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Baritone horn
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The baritone horn, or simply baritone, is a member of the brass family of instruments. Like others of the family, the tuba, euphonium, alto horn, flugelhorn and bugle the instrument has a conical bore. A baritone horn uses large mouthpieces much like those of a trombone or euphonium. It is pitched in B-flat, one octave below the B-flat trumpet. In the UK the baritone is found almost exclusively in brass bands. The baritone horn is also a common instrument in high school and college bands, as older baritones are often in the inventory of middle schools and high schools.
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Encyclopedia
The baritone horn, or simply baritone, is a member of the brass family of instruments. Like others of the family, the tuba, euphonium, alto horn, flugelhorn and bugle the instrument has a conical bore. A baritone horn uses large mouthpieces much like those of a trombone or euphonium. It is pitched in B-flat, one octave below the B-flat trumpet. In the UK the baritone is found almost exclusively in brass bands. The baritone horn is also a common instrument in high school and college bands, as older baritones are often in the inventory of middle schools and high schools. However, these are generally being replaced by intermediate level euphoniums. There has long been much confusion in the United States between true baritones and euphoniums, primarily due to the old practice of American euphonium manufacturers calling their professional models by their proper names, and branding entry-level student models as baritones. Although this practice has nearly stopped, confusion persists to this day.
Misconceptions
There has been a common misconception that the three-valve instrument is referred to as a baritone and that the four-valve instrument is known as a euphonium. This is due to the old practice of American instrument manufacturers calling their top models euphonium and student models baritones. As noted above, this practice has nearly stopped. True baritone horns are sometimes called British-bore Baritones in the US to avoid this confusion.
The differences between the baritone and the euphonium are the size and taper of the bore. The baritone has a smaller and more cylindrical bore while the euphonium has a larger bore; although both produce partials of the B-flat harmonic series, and both have a nine-foot-long main tube, the baritone horn has a smaller bore and a tighter wrap and a far smaller bell, and is thus physically smaller. The euphonium has a more solid bassy timbre.
A so-called American baritone, featuring three valves on the front of the instrument and a curved forward-pointing bell, was predominant in American school bands throughout most of the twentieth century. While this instrument is in reality a conical-cylindrical bore hybrid, neither truly euphonium nor baritone, it was almost universally labeled a "baritone" by both band directors and composers; this is probably responsible for much of the confusion.
Naming conventions
In the United Kingdom a baritone horn, most often shortened to baritone, is a tenor saxhorn in B-flat, which is also at trombone/trumpet transposition. It is generally known as a tenor horn in the United States. This B-flat instrument is one of the few saxhorns that were generally played in the nineteenth century, along with the alto range B-flat flugelhorn, and E-flat tenor horn (also called alto horn in the United States).
Tone
The baritone, despite its name, is actually considered a tenor instrument. It has a fairly mellow timbre(in between the bright sounds of the trombone and the even more mellow tone of the euphonium); much like the upper notes of a tuba. The baritone is used as a part of the low brass section of the band.
Key
Music for the baritone horn can be written on both the bass clef and the treble clef. When reading from the bass clef, the baritone horn is a non-transposing instrument. However, when reading from the treble clef, it can become a transposing instrument, where the C on the horn is the concert B-flat, with the fingerings matching those of the trumpet OR can continue to be played as a non-transposing instrument by continuing to play the same fingerings as played in the lower octave.
Marching baritone
Within Drum and Bugle Corps (and many marching bands), the instrument referred to as a baritone is a bugle in the key of B-flat that is usually played by trombonists, euphoniumists, or concert baritonists. It has 3 valves and a front-facing bell and is the tenor voice of a drum corps, below the high sopranos and altos, and above the low contras. Although it is referred to as a baritone, it bears hardly any resemblance to its concert namesake. It has a mellow tone similar to the tenor trumpet. There also exists a marching version of the euphonium; the primary differences between the two are nearly the same as their concert counterparts.
Drum and bugle corps
Up until 1977, baritone bugles, as with all bugles at the time, were restricted to one horizontal piston valve and one rotary valve. That year, the Drum Corps International rules congress passed a rule allowing 2 vertical piston valves. The rules were amended once more in 1989 permitting the addition of a third valve.
From the 1950s until 2000, all drum and bugle corps were required to use instruments pitched in the key of G. That year, Drum Corps International changed its rules again, allowing instruments in any key, with most other major organisations (i.e. Drum Corps Associates) following suit soon after. Since this change, the standard baritone has been the instrument pitched in B-flat.
Marching band
Within the high school and college marching band activity, marching baritones are nearly always present to facilitate concert baritone (and sometimes euphonium) players. In some ensembles, trombones are not used, in which case baritones also provide an alternative for trombonists who can't bring their instrument onto the marching field. Since many high school baritone and euphonium players migrate from the trumpet, the instruments of choice have always been in the key of B-flat.
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