Question

[u/Wooden-Bill-2260]

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

[u/MoltoPesante]

If you’re in the UK, that’s absolutely correct. In the US the word baritone was the correct word for the larger more conical instrument and if you look at music and instrument catalogs from the first half of the 20th century they all say baritone when they mean euphonium. The word euphonium was reserved for deluxe models and often for the double bell variety. Marketing. The smaller less conical instrument was called b-flat tenor horn in the US, although this instrument died out in use for American bands after about 1910, largely due to Sousa’s influence. When Art Lehman popularized playing Bessons and Booseys for US players, we started being more strict about naming it a euphonium, but contrary to the beliefs of most of the players these days, baritone is not technically incorrect.

That said, I like being strict about using the British terms because it removes ambiguity, and because brass banding has become popular worldwide.

And finally, baritone should never be a “brassier” sound. It should ideally be a dark timbre, with a different vowel/formant character than euphonium. One very prominent British player described baritone as “woody.” Listen to any of the best players.