Tuba

The tuba is a large brass instrument that makes deep, rich sounds. It belongs to the bass-to-contrabass range and has a wide, conical shape inside. Most tubas have four or five valves, but some have three or even six.

The tuba was first made in 1835 in Prussia. It started as a big bugle in the key of F, and five valves were added to let it play many different notes. Later, designers in Paris and Austria-Hungary made new kinds of tubas with different valves.

People make sound on the tuba by buzzing their lips into a special mouthpiece. Someone who plays the tuba is called a tubist, a tubaist, or simply a tuba player. In British brass bands and military bands, they are often called a bass player.

History

See also: Serpent and Ophicleide

The tuba was created to give bands and orchestras a low-pitched brass sound. Before valves were invented in the 1820s, brass instruments like the natural horn or bugle could only play notes in a single harmonic series. To get more notes, musicians used a slide (like on a trombone) or tone holes (like on a keyed bugle or serpent). But these methods were tricky for low-pitched instruments. Natural instruments could only play high notes, bass trombones of that time had long, awkward slides, and the serpent didn't sound very good.

Origins

To replace the serpent and similar instruments, a maker in Paris invented the ophicleide in 1817. It looked like a folded bassoon and was an improvement, used in bands and orchestras. But it still couldn't play very low notes.

The first tubas

In the 1820s, after valves were invented, valved ophicleides appeared. Then, in 1835, a Prussian band leader and a Berlin instrument maker invented the Baß-Tuba in F. It used five valves to play very low notes, making it the first successful low-pitched valved brass instrument.

In Paris, instrument maker Adolphe Sax developed the saxhorn series of brass instruments. These became popular in military bands and later in Britain and America. The modern E♭ and B♭ band tubas are similar to these old saxhorns.

The first marching tuba, called the helicon, appeared in Russia in the 1840s. Its tubing wraps under the right arm with the bell on the player's left shoulder. It became popular in Europe and North America for military bands.

By the 1850s, a Czech maker was making band instruments with rotary valves in Austria-Hungary, including low-pitched tubas. Russian composers began writing music for these tubas.

Early American tubas

In the United States, saxhorns became popular by the mid-19th century. In 1838, a New York maker patented an "over-the-shoulder" design that let soldiers hear better. Demand grew, especially during the American Civil War. After the war, bands stayed popular.

In 1893, a musician named Sousa asked a maker to build a helicon with the bell pointing up. This became the sousaphone, later made by American companies. An alumnus of Sousa's band became a famous tuba player and developed a popular mouthpiece design.

The tuba in Italy

The Italian word for a low brass instrument came from a term meaning 'bass horn'. Over time, it referred to various low brass instruments. An Italian composer wanted a better sound and commissioned a special instrument in the 1880s. By the early 20th century, this was replaced by the tuba.

Twentieth-century developments

In Britain, the English F tuba was first made in 1887. By the 1960s, British players switched to E♭ tubas from brass bands. In France, the small French tuba in C with six valves was common from the late 19th century until the 1950s. It was used in orchestras and by French composers.

In the early days of recording, tubas were made with the bell pointing forward so the sound could reach the microphone. Extra tuba players sometimes played string parts.

The Chicago Yorks

In 1933, a maker created two large C tubas for a conductor who wanted an organ-like sound. These "Chicago Yorks" became famous for their quality and are still admired today. Replicas have been made by several companies.

The tuba in jazz

While early jazz bands sometimes used tubas, they became more common in the 1920s, usually as sousaphones. Early recordings included tuba with bands like the New Orleans Rhythm Kings. As recording technology improved, players returned to string basses. Big bands in the swing era usually didn’t include tubas.

In the late 1940s, jazz trumpeter Miles Davis brought the tuba back into cool jazz. A player named Bill Barber played tuba on several of Davis's recordings. In the 1950s, band leader Stan Kenton also used tuba for its unique sound.

Though not common as a solo instrument, tuba has been used in jazz ensembles since the 1970s. Players like Howard Johnson and Bob Stewart have made notable contributions. After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, sousaphones became more popular in jazz and contemporary music, with players appearing on late-night TV shows.

Construction

The tuba is a large brass instrument with a wide, conical shape. It usually has four or five valves, though some models have three or even six. Tubas come in different sizes, mainly bass tubas and contrabass tubas, which vary in length and pitch.

Tubas are used in orchestras, bands, and other musical groups. They produce deep, rich sounds and are played by moving valves to change the pitch. The instrument’s design allows it to cover a wide range of notes, making it versatile for many types of music.

Performance

A symphony orchestra usually has one tuba, but sometimes needs a second one for big pieces like Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring from 1913 or Havergal Brian's Symphony No. 1 from 1927. The tuba gives a deep sound that supports the lower parts of the orchestra, helping the strings and woodwinds. In music from France, a smaller tuba can play sweet, high melodies, but most of the time the tuba adds a strong, deep sound to big orchestral moments.

Concert bands and military bands often use two to four tubas as their main low sound. In British brass bands, there are two types of tuba parts. Jazz bands, marching bands, and Mexican banda music also use tubas and similar instruments called sousaphones. In small groups of instruments, the tuba gives the deep notes in a brass quintet, a popular group style that started in the 1950s.

Repertoire

See also: Tuba repertoire

The first pieces written especially for solo tuba were light, fun works made for brass and concert bands in the late 1800s. Many of these were written in the style of dances and small musical pieces, just like pieces for other instruments at the time. One famous example is an arrangement of Variations on the Carnival of Venice by Jean-Baptiste Arban, which is still played and recorded today.

In 1945, American composer George Kleinsinger created a fun children's play called Tubby the Tuba for a solo tuba and orchestra, with words by Paul Tripp. It became very popular, leading to many recordings, an animated movie in 1975, and versions for different bands to play.

More serious pieces for solo tuba began to appear in the 1950s. Two early examples are Waltz for Mippy III by Leonard Bernstein and Sonate für Baßtuba und Klavier by Paul Hindemith. Since the 1960s, many more pieces have been written for tuba, sometimes with just the tuba alone, and sometimes with piano, a small group of instruments, or a band.

The first big solo piece, called a concerto, for tuba was written in 1954 by British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. It is still widely played today. As people learned more about what the tuba could do, more and more concertos were written by composers like Gunther Schuller, William Lovelock, Edward Gregson, and many others.