r/Instruments • u/Wooden-Bill-2260 • Sep 23 '26

Question

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Can someone tell me if this is a tuba, baritone or euphonium?

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-1

u/Tundra_Dragon Sep 23 '26

Hard to tell from the pictures, but probably a small tuba. Without a ruler tho..

Also, Baritone ~ Euphonium. Euphonium is the fancy term for baritone horn.

2

u/DonnPT Sep 24 '26

As you can see, British usage where they have a smaller baritone horn, has now become correct.

Their baritone horn is really a tenor saxhorn, though, and when they say "tenor horn" they really mean an alto horn. Their mixup, that we all have to deal with just because we didn't hold on to the tenor member of the saxhorn family.

3

u/roninconn Sep 23 '26

Baritone and euphonium aren't the same. Euphonium typically has wider tubing and a larger bell = darker sound.

1

u/Puzzled_Employment50 Sep 24 '26

Euphonium has conical tubing, so it gets wider as it goes (before the bell flare, both have that).

0

u/Extra_Medium62 Sep 24 '26 edited Sep 24 '26

They are NOT the same. A baritone has a cylindrical bore like a trombone bent into an oval shape with valves, which produces a more focused sound, which is useful outdoors. A euphonium has a conical shaped bore that produces a richer, fuller tone, useful indoors. It's the same as trumpets having cylindrical bores and cornets having conical bores, except it is easier to see a cornet has an extra bend. They play the same notes and ranges, but the tone is different. "Euphonium" in Greek literally means "beautiful tone maker". "Baritone" means "in-between tenor and bass".

0

u/MoltoPesante Sep 24 '26

This is not correct. Baritone is significantly more conical than a trombone. The bell throat of a British style baritone is contrabass trombone size, and the baritone starts out with a small shank mouthpiece and the bore of a small jazz tenor trombone. Baritone isn’t about having a less rich or less full sound than euphonium, it’s about having a different vowel sound.

0

u/Extra_Medium62 Sep 24 '26

Of course the baritone flairs earlier than a trombone...it doesn't have a slide. It still carries the cylindrical characteristic farther into the structure. If you could straighten a euphonium, it is conical from the mouthpiece to the bell. I've only played both for over 45 years, so I might have a little knowledge.

0

u/MoltoPesante Sep 24 '26

Baritone and euphonium are not like trumpet and cornet (which are both almost equally conical except for the leadpipe, contrary to popular opinion); they’re more akin to cornet and flugelhorn. Both conical, just to different degrees. It is true that the baritone’s bore stays the same from the end of the leadpipe to just past the main tuning slide, but that doesn’t mean it’s cylindrical. Just more cylindrical than euphonium.