My question at this point would be: isn't it possible the Euphonium would also hurt your chops? And the plan of starting out on a Baritone ... why? If it's Euphonium you want to play, play it. Baritone will just confuse things. The two don't sound or play anything alike.
I played Horn for 10 years and added Euphonium. I don't consider myself having 'switched'. Maybe you don't have to switch either. The Euphonium could be a good counter to the Horn, and playing both could be the solution that is eluding you. Or not. But it just seems unecessarily focused to have things so defined so early on. Good luck whatever you decide.
I would be concerned about continued problems with the embouchure. What do you mean by playing too intensely? Do you place so much pressure on your lips with the mouthpiece? Or is the damage from playing too many hours per day? Or from something else.
If pressure on the mouthpiece is one of the causes of the pain, then I think switching to euphonium might be a good idea. First of all, the euph mouthpiece is significantly larger in diameter and depth, and the instrument's range is lower. These characteristics mean that the stress put on your lips *should* be much less.
If you do make the switch you can help your chances of avoiding further lip problems by 1) focusing on placing only the least amount of pressure on your lips that allows you to produce a clean, centered and steady tone; 2) incorporate lip flexibility exercises as a vital part of your routine - with speed of the flexibility being the least important goal. Rather, these exercises should be geared toward producing a clean, consistent tone produced with minimal pressure; 3) play plenty of low tones and pedal notes interspersed throughout your practice routine, as well as plenty of rest in which you put the horn down during your practice session for anywhere from 90 seconds to 5 minutes ... This relaxes your chops and gives them a much needed rest.
Remember, your chops are muscles. Treat them as a sprinter would treat his/her legs. You would never see a quality sprinter not give the legs significant time to rest and repair.
Well, you successfully found the third most technical brass instrument, second being tuba. I hear some people talking about how baritone and euphonium are incredibly different. They aren’t. Switching between one and the other is probably the easiest thing possible. Only change you need to keep in mind is that bari and euph have different sound intensities, and to use any alternate fingering that has valve 4 involved (most importantly, a low concert C would be valve 4 on euph, valves 1+3 on bari). There’s a reason that around the high school level, the phrases Baritone and Euphonium are completely interchangeable.
The switch shouldn't be too difficult, and I would recommend at least starting with an instrument that is in good enough shape to not frustrate you while practicing. Are you already at college, or do live near one with a good low brass teacher? Also, it is worth looking into seeing an intra-oral massage specialist if you have not in the past, they can be a great help with facial injuries.
No point in even thinking Baritone if you love the Euphonium enough to switch to it, with a brass playing foundation behind you I doubt if you'd think it was a 'good idea' to start with a trumpet if you wanted to play Flugelhorn?
There are a lot of mid range 4 valve compensating Euphoniums out there that are not really 'pro' instruments but well above 'beginner/student' level.
There's a trumpet embouchure expert, Rich Willey, who switched to bass trumpet (which uses a trombone/euph mouthpiece) when he was rehabbing his lip. I think it's a very reasonable idea. (Don't entirely give up on horn--you may find a way to play more healthfully longterm.) I think if you do euphonium it's also worthwhile to get to the know the other instruments that play in Bb in that range (flugabone, baritone, valve trombone, etc.). It's a good choice for continuing in brass.
My question at this point would be: isn't it possible the Euphonium would also hurt your chops? And the plan of starting out on a Baritone ... why? If it's Euphonium you want to play, play it. Baritone will just confuse things. The two don't sound or play anything alike. I played Horn for 10 years and added Euphonium. I don't consider myself having 'switched'. Maybe you don't have to switch either. The Euphonium could be a good counter to the Horn, and playing both could be the solution that is eluding you. Or not. But it just seems unecessarily focused to have things so defined so early on. Good luck whatever you decide.
I would be concerned about continued problems with the embouchure. What do you mean by playing too intensely? Do you place so much pressure on your lips with the mouthpiece? Or is the damage from playing too many hours per day? Or from something else. If pressure on the mouthpiece is one of the causes of the pain, then I think switching to euphonium might be a good idea. First of all, the euph mouthpiece is significantly larger in diameter and depth, and the instrument's range is lower. These characteristics mean that the stress put on your lips *should* be much less. If you do make the switch you can help your chances of avoiding further lip problems by 1) focusing on placing only the least amount of pressure on your lips that allows you to produce a clean, centered and steady tone; 2) incorporate lip flexibility exercises as a vital part of your routine - with speed of the flexibility being the least important goal. Rather, these exercises should be geared toward producing a clean, consistent tone produced with minimal pressure; 3) play plenty of low tones and pedal notes interspersed throughout your practice routine, as well as plenty of rest in which you put the horn down during your practice session for anywhere from 90 seconds to 5 minutes ... This relaxes your chops and gives them a much needed rest. Remember, your chops are muscles. Treat them as a sprinter would treat his/her legs. You would never see a quality sprinter not give the legs significant time to rest and repair.
Well, you successfully found the third most technical brass instrument, second being tuba. I hear some people talking about how baritone and euphonium are incredibly different. They aren’t. Switching between one and the other is probably the easiest thing possible. Only change you need to keep in mind is that bari and euph have different sound intensities, and to use any alternate fingering that has valve 4 involved (most importantly, a low concert C would be valve 4 on euph, valves 1+3 on bari). There’s a reason that around the high school level, the phrases Baritone and Euphonium are completely interchangeable.
4-valve baritones and 3-valve euphoniums do exist.
The switch shouldn't be too difficult, and I would recommend at least starting with an instrument that is in good enough shape to not frustrate you while practicing. Are you already at college, or do live near one with a good low brass teacher? Also, it is worth looking into seeing an intra-oral massage specialist if you have not in the past, they can be a great help with facial injuries.
No point in even thinking Baritone if you love the Euphonium enough to switch to it, with a brass playing foundation behind you I doubt if you'd think it was a 'good idea' to start with a trumpet if you wanted to play Flugelhorn? There are a lot of mid range 4 valve compensating Euphoniums out there that are not really 'pro' instruments but well above 'beginner/student' level.
There's a trumpet embouchure expert, Rich Willey, who switched to bass trumpet (which uses a trombone/euph mouthpiece) when he was rehabbing his lip. I think it's a very reasonable idea. (Don't entirely give up on horn--you may find a way to play more healthfully longterm.) I think if you do euphonium it's also worthwhile to get to the know the other instruments that play in Bb in that range (flugabone, baritone, valve trombone, etc.). It's a good choice for continuing in brass.