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For other uses, see Tuba (disambiguation).
Tuba
Tuba
Classification
Playing range
Related instruments

The tuba is the largest and lowest pitched brass instrument. A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified for the purpose of making Music. A wind instrument is a Musical instrument that contains some type of Resonator (usually a tube in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing A brass instrument is a Musical instrument whose tone is produced by vibration of the lips as the player blows into a tubular Resonator. An aerophone is any Musical instrument which produces Sound primarily by causing a body of air to vibrate without the use of strings or membranes and without In Music, the range of a Musical instrument is the distance from the lowest to the highest pitch it can play A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified for the purpose of making Music. The euphonium is a conical-bore, Baritone -voiced Brass instrument. The contrabass bugle, usually shortened to contra, is the lowest-pitched instrument in the Drum and bugle corps hornline A brass instrument is a Musical instrument whose tone is produced by vibration of the lips as the player blows into a tubular Resonator. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. On Brass instruments the mouthpiece is the part of the instrument which is placed upon the player's Lips The purpose of the mouthpiece is a Resonator, which It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the ophicleide. The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar The ophicleide ( is a family of conical bore Brass keyed bugles History and playing It is reported to have been invented in 1817 and patented Tuba is Latin for trumpet or horn. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. The horn referred to would most likely resemble what we know as a Baroque trumpet. A "lip-vibrated aerophone" the baroque trumpet is a Musical instrument in the brass family (Smithers 1988

Contents

History

Prussian Patent No. Prussia ( Latin: Borussia, Prutenia; Prūsija Prūsija Prusy Old Prussian: Prūsa) was most recently a historic state 19 was granted to Wilhelm Wieprecht and Carl Moritz on September 12, 1835 for a "basstuba" in F1. The original Wieprecht and Moritz instrument used five valves of the Berlinerpumpen type that were the forerunners of the modern piston valve.

The addition of valves made it possible to play low in the harmonic series of the instrument and still have a complete selection of notes. Prior to the invention of valves, brass instruments were limited to notes in the harmonic series, and were thus generally played very high with respect to their fundamental pitch. Harmonics starting three octaves above the fundamental pitch are about a whole step apart, making a useful variety of notes possible.

The ophicleide used a cup-shaped brass instrument mouthpiece but employed keys and tone holes similar to those of a modern saxophone. Another forerunner to the tuba was the serpent, a bass brass instrument that was shaped in a wavy form to make the tone holes accessible to the player. A serpent is a bass Wind instrument, descended from the Cornett, and a distant ancestor of the Tuba, with a mouthpiece like a Brass Tone holes changed the pitch by providing an intentional leak in the bugle of the instrument. While this changed the pitch, it also had a pronounced effect on the timbre. By using valves to adjust the length of the bugle the tuba produced a smoother tone that eventually led to its popularity. ď

Adolphe Sax, like Wieprecht, was interested in marketing systems of instruments from soprano to bass, and developed a series of brass instruments known as saxhorns. The instruments developed by Sax were generally pitched in E-flat and B-flat, while the Wieprecht "basstuba" and the subsequent Cerveny contrabass tuba were pitched in F and C (see below on pitch systems). Sax's instruments gained dominance in France, and later in Britain and America, as a result of the popularity and movements of instrument makers such as Gustave Besson (who moved from France to Britain) and Henry Distin (who found his way eventually to America). [1]

Roles

An orchestra usually has a single tuba, though occasionally a second tuba is required. An orchestra is an instrumental ensemble, usually fairly large with string brass woodwind sections and possibly a percussion section as well It serves as the bass of the brass section, as reinforcement for the strings and woodwinds, and as a solo instrument. A brass instrument is a Musical instrument whose tone is produced by vibration of the lips as the player blows into a tubular Resonator. A string instrument (or stringed instrument) is a Musical instrument that produces Sound by means of Vibrating strings In the Hornbostel-Sachs Types of woodwind instruments See also List of woodwind instruments Single-reed instruments use a reed, which is a thin cut

The Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz was the first major work orchestrated for tuba. An Episode in the Life of the Artist Opus 14 usually referred to by its subtitle Symphonie fantastique ( Fantasy Symphony) is It was originally scored for two ophicleides, but Berlioz changed it after hearing the newly invented tuba. Other composers also composed influential parts for the tuba, including:

