I recently picked up a Yamaha YEP-201 with a case for $300 after shipping and buying a mouthpiece. For that price it comes with a lot of extras that more expensive instruments don't include, such as a series of decorative dents along one side and a broken solder joint on one support brace.
Very well done video! I wanted a plastic euphonium but was able to find a fairly new silver-plated euphonium a a pawn shop in Northern Virginia about two years ago for about $89.00!! It sounds really nice and it's beautiful when it's clean! the oils in my skin put off leave fingerprints in so many places anytime fingerprints on it touch or use it! I wish I could stand to wear gloves so I could put on some black of white parade gloves like I wore in marching band in HS because I'm sure my skin oils are gonna damage the finish if I don't keep cleaning it after EVERY use!
We bought one of these - within 2 months the valves stick so bad that you literally have to pry them out. Tried to talk to the company and just get the run around. We are not happy at all and would advise against buying one!
Thanks man! This really helped with my dicision between buying a new plastic or used brass, since they seem around the same price. I used to have a nice silver nickel 4button baritone before I sold it for college. Just want one to play around with at home again.
I think it would take a fairly long constant exposure to dezincify brass to any degree. The issues I had with the cheap Chinese bugle was heavy green growth in a few areas that when buffed off actually left damaged metal/pits in a couple of areas that were not significant to the structural integrity of the metal but were quite cosmetically disfiguring. If I got a cheap $100 or less brass trumpet I would certainly never leave it outside even under the covered dodger like I have with that $20 bugle. It is so cheap even the mouthpiece is stamped metal. It's almost impossible to play well. I don't think I would even think of bringing anything but a plastic euphonium onboard due to the higher cost/value and I couldn't just leave it strapped to a bulkhead for fear of denting it with other crap that sometimes gets tossed around in a small ocean-going boat. It would need to be in a real instrument case and those are so much bigger than the instrument itself. I did get away with carrying my baritone bugle in a duffle bag for years going to practices strapped to my motorcycle back seat or sometimes using a shoulder strap. I never could find a backpack that would fit it well. The horn never got damaged on the motorcycle. Not like the typical wear and tear on a marching instrument.
As a newbie I wouldn't dare to buy a used brass instrument because I'm unsure if dings and dents will influence the playability or sound? Would be cool to see a video about 'damaged brass: what's tolerable or not'
Dents will only affect playability when they start significantly blocking air flow. Generally, if the instrument has "only a few minor dings and dents" then it's fine. It would have to be a huge dent that makes you go "wtf happened" for it to affect playability.
as long as you have a baritone/euph mouthpiece you'd be able to learn. The main difference is that you would need to relax waaaaaay more to play with a nice tone. If you want to, I say go for it.
I've played most of the brass instruments since I was 6 but when I was about 8 I got a plastic trumbone and I think that's the reason foe plastic instruments who would want to by a brass instrument just fore the kid to drop and dent it and it might be a bit heavy fore some kids with real brass I currently play euphonium an it is heavier then the tuba I played fore a few years.
I use a plastic Trombone to teach my private students, but I would not use one of these for a performance. The valved plastic instruments have not been perfected yet and the valves stick like you said in the video. A slide is definitely easier to duplicate with plastic than a valve. The intonation of the plastic instruments is not good and the lower tones are more difficult to produce. A used brass instrument is the way to go for sure. Thanks for sharing this review.
Buy a used instrument and then send it to a reputable repair shop to have it fixed up, if it needs to be. You can always find a used instrument online. I got two 1920s era King Baritones for $30 a piece. They need work, but they are still playable. Even if I spent $600 to have them fully repaired, Its still way less than the $2000-3000 for a new instrument.
Plastic instruments have their place, certainly. But for just a few hundred more, you can get $1000 Mack Brass euphonium. From China, excellent copy of the Yamaha 642 compensating horn. For some reason, euphoniums from China are much, much cheaper, then any other brass instrument from China. Chinese trimbones cost about 1/2 of the brand copied , while euphoniums are about a 6th!
