Marching euphonium

The marching euphonium is a musical instrument of the brass family. It is a staple in college marching bands across the United States today. Physically, it does not resemble an upright euphonium, and is played standing and moving, much like a trumpet, but it is larger in size, shape, bore and sound. It is not the same instrument as a marching baritone, which is a different, slightly smaller brass instrument. Several popular models can be commonly found in marching bands today. The Yamaha YEP-202M Bb Marching Euphonium is one of the best known models in manufacture and active use today among marching band players. Other popular models include the Deg Dynasty M75 Marching Euphonium, and King Marching Euphonium 1129. The marching euphonium is available in both brass and silver. Marching euphoniums produce a rich, deep, dark euphonium tone for marching and have excellent balance for the player. The balance reduces strain on musicians' arms, making it more comfortable to hold.

Also in use today is a unique hybrid version of the marching euphonium. The Jupiter 466L Convertible Marching Euphonium is a transformer model which can be played standing up with the bell pointed outwards as a marching instrument, or can be converted into a stand up model played by seated players for school band use. This enables the high school and college regular band euphonium player to use the same instrument for additional marching band play without purchasing a separate doubling marching euphonium instrument.

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.[1][2]

References

Robert Donington, 'The Instruments of Music', pp. 113, The Family of Bugles, 2nd Edition, Methuen London 1962
Apel, Willi (1969), Harvard Dictionary of Music, Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1972, pp. 105 – 110
Yamaha Introduces Marching Mellophone, Euphonium

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