Concertos have been written for the tuba by many notable composers, including Ralph Vaughan Williams, Edward Gregson, John Williams, Alexander Arutiunian, Eric Ewazen, James Barnes, Martin Ellerby, Philip Sparke, and Bruce Broughton. George Gershwin (September 26 1898 &ndash July 11 1937 was an American Composer. This article is about the Gershwin composition For the 1951 musical starring Gene Kelly see An American in Paris (film. Howard Leslie Shore (born October 18, 1946) is an Academy Award, Golden Globe and Grammy Award -winning Canadian Composer The music of the ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy was composed orchestrated conducted and produced by Howard Shore. The term Concerto (plural concertos or concerti) usually refers to a three part musical work in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an Orchestra Ralph (reɪf Vaughan Williams OM (12 October 1872 &ndash 26 August 1958 was an English Composer of symphonies, Chamber music Edward Gregson was born in Sunderland, United Kingdom, in 1945 John Towner Williams (born February 8 1932) is an American Composer, conductor and Pianist. Alexander Grigorevich Arutiunian, also known as Arutunian or Harutiunian (b Eric Ewazen (b 1954 Cleveland Ohio) (pronounced ee-WAY-zen according to the composer it is a shortened version of a Ukrainian name Ewaszczyszen is an American composer James Barnes may refer to James Barnes (author (1866-1936 American author James Barnes (composer (born 1949 American composer Martin Ellerby (1957 Worksop) is an English Composer. He was educated at the Royal College of Music, London, where he was taught Philip Sparke (born 1951 in London) is a British Composer and Musician. Bruce Broughton (born March 8, 1945 in Los Angeles California, U Tubas are also used in concert bands, marching bands, and in drum and bugle (and drum and brass) corps. In British style brass bands, both E-flat and B-flat tubas are used and are normally referred to as basses. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located A brass band is a Musical group generally consisting entirely of Brass instruments, most often with a percussion section

Types and construction

Tubas are found in various pitches, most commonly in F, E-flat, CC, or BB-flat. The main tube of a BB-flat tuba is approximately 18 feet long, while that of a CC tuba is 16 feet, of an E-flat tuba 13 feet, and of an F tuba 12 feet. Tubas are considered to be conical in shape as the bore of their tubing steadily increases in diameter along its length, from the mouthpiece to the bell. A cone is a three-dimensional Geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat round base to a point called the apex or vertex

A tuba with its tubing wrapped for placing the instrument on the player's lap is usually called a concert tuba or simply a tuba. Tubas with the bell pointing forward instead of upward are often called recording tubas because of their popularity in the early days of recorded music, as their sound could more easily be directed at the recording instrument. When wrapped to surround the body for marching, it is traditionally known as a hélicon. The helicon is a brass Musical instrument in the BB-flat Bass family The modern sousaphone is a hélicon with a bell pointed up, and then curved to point forward. The sousaphone is a wearable Tuba descended from the Hélicon, and designed in an ergonomically efficient way such that it fits around the body of the wearer and Some ancestors of the tuba, such as the military bombardon, were wrapped so that the bell extended far backwards over the player's shoulder. These instruments were commonly used in military bands during the American Civil War, and are known as "over-the-shoulder saxhorns".

Most music for tuba is written in bass clef in concert pitch, so tuba players must know the correct fingerings for their specific instrument. Traditional British-style brass band parts for the tuba are usually written in treble clef, with the B-flat tuba sounding two octaves and one step below and the E-flat tuba sounding one octave and a major sixth below the written pitch. A brass band is a Musical group generally consisting entirely of Brass instruments, most often with a percussion section This allows musicians to change instruments without learning new fingerings for the same written music. Consequently, when its music is written in treble clef, the tuba is a transposing instrument, but not when the music is in bass clef. A transposing instrument is a musical instrument for which written notes are played at a pitch different from concert pitch, which a non-transpositing instrument such as a

The lowest pitched tubas are the contrabass tubas, pitched in C or B-flat; (referred to as CC and BB-flat tubas respectively, based on a traditional distortion of a now-obsolete octave naming convention). The fundamental pitch of a CC tuba is 32 Hz, and for a BB-flat tuba, 29 Hz. In the British Brass Band tradition, the BB-flat is almost exclusively used in brass bands because the other instruments are usually based on B-flat and the tradition has roots in the Sax instrument systems of the 19th Century. The CC tuba is used as an orchestral instrument in the U. S. , but BB-flat tubas are the contrabass tuba of choice in German, Austrian, and Russian orchestras. Many younger players start out with an E-flat tuba, but the BB-flat tuba is still the standard beginner and adult amateur instrument in the United States. Most professionals in the U. S. play CC tubas but are trained in the use of all four pitches of tubas.