I can definitely hear the tuning issues. To me it sounds like it's just not as full, like maybe the plastic just doesn't resonate quite as much as the brass, which is also probably why it takes more air to get a good, resonating sound.
kellanflanigan, as so many recent brass developments have pretty much shot down the "if it is made of plastic instead of brass, it won't resonate properly" BS. The air column inside the tube is what is supposed to resonate. Unless the material of overly elastic, absorbing too much energy, a lot of different materials work just fine. This euphonium's issues are to be found elsewhere. I have more issues with the young fellow who made this videos. RU-vid unfortunately gives all manner of people a forum for saying anything they want, whether right or wrong, well done of garbage. And they pretty much all try to sound like experts. This fellow seems to be a high school kid, and as such is not likely to have enough knowledge or expertise to really evaluate instruments. I rather doubt that, even with his fancy microphone and headphones, he realizes that he is this badly out of tune when he recorded his multi-track closer. Having said all that, I don't want to discourage your people from contributing musically in this forum; they just should not present themselves as sage experts.
Clef doesn't matter, but yes. I've seen a few examples of Euphoniums in 8'C. The only one that's really common is that goofy Jinbao Rotary Euphonium that everyone hates.
Thanks for the tips about the horn. You have good enunciation! I could understand every word. That is rare these days. Concerning your valve issue, you might want to carefully use a hair drier or some really hot water and apply some heat very directly to each tightening nut, with an eye toward getting the nut to expand ever so slightly. It should come loose.
I've recently gotten a Vibrato alto sax in a trade. It's clear acrylic with silicone pads, so I think it's suitable for use at a water park or during rain storms. But anyway, it does sound pretty good, surprisingly. There are other plastic instruments around, and other than the fact the colors cause them to stick out like a sore thumb, seems they would be OK for marching band, or due to weight, smaller children could handle them more easily. I've got 60 years of playing behind me. I'm not going to be too quick to turn my nose up at these instruments. But like you said... price. I also recently picked up a near new Selmer student alto sax for $150. No dents, no scratches.
Your presentation can be more exciting.Please follow the principle HEAR DO SEE....when introducing anything related to music...a demo on an unconventional instrument even more important ...play the damn thing first....let the instrument speak to your audience, we are not interested in your thoughts.Then follow up with a few of your own comments, experiences etc...then explore the range etc...have a threefold plan....sound , narration or talk , sound to conclude your presentation.Please it is very irritating listening to guys talking their way through a demonstration...of a musical instrument
I don't think you can find used ones of brass at a cheaper price that are higher quality....like compensating ones or 4th key sones though.....3 key normies are just as bad as this given same price but you get a plastic compensator no?
I live on a boat and want to get back into playing. I used to play trombone, bass trombone and euphonium in High School and college and also marched in the Madison Scouts drum & bugle corps where I played baritone bugle. I also picked up a borrowed trumpet a few times here and there to play with a pep band at ball games. Folks are a lot more willing to lend out a trumpet than a Euph or slide trombone to someone they don't know all that well. Anyhow that is 25 years ago now but recently I picked up a cheap military knock-off bugle and have been playing around with it and now I want to get back into playing a brass instrument. That brass bugle has already seen some cosmetic damage from saltwater apparently touching it so I'm a little bit concerned with a quality (expensive) brass instrument. I'm thinking trumpet because we really don't have much room although with a plastic instrument I could just strap it to a bulkhead as "artwork" and not have to worry about a case or any storage damage like that. Then again if I buy a cheap used trumpet I could probably find one for under $100 easily or the Ptrumpet for about $150. If I really get back into it I could always buy a used plastic euphonium or trombone with F-key. It's been so long it will be like starting from scratch again.
In your case, I would probably recommend a plastic instrument, as exposure to sea water can actually erode the zinc contained in brass. It would also be a good idea to get a metal mouthpiece along with a plastic instrument.
Thanks as a Forced Euphonim player I enjoyed your videos showing my kids what I used to play. I'm thinking about getting one for my kids until I saw the price maybe I could 3d print it
Besides this one particular instrument, which is clearly a POS, what other plastic instruments have you tried? Most plastic instruments are underrated. I've got a plastic clarinet from the JCPenney catalog. It plays better than my $4000 Buffet.
