Klarinet Archive - Posting 000068.txt from 1998/02

From: Roger Shilcock <roger.shilcock@-----.uk>
Subj: Re: Baritone horn or Euphonium
Date: Sun, 1 Feb 1998 14:29:14 -0500

Bell front instruments are presumably those made as or in imitation of
baritone saxhorns. The fundamental difference is not that the baritone has
an essentially cylindrical bore - that would be verging on a valve
trombone -
but that the bore is narrower than the euphonium and has a different
profile. The result is that the baritone doesn't use the fundamental
and its valved derivatives in its normal compass, unlike the euphonium.
Roger Shilcock

On Thu, 29 Jan 1998, Robert D. Shaw wrote:

> Date: Thu, 29 Jan 1998 09:44:47 -0600
> From: "Robert D. Shaw" <theshaws@-----.net>
> To: klarinet@-----.us
> Subject: Re: Baritone horn or Euphonium
>
> Edwin V. Lacy wrote:
> >
> > On Thu, 29 Jan 1998, Luanne S. Jacobs wrote:
> >
> > > They are quite similar but there is a difference and the fingerings are
> > > very different from each other. F on Euphonium for example is open but
> > > on Baritone TC, it is first valve.
> >
> > There is a significant misconception here. All euphoniums or baritone
> > horns have exactly the same range, the same fingerings, the same
> > everything. You can't look at one of these instruments and say, "This is
> > a treble clef baritone," or, "This is a bass clef baritone." The
> > difference is in the way the player thinks of the music and in the
> > transposition.
> >
> > When written in the bass clef, the instrument is non-transposing. That
> > is, the pitches are written exactly as they sound. If the player is more
> > adept at reading treble clef, the pitches are transposed up a major ninth.
> > Let's take an example. Say the note in question is the Eb below middle C.
> > If the player is reading bass clef, the note is fingered with the first
> > valve only. The player sees Eb, and Eb sounds. Now, let's say his
> > partner plays exactly the same instrument, except that he reads the treble
> > clef. Now, the note is transposed up a major ninth, so it is written as F
> > on the first space of the treble clef, and the player plays it with the
> > first valve, just as in the first example. Now, the player sees F, but Eb
> > sounds.
> >
> > It's best not to try to make a comparison of this and the bass clarinet
> > when it is written in bass clef, because the situation is far more
> > complicated for the bass clarinet. There are at least two different types
> > of transposition for the bass clarinet. This has already been discussed
> > at length on the list. I'm sure the messages are archived in case anyone
> > is interested.
> >
> > Ed Lacy
> > *****************************************************************
> > Dr. Edwin Lacy University of Evansville
> > Professor of Music 1800 Lincoln Avenue
> > Evansville, IN 47722
> > el2@-----.edu (812)479-2754
> > *****************************************************************
> According to Woodwind&Brasswind,"All instruments made in the U.S.A.are
> now and have always been euphoniums.The term baritone is a misnomer that
> somehow got carried over to the U.S.from England when referring to three
> valve ,bell front instruments.The bore of a true baritone is cylindrical
> rather than conical like all U.S. instruments.The only true baritone is
> the English Baritone that is used in British brass bands."
> All those years I thought I was playing a baritone!
> bob B-)
>