The next smaller tubas are the bass tubas, pitched in F or E-flat (a fourth above the contrabass tubas). The E-flat tuba often plays an octave above the contrabass tubas in brass bands, and the F tuba is commonly used by professional players as a solo instrument and, in America, to play higher parts in the classical repertoire (or parts that were originally written for the F tuba, as is the case with Berlioz). In most of Europe, the F tuba is the standard orchestral instrument, supplemented by the CC or BB-flat only when the extra weight is desired. Wagner, for example, specifically notates the low tuba parts for "Kontrabasstuba" which are played on CC or BB-flat tubas in most regions. In the United Kingdom, the E-flat is the standard orchestral tuba.

Comparison of euphonium (left) and tuba (right)
Comparison of euphonium (left) and tuba (right)

The euphonium is sometimes referred to as a tenor tuba (or mistakenly, as a baritone horn), and is pitched in B-flat, one octave higher than the BB-flat contrabass tuba. The euphonium is a conical-bore, Baritone -voiced Brass instrument. The baritone horn, or simply baritone, is a member of the brass family of instruments The term "tenor tuba" is often used more specifically to refer to B-flat rotary-valved tubas pitched in the same octave as euphoniums. One example of its use is the Bydło movement in Ravel's orchestration of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (Моде́ст Петро́вич Му́соргский Modest Petrovič Musorgskij) ( March 21 March 9 1839 &ndash March Pictures at an Exhibition (Картинки с выставки &ndash Воспоминание о Викторе Гартмане Kartinki s vystavki &ndash Vospominaniye The "Small French Tuba in C" is a tenor tuba pitched in C, and provided with 6 valves to make the lower notes in the orchestral repertoire possible. The French C tuba was the standard instrument in French orchestras until overtaken by F and C contrabass tubas since the Second World War. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including

Larger BBB-flat subcontrabass tubas exist, but are extremely rare (there are at least four known examples). The first two were built by the Gustav Besson on the suggestion of American Bandmaster John Philip Sousa. John Philip Sousa ( November 6, 1854 &ndash March 6, 1932) was an American Composer and conductor of the late The monster instruments were not completed until just after Sousa's death (photo). Later, in the 1950s, British musician Gerard Hoffnung commissioned the London firm of Paxman to create a subcontrabass tuba for use in his comedic music festivals (photo). Gerard Hoffnung ( March 22, 1925 &mdash September 28, 1959) was an artist and musician best known for his humorous works These three instruments were all pitched in BBB-flat, one octave below the standard BB-flat tuba. Also, a tuba pitched in FFF was made in Kraslice by Bohland & Fuchs probably during 1910 or 1911 and was destined for the World Exhibition in New York in 1913. Two players are needed; one to operate the valves and one to blow into the mouthpiece (photo).

Valves

Tubas are made with either piston or rotary valves. Rotary valves are based on a design that derived from the Berlinerpumpen used on the very first bass tuba patented by Wilhelm Wieprecht in 1835. Červeny of Graslitz was the first to use true rotary valves, starting in the 1840s or 1850s. Piston valves are based on valves developed by Perinet for the saxhorn family of instruments promoted by Adolphe Sax around the same time. The saxhorn is a valved Brass instrument with a tapered bore and deep cup-shaped mouthpiece. Antoine-Joseph 'Adolphe' Sax (November 6 1814 &ndash February 4 1894 was a Belgian Musical instrument designer and Musician ( Clarinetist Pistons may either be oriented to point to the top of the instrument (top-action, as pictured in the figure at the top of the article) or out the front of the instrument (front-action or side-action). There are advantages and disadvantages to each valve style, but assertions concerning sound, speed, and clarity are difficult to quantify. German players generally prefer rotary valves while British and American players favor piston valves - the choice of valve type remains up to the performer.

Piston valves require more maintenance than rotary valves — they require daily oiling to keep them freely operating, while rotary valves are sealed and seldom require oiling. Piston valves are easy to disassemble and re-assemble, while rotary valve disassembly and re-assembly is much more difficult and is generally left to qualified instrument repair persons.

Tubas generally have from three to six valves, though some rare exceptions exist. Three-valve tubas are generally the least expensive and are almost exclusively used by beginners and amateurs, and the sousaphone (a marching version of a B-flat tuba) almost always has three valves. The sousaphone is a wearable Tuba descended from the Hélicon, and designed in an ergonomically efficient way such that it fits around the body of the wearer and Among advanced players, four and five valve tubas are by far the most common choices, with six-valve tubas being relatively rare except among F tubas, which mostly have five or six valves.

