![[Insert Picture of a Euphonium Here]](/file/29450/Internet CD.iso/web/private/wwwcsc~1.edu/~tilt/euphon~1/euphon~1.xbm/euphon~1.png)
Or, musings on that fine -- but under-rated -- brass instrument which I happen to play.
In fourth grade, when I was about nine years old (I reckon . . .), I had my last year of "general music". As the year drew to a close, we fourth graders were asked to make a choice that would shape the course of our lives for years to come -- we were asked to pick which instrument we would like to play in band next year.
Mrs. Kroska passed around the various and diverse mouthpieces of instruments out among us, and asked us to try blowing through them. Trumpet, clarinet, flute, saxaphone, horn -- all these passed through my fingers, and on none could I produce a sound. Then, I was handed a "baritone" mouthpiece -- and lo, a sound yea like unto a hallucinogenic raspberry did emerge.
Pleased with my budding musical prowess, I decided to pursue this "baritone" as my instrument of choice. I've been playing it for quite some time now, and am completely pleased with my choice. Hiding somewhere between a (french) horn and a trombone, the euphonium is capable of producing a gorgeous sound (although not neccessarily in my hands :) that is too rarely heard in the musical literature.
In fact, my only complaint is that too few people know about this fine instrument. With that in mind, I've put together this page of euphonium information.
(When I first put this page together, in 1993, a Web search turned up only the one page -- now, I can find some 900 pages with a search on the word "euphonium" at Alta Vista, or one of the other search engines. Someday, I hope to have a weekend to devote to exploring these new sites, with an eye towards improving this rather ragged and aged page. --jet, feb 5 1996)
Currently this is more of a wish list -- I'm about to make a call for suggestions, however. So, if we're lucky, this'll get fleshed out a lot, soon!
Thanks to several of you out there in Internet-land, I have accumulated a fair amount of information on this topic, which I've summarized on a page of euphonium literature and recording information.
Nothing, as yet.
There is a mailing list for the discussion of the tuba and the euphonium called TUBAEUPH. There is a web page for allowing people to subscribe to the mailing list.
Another subject about which, unfortunately, I know nothing. If you have any tips, I'd appreciate them -- several people have been asking me about this very topic.
Inclusion here is not an endorsement (I haven't used the services of any shop or service listed here).
Ellis Wean has information about his custom repair shop on the Web. He's also got information about TRU-VU transparent mouthpeices and teaching aids.
The Official TUBA homepage is online, thanks to Charles McAdams. TUBA is the Tubists Universal Brotherhood Association, the professional organization for Tubists and Euphers.
EuphLine has a very good (better than mine, certainly :) list of online euphonium resources.
Douglas Yeo has placed his Bass Trombonist's Orchestral Handbook online. It includes the music to frequently asked bass trombone audition orchestral excerpts along with his written annotations, suggested phrasing, breathing and the like.
"Baritone, Euphonium, or ??" is an article by David Werden that includes charts and pictures. This only a part of Mr. Werden's site.
I've got URLs from various individuals out there who play the euphonium or are otherwise involved with the instrument; I've decided to create a euphonium people page for these links.
If you have ideas about structuring of this area, or information that could be included, please let me know! This document is still very much under construction.
Last modified: Dec 19, 1996
Eric Tilton, Dilletante Euphonist, tilt+@cs.cmu.edu