Euphonium trends?

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MichaelDenney
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Euphonium trends?

Post by MichaelDenney »

Which style euph is preferred by the top players these days, the intermediate shank/smaller bell or the bass trombone shank/larger bell? Why?

Just curious. I happen to play a horn with the bass trombone size leadpipe, which works well for a guy like me who was solely a tubist for years. At least it works as well as possible for someone with fossilized skills. Paleozoic, I think.
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XtremeEuph
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Post by XtremeEuph »

Well, its totally preference when It comes to the pros, though the willson 2900 (fitting closer to the first description) seems to be a popular one. If no one liked something such as the large Bessons or Yamaha, why would they make em. Ask them , I do surely wish I could answer you as a "top player". I enjoy my Yamaha 842S but I havent tried many or any small shank pro horns.
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JTJ
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Post by JTJ »

Pros are all over the place with shank sizes & bell sizes.

You live in one of the world centers of euphonium pedagogy, where the Willson 2900 with the intermediate shank is preferred. Now some would say the particular and distinctive sound this instrument makes is a ticket into the U.S. service bands, and there is no doubt it has had a powerful influence on North American taste in euphonium sound. The why of this boils down to one individual's preference, and is even the reason the Willson 2900 with the bass trombone shank is not imported into NA, although it is the standard elsewhere.

Then there's most everybody else, playing a variety of professional horns, almost exclusively with the bass trombone shank.

At vary rarified levels are the are the top US orchestral doublers and some of the Hollywood low brass doublers. They frequently use the Yamaha 321, which they may or may not have converted to large shank from small shank. They frequently sneer at compensating horns.

But I'll bet if you had a some sort of playoff to find the absolute 20 best players in the world, the majority would be from the UK and other parts of Europe, and they would be using large shank, large bell horns.
Last edited by JTJ on Mon Jul 31, 2006 12:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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iiipopes
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Post by iiipopes »

As is the Sterling, with Besson in hiatus.
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mceuph
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Post by mceuph »

It's all personal preference, even in the military bands now, as opposed to when I was growing up, when everyone played a Willson(which I personally can't make a good sound on). I think it's great that more non-traditional sounds are being accepted now, rather than everyone playing the same thing/going for the same sound, which is really boring.
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