The valves add tubing to the main tube of the instrument, thus lowering its fundamental pitch. The first valve lowers the pitch by a whole step (two semitones), the second valve by a semitone, and the third valve by three semitones. Used in combination, the valves are too short and the resulting pitch tends to be sharp. For example, a BB-flat tuba becomes (in effect) an A-flat tuba when the first valve is depressed. The third valve is long enough to lower the pitch of a BB-flat tuba by three semitones, but it is not long enough to lower the pitch of an A-flat tuba by three semitones. Thus, the first and third valves used in combination lower the pitch by something just short of five semitones, and the first three valves used in combination are nearly a quarter tone sharp.

Tuba with four rotary valves.
Tuba with four rotary valves.

The fourth valve is used in place of combinations of the first and third valves, and the second and fourth used in combination are used in place of the first three valves in combination. The fourth valve can be tuned to lower the pitch of the main tube accurately by five semitones, and thus its use corrects the main problem of combinations being too sharp. By using the fourth valve by itself to replace the first and third combination, or the fourth and second valves in place of the first, second and third valve combinations, the notes requiring these fingerings are more in tune.

The fifth and sixth valves are used to provide alternative fingering possibilities to improve intonation, and are also used to reach into the low register of the instrument where all the valves will be used in combination to fill the first octave between the fundamental pitch and the next available note on the open tube. The fifth and sixth valves also give the musician the ability to trill more smoothly or to use alternative fingerings for ease of playing.

The bass tuba in F is pitched a fifth above the BB-flat tuba and a fourth above the CC tuba, so it needs additional tubing length beyond that provided by four valves to play securely down to a low F as required in much tuba music. The fifth valve is commonly tuned to a flat whole step, so that when used with the fourth valve, it gives an in-tune low B-flat. The sixth valve is commonly tuned as a flat half step, allowing the F tuba to play low G as 1-4-5-6 and low G-flat as 1-2-4-5-6. In CC tubas with five valves, the fifth valve may be tuned as a flat whole step or as a minor third depending on the instrument.

Some tubas have a strong and useful resonance that is not in the well known harmonic series. For example, the Conn BBb sousaphone has a strong resonance at low E-flat (E-flat1, 39 Hz), which is between the fundamental and the second harmonic (an octave higher than the fundamental). These alternative resonances are often known as false tones or privileged tones. (William Bell famously referred to them as "underprivileged tones". ) Adding the six semitones provided by the three valves, these alternative resonances allow the instrument to be played chromatically down to the fundamental of the open bugle, which is a 29-Hz B-flat0. The addition of valves below that note can lower the instrument a further six semitones to a 20-Hz E0. Thus, even three-valved instrument with good alternative resonances are able to play very low in the hands of skilled players. And instrument with four valves can play even lower. The lowest note in the widely known repertoire is a 16-Hz double-pedal C in the William Kraft Encounters II, which is often played using a timed flutter tongue rather than by buzzing the lips. The fundamental overtone of this pitch is subsonic, and its overtones define the pitch in the listener's ear.

Some piston-valved tubas have a compensating system to allow accurate tuning when using several valves in combination, simplifying fingering and removing the need to constantly adjust slide positions. The most popular of the automatic compensation system was invented by Blaikley (Bevan, 1978) and was patented by Boosey (later, Boosey and Hawkes, which also later still produced Besson instruments). The patent on the system limited its application outside of Britain, and to this day tubas with compensating valves are primarily popular in the United Kingdom and countries of the former British Empire. The Blaikley design plumbs the instrument so that if the fourth valve is used, the air is sent back through a second set of branches in the first three valves to compensate for the combination of valves. This does have the disadvantage of making the instrument significantly more 'stuffy' or resistant to air flow when compared to a non-compensating tuba. This is due to the need for the air to flow through the valves twice. It also makes the instrument heavier. But many prefer this approach to additional valves or to manipulation of tuning slides while playing to achieve improved intonation within an ensemble. Most modern professional-grade euphoniums now feature Blaikley-style compensating valves.

Finish

Tubas are generally finished in raw brass, lacquered brass, or silver-plated brass. Some believe that the external finish of the tuba can play an important role in the tone production, though this has never been objectively measured. Performers have individual preferences on the finish that they select, and will sometimes have horns in more than one finish for different musical settings. Tuba players debate the effects of finish, with no consensus.

