-

King 1127 Ultimate

King 1129 Ultimate

King K30SP

Yamaha Marching Baritone (301s I think, maybe 302?)

And Jupiter Quantum Marching Baritone


Thanks,

Zach

[JasonEuphonium]

Out of those, 100% the Yamaha. They're light and easy to play with good projection. I spent 3 years on a King 1129 and 1 year on the King marching euph...the 1129 was better but still heavy. The euph was absurdly heavy and very tubby sounding.

[anotherjtm2]

Are you sure the marching band doesn't supply a marching horn?

[zrocks003]

The band does supply a horn, but I wish to have my own for collection purposes. I have a sousaphone, mellophone, marching French horn, king marching trumpet, etc. I've actually played a JP, its the brand my high school used, and I did like them a lot. We had those, then we had these *awful* blessing accord baritones that you could NOT tune to save your life, so jp blew them away, there was really no comparison.

[zrocks003]

[quote="bloke"] all marching euphoniums: a waste of space, a waste of money, and a waste of human-burned calories



Maybe you're right, but the tone quality is so much better.

[iiipopes]

If Yamaha is considered, then JP is at least as good, extremely similar, and half the price.

This.

[WC8KCY]

I personally believe that the DEFUNCT made-in-USA Blessing marching baritones (with German Bauerfeind valvesets) were the best sounding/playing marching baritones ever made...but (well...) they're gone...and the very last of the USA Blessings - it seems - featured different valves.

Test-played one of these in a Las Vegas pawn shop two years ago and agree 100% with this assessment. It was a real player.

It was marked $150 and they seemed anxious to see it go out the door. It should've come home with me, even though I've never really had a need for one. With a shallow mouthpiece, this would be a superb pinch-hitter for a valve trombone.

[anotherjtm2]

all marching euphoniums: a waste of space, a waste of money, and a waste of human-burned calories

...
Marching baritones and piccolos - in contrast with marching euphoniums and flutes - can actually be heard easily outdoors in marching bands.
...

So the difference is .... the euphonium is more conical?

When I last played one (probably a baritone) in middle school, I figured the words were synonyms, and after that I never had much reason to care.

[tokuno]

all marching euphoniums: a waste of space, a waste of money, and a waste of human-burned calories

And hard on my aging lower back and a really poor platform off of which to read a flip folder by my tired ol' cataracty eyes (choice is to see the music but not the conductor, or vice versa).
For beater-horn alumni marching events, I much prefer the 1950s Olds Ambassador - much easier to support closer to my core and to cradle in my left elbow while holding a flip-folder in my left hand, which allows me to move the music sufficient to see it.

[ArnoldGottlieb]

So, after reading this thread and having nothing to contribute, will someone tell me the differences between a marching baritone, marching euphonium, and a flugabone please?
Thanks so much!

[Ace]

"Flutes - in MARCHING bands - are ALSO a waste of space and a waste of human-expended energy.

The REASON that flutes (and marching euphoniums) are wasted effort outdoors - in MARCHING bands - is because neither - really - can (for all practical purposes) be heard.

Marching baritones and piccolos - in contrast with marching euphoniums and flutes - can actually be heard easily outdoors in marching bands."

I tend to agree about the flutes, Joe. Most often they cannot be heard, and piccolos would be better. Once in a while, I hear a marching band that has tons of flutes and they can be heard as the band passes by. For example, this excellent high school band:

https://youtu.be/Ap1W9x7TRzo?t=122" target="_blank

Ace

[ArnoldGottlieb]

So, after reading this thread and having nothing to contribute, will someone tell me the differences between a marching baritone, marching euphonium, and a flugabone please?
Thanks so much!

A flugabone is basically a super-tight-wrapped .500" bore valve trombone...wrapped up into the shape of a trumpet.

A marching baritone is about the same size (though tightly-wrapped like a trumpet) as a 1920's - 1980's (and beyond) American-style "baritone horn", except the bell rim is only about 10 inches.

A marching euphonium is the size of a full-blown English-style euphonium, except (again) horizontalized - to appear as if a trumpet-type instrument.

My contention is that marching euphoniums' sonority is too "round" and "mellow" to cut through all the percussion, trumpet, piccolo, trombone, and blasting sousaphone noise - outdoors, with no ceiling nor shell.

I also believe that regular flutes really can't be heard in marching bands, and that all flute players should be playing piccolos (assuming they're available for use) in marching bands.

Thanks for the clarification! Sounds like I want to play a flugabone...

[paulver]

I replaced all of the flutes in my marching bands with pics long before anyone in my area thought of doing it.They were definitely heard... as opposed to the flutes. One year, I was only going to end up with six woodwinds in next year's marching band. I switched them over to various brass, and long after I retired, that band is still "all brass!"...... with the obvious exception of the perc.

Original poster mentioned a marching trumpet. I was a band director for thirty years, and involved in marching bands a whole lot longer than that. I've never heard of a "marching trumpet'"...... unless you're just relegating a normal trumpet specifically to marching band use.