Tuba mouthpiece on a baritone?

[pastordale]

Hi Friends, My name is Dale. I am new to forums. This is my first post and it is a question. I'm an amateur tuba player but would like to play the melodies of the treble staff on my baritone especially when I'm accompanying at church or playing at nursing homes, without affecting my tuba embouchure. I have practiced the baritone with the baritone m/p and then played the tuba and could feel the effect it had on my ability to play. I didn't like it. Has anybody out there every outfitted a tuba mouthpiece to a baritone and if so what was the result? Any suggestions?

[tclements]

No, NOT a good idea. There are a couple people that have done this sucessfully, but these are artistst who have risen to the TOP of our profession. Use a proper mouthpiece for your instrument.

[bill]

Miraphone used to make a mouthpiece called a "Jim Self" that was a C 4 rim on a 6 1/2 A cup. It was so he could go from trombone to tuba in studio sessions without the effect you are feeling. I could never afford one of those so I learned to deal with it by playing both instruments with comfortable mouthpieces and getting used to a few seconds of change over. I solid embouchure is flexible. If you have a baritone, the problems of getting the shanks to fit between the two horns are greater than if you have a Euphonium with a larger shank or a tuba with a smaller shank. You can get used to the switch if you practice both horns.

[Doug Elliott]

I make such a mouthpiece and it really does work... but in general I'd have to agree with Tony that you'd be better off using a large-ish euph mouthpiece. Maybe what you have is on the small side? That makes the switch more difficult for some people.

[Mark]

Yamaha also makes the "Bobo TT" mouthpiece which has a large trombone shank and a tuba rima and bowl.

[JTJ]

Make a fart-sound in one of these, and usually a fairly-OK sound comes out. Just play the baritone with a regular mouthpiece. It works. It's easy.

Well, just dam us euph players with faint praise. Now I've heard a lot of bad euph players in my 30 plus years on the horn. Even one lately who plays an expensive "pro" euph and sounds like a cross between a trombone and a honking goose. Have not yet figured out how to get that sound out of a euph.

I agree, play a large mouthpiece at the euph extreme, maybe a bass trombone mouthpiece of some sort would be a start.

[PMeuph]

I agree, play a large mouthpiece at the euph extreme, maybe a bass trombone mouthpiece of some sort would be a start.

I play on the PS Solo which is pretty large and I have toyed around with the Doug Yeo on Euphonium. Something around a Schilke 57 might be a good mouthpiece for a doubler to use.

[Donn]

As mentioned above, though - even if an oversized mouthpiece is the answer to your problem (which I doubt) - large mouthpieces for tenor tuba/euphonium/bass trombone will come in a large shank, so check that your instrument takes large shank before you drop any money.

Don't listen to that stuff about how baritone is the easiest thing to play. If you want to grab an instrument and start making fart noises, the tuba rules.

[Trevor Bjorklund]

One thing to consider is that the baritone is really a very different instrument than the tuba, although they look similar. Their mouthpieces are different, and more importantly, your embouchure will be different when you play them. On baritone (and trombone), the lips form a more-or-less flat surface across the mouthpiece rim - very little lip actually goes into the mouthpiece. Having a large rim would actually make this correct embouchure more difficult.

Do yourself a favor and get a largish euphonium/trombone mouthpiece with the correct shank size and practice making a baritone sound with the instrument (long tones, lip slurs, etc.). You want to play in the instrument's "sweet spot," right? That is medium-high, not the low register!

Treat it like a different instrument entirely and you will get used to the mouthpiece within a few days. Don't think of it as "affecting your tuba embouchure," but as learning a new embouchure. It is more like cross-training, actually. And be prepared for your chops to wear out quickly as you will be using your muscles differently.

[ralphbsz]

To blunt the edge of the insult that will follow below, I will start below with an anecdote. When I was a (piano-playing) teenager, my little sister played the violin and later the viola in a youth orchestra. Her violin teacher had a spectacular track record of creating fine musicians, many of whom are successful professional soloists, or grace Germany's best orchestras (an old friend of mine is the section leader of the violas in the BR orchestra, and another former student is in the Berlin Philharmonic). But in those old days, there was a very cute and energetic little girl, maybe 5 or 6 years old in that youth orchestra. Unfortunately, she sounded so terrible that there was no way to let her play in public performances. The compromise that was eventually worked out was to give her a bow that was coated not with the usual rosin, but instead with soap. That makes her violin nearly completely muted, while allowing her to sit in the orchestra and bow away vigorously. Makes everyone feel good, sounds acceptable.

Now fast forward a long time. The little girl is now a lady in her 40s, she is an internationally acclaimed soloist, has many CDs out there, does concerts with the usual suspects among orchestras and conductors, and has recently been appointed as a full professor of violin in one of Germany's leading music academies.

The moral of the story is: Just because you sounded horrible as a small child doesn't mean you will always sound horrible.

That's probably why so many unsuccessful beginner trumpet players are moved to these instruments by junior high band directors.

Observation of one particular middle school band agrees with you. There seem to be two kinds of baritone players: those who have shown no musical aptitude to begin with and are always causing trouble, and get put into the baritone section early on (they play baritone bass clef, typically never having learned another instrument). And those that used to be in the trumpet section, made horrible and loud sounds, are were moved to the baritone section to make sure they are only seen not heard (those play baritone treble clef). In contrast, being moved from Bb clarinet to bass clarinet is a reward for a fine young clarinet player (even though bass clarinets sound soft, they have solos in most band concerts), and being handed a bari sax is a special honor for the best player in the tenor sax section. My son is very happy to now have a pretty darn good bari sax player sitting next to him, and the two boys bravely try to deliver the low sounds the band needs. But they get no help from the three baritone players, who mostly make mischief, and seem to spend a significant fraction of the band period being sent to the principal's office. My son has threatened that if the baritones ever dare to make a sound, he'll personally stuff a whole oboe player into their bell to shut them up.

If you haven't noticed, I did exaggerate a little bit for comic effect. But baritones in middle school band seems to really be a bit of a sad story. Apologies to serious baritone and euphonium players.

[tclements]

"serious baritone and euphonium players" isn't that an oxymoron?