Variations

Some tubas are capable of being converted into a marching style, known as "marching tubas". A marching band is in the broadest terms a group of performers that consist of instrumental Musicians and sometimes dance teams / color guard who generally perform A leadpipe can be manually screwed on next to the valves. The tuba is then usually rested on the left shoulder (although some tubas allow use of the right shoulder), with the bell facing directly in front of the player. Some marching tubas are made only for marching, and cannot be converted into a concert model. Most marching bands opt for the sousaphone, an instrument which is easier to carry and almost always cheaper than a true marching tuba. The sousaphone is a wearable Tuba descended from the Hélicon, and designed in an ergonomically efficient way such that it fits around the body of the wearer and Drum and bugle corps players, however, always use marching tubas, which in this context are referred to as contras. For the Military unit see Corps of Drums A drum and bugle corps or drum corps is a musical marching unit (similar to a The contrabass bugle, usually shortened to contra, is the lowest-pitched instrument in the Drum and bugle corps hornline Standard tubas can also be played whilst standing, with the use of a strap which is joined to the tuba using two rings. The strap is then put over the player's shoulder like a sash, allowing the instrument to be played in the same position as when sitting.

Jazz

"Kaiserbass" (tuba in B) and cornet
"Kaiserbass" (tuba in B) and cornet

Tubas have been used in jazz since the genre's beginning. Jazz is an American Musical art form which originated in the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States In the earliest years, bands often used a tuba for outdoor playing and a double bass for indoor jobs. The double bass is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed String instrument used in the modern symphony orchestra. In this context, the tuba was sometimes called "brass bass", as opposed to the double bass, which was called "string bass"; it was not uncommon for players to double on both instruments.

In modern jazz, the role of the two bass instruments remains similar. Tubas are usually featured in a supporting role, although it is not uncommon for them to take solos. Many jazz bands actually use a sousaphone, commonly if technically incorrectly called a "tuba" in this context. New Orleans style Brass Bands like Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Rebirth Brass Band, and Nightcrawlers Brass Band feature a sousaphone as a jazz bass. The Dirty Dozen Brass Band is a New Orleans Louisiana, Brass band. The Rebirth Brass Band is a New Orleans Brass band. The group was founded in 1982 by Tuba player Philip Frazier, his brother Miles Davis made use of a tuba, played by Bill Barber, in his album Birth of the Cool, released in June, 1950. Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26 1926 &ndash September 28 1991 was an American Jazz Trumpeter, Bandleader, and Composer. William Charles "Bill" Barber (born July 11, 1952 in Callander, Ontario) is a retired Canadian professional Ice hockey Birth of the Cool is an album which compiles twelve songs recorded by the Miles Davis nonet for Capitol Records in 1949 and One of the most prominent tubists specializing in jazz is the New York City-based Marcus Rojas, who has performed frequently with bandleader Henry Threadgill. Marcus Rojas (b Brooklyn, New York; April 21, 1962) is a Tubist from New York City, best known for his work in Jazz Henry Threadgill (born February 15, 1944, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American Composer, Saxophonist and Another notable group is the Modern Jazz Tuba Project - founded by R. Winston Morris, which consists entirely of tubas and euphoniums with rhythm section. South Carolinian Ralph Winston Morris, known for his signature " Soul patch " is the Professor of Tuba and Euphonium at

The tuba has also played a large role in ragtime music, and in big band music, the tuba (usually bass tuba pitched in E♭) would provide a walking bass similar to that of a double bass, but with a larger range. Ragtime (alternately spelled Rag-time) is an American musical genre which enjoyed its peak popularity between 1897 and 1918 A big band is a type of Musical ensemble associated with playing jazz music and which became popular during the Swing Era from the early 1930s until the late The tuba has the lowest pitch of the brass family. A brass instrument is a Musical instrument whose tone is produced by vibration of the lips as the player blows into a tubular Resonator.

Notable tubists

See Category:Tubists

See also

References

  1. ^ Clifford Bevan, The Tuba Family, Scriveners, 1978. The Roman tuba is an ancient musical instrument different from the modern tuba. The Wagner tuba is a comparatively rare Brass instrument that combines elements of both the horn and the Tuba. The euphonium is a conical-bore, Baritone -voiced Brass instrument. Tubachristmas is a music concert in cities worldwide that celebrates those who play, teach, and compose music for instruments in the tuba family The contrabass bugle, usually shortened to contra, is the lowest-pitched instrument in the Drum and bugle corps hornline The sousaphone is a wearable Tuba descended from the Hélicon, and designed in an ergonomically efficient way such that it fits around the body of the wearer and

External links

Dictionary

tuba

-noun

  1. A large brass musical instrument played through a vibration of the lips upon the mouthpiece and fingering of the keys.
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