Still a band nerd at heart.
While I am a graduating senior at a school most known for science rather than fine arts, I continue my pursuit of music excellence. Students here at Georgia Tech have asked me, knowing I was once a music major, the difference between a euphonium and a baritone - guessing it was the number of valves! Well, they are partly correct, and wholly incorrect. Back in the time I was majoring in music I researched this query and I summed up my findings in an e-mail to my section in hopes of clarification. This summary follows:
I don't recall who asked me or when, but I believe it was someone in this section. They asked "what's the difference between a baritone and a euphonium?" Well, I researched it and I have found the answer, and it kinda agrees with what I said (restating) "It's probably like the difference between the cornet and the trumpet where one is more conical and the other is more cylindrical and brighter." The cornet, the more conical one, has more tonal depth, where the trumpet, more conical, has a brighter tone. The baritone has a narrow bore and usually 3 valves. Also, it is tapered more like a cornet. The euphonium has a wider bore, and is generally noted as the tenor of the tuba family. It is tapered more like a flugal horn and can have anywhere from 3 to 5 valves. This leads to the baritone having a brighter sound than the euphonium, so (SAT comparison here) a baritone is to a euphonium as a trumpet is to a cornet.
Addendum: This is to say that the Euphonium, while very similar to it's "skinnier" counterpart, has a more mellow (euphonious) tone. While people may focus on the point that Euphoniums can have anywhere from 3 to 5 valves, one must also note that baritones can have 3 or 4 valves. At one point there was a "double bell" baritone, one "regular" bell and one trombone-sized bell. The fourth valve, at that point, sent the sound to the brighter "trombone bell". This second bell was later removed, with the valve still in place, with basically the same use - help reaching higher/brighter tones on the instrument.
Hope this clears a few things up for some, or most, of you.
Now, if only I could explain this to the other people who ask without totally
confusing them.
I don't recall who asked me or when, but I believe it was someone in this section. They asked "what's the difference between a baritone and a euphonium?" Well, I researched it and I have found the answer, and it kinda agrees with what I said (restating) "It's probably like the difference between the cornet and the trumpet where one is more conical and the other is more cylindrical and brighter." The cornet, the more conical one, has more tonal depth, where the trumpet, more conical, has a brighter tone. The baritone has a narrow bore and usually 3 valves. Also, it is tapered more like a cornet. The euphonium has a wider bore, and is generally noted as the tenor of the tuba family. It is tapered more like a flugal horn and can have anywhere from 3 to 5 valves. This leads to the baritone having a brighter sound than the euphonium, so (SAT comparison here) a baritone is to a euphonium as a trumpet is to a cornet.
Addendum: This is to say that the Euphonium, while very similar to it's "skinnier" counterpart, has a more mellow (euphonious) tone. While people may focus on the point that Euphoniums can have anywhere from 3 to 5 valves, one must also note that baritones can have 3 or 4 valves. At one point there was a "double bell" baritone, one "regular" bell and one trombone-sized bell. The fourth valve, at that point, sent the sound to the brighter "trombone bell". This second bell was later removed, with the valve still in place, with basically the same use - help reaching higher/brighter tones on the instrument.
Hope this clears a few things up for some, or most, of you.
Now, if only I could explain this to the other people who ask without totally
confusing them.