Well, it DOES put the "phoni" in euphonium, and I can certainly hear the tuning limitations, but if you had to carry a euphonium into battle or a swimming-pool situation, this would be the best choice.
From experience teaching plastic cornets, they also smelt very mouldy within a few weeks of use. I would never buy nor recommend a plastic brass instrument.
Gear4Music’s Playlite model makes a much better hybrid plastic Euphonium for $270. Sure it’s not too viable for soloing Euphonium, but if you’re like me and play Euphonium as a second instrument then go for plastic.
A couple of more questions. 1) Is the Kaizer plastic euphonium the same instrument as the Cool Winds plastic euphonium? In photographs they appear to be identical, right down to the fine details. 2) The valve casings are plastic. Are the interior valve parts metal? Thanks.
1. I'm pretty sure it is the same as the Cool Winds euphonium, they do look extremely similar except for the color of the water keys. 2. Both the valves and the valve casing are actually made of metal. They're still not any good but they are metal.
@@Bennim I'm thinking about buying one. I already have a good brass 4 valve compensating euphonium, but a red plastic one might be fun to play at Tuba Christmas events, or outdoors in bad weather.
I think that's a fair reason for wanting a plastic instrument. They are pretty good for playing outdoors and the bright colors will certainly be nice for tuba Christmas!
hey buddy, you can use tensile and compressive elements in structure to reduce resonance on the valves from mechanical movement. like you could push short bits of chopsticks between them, then tie it tight with string. if this damping is placed in the middle of the valve, harmonics on the plastic tube are cancelled in the same way as any other linear harmonics. (i've made synthesizers/acoustic models for decades, i'm still waiting for affordable instrument options, ty for vid).
Can little slanted pieces be put inside of all of the 90° turns to fix some of the sound issues? If someone had a new model (where the buttons arent stuck yet) could the buttons be replaced with brass ones?
Putting small pieces inside of the turns in the tubing would likely thin the air flow and cause more problems. As for the valves, you could probably replace them for ones made of a better material so they don't become slow, but that would require a LOT of modding for them to fit perfectly on the instrument
I got mine used and it didn't come with a mouthpiece so I'm using my own metal one, I'm pretty sure if you got one new it would come with a garbage plastic mouthpiece.
I would entirely suggest plastic for novelty and durability purposes. If you're in a situation where you want to have loud brass sounds to you, also damages to an instrument or people are possible, I would recommend a plastic horn. Two situations where I wanted a plastic instrument, but didn't have one were: being part of a pep band for a soccer team (trombone was hit on the side and dented), and going to protests with a brass instrument (nothing happened, but in retrospect, something *could* have happened).
but if youve never played one before and want to try it out its the best option you dont really want to spend the best part of a grand on a brass one and find out its not for you at least with this for 100 or so its the best option for a first time player, just like a guitarist the first guitar any guitarist gets is always a piece of shit but it gets you playing.
I’m sure it’s not you but the instrument sounds like a middle school band. I don’t think I could ever get this instrument just cuz my love for euphonium is from the tone itself, and this one sounds yucky
Personally, I dislike the color, it makes the instument looks like a toy. I think white is better and less disturbing. I myself learn flute and recorder. Plastic recorders are everywhere and high-quality one is always colored black, brown or something resembles wood, while the pink one is always the lower quality.
I have to agree with you on this one. Plastic brass instruments in general usually have very bright colors, and it's very hard to make them not look like toys.
If your director approves of it, then yes. Plastic instruments are great for marching band because they are very lightweight and durable. The only thing is that they may not be able to produce as much sound as a brass instrument, which I've learned is very important for marching band.
Plastic will never take-off in top-class bands. A player has to make changes (compensate) with the Embouchure just to accommodate the tuning in almost every range. Intonation can suffer (badly) and these are the kinds of things you don't want to have to worry about with the likes of Cory band et al! It may slightly improve tongue speed (marginally) and I don't understand that but overall, a good old 10+ year old brass/metal instrument (Besson et al) in good condition, will be a much better buy in any band in any section. Just to add, you covered the points wonderfully well young man, well done, particularly that you *do* need to push a higher-level of air through the instrument, with the consequent loss in overall tone/intonation?
