ABSTRACT
The tuba is the lowest of the brass instruments; its name, although applied specifically to one instrument, is also a basic name for those bass-pitched brass instruments that are held in the vertical position rather than the horizontal. Technically, tuba refers to alto horns in E or F, baritones, and euphoniums, as well as the bass tuba in E or F, the contrabass tuba in C or BB. The tuba as we know it was invented in the early nineteenth century and has no direct ancestors with the same general characteristics and appearance. One might consider the serpent, invented by Guillaume about 1590, to be an early forebear of the tuba, though the similarities between the two are not great. The ophicleide, 1817, originally pitched in B or B, matching the trombone, was soon built in a variety of pitches. The helicon may also be considered an ancestor of the tuba. Known as the rain catcher because its bell opened upward, it was carried in an upright position, wrapped around the body. In Germany the helicon was called bombardon and was built in B, F, or E with a wide, semi-conical bore. According to Berlioz, the bombardon differed from the bass tuba in having only three valves and an inferior tone quality. There is no connection between the present-day tuba and the old Roman tuba, which was more like a cornet or bugle with a conical bore and a cup mouthpiece.
