What is tuba?

What Does tuba Mean

The tuba is a musical wind instrument that resembles the bugle (also called a bugle ). To produce the sound , the performer must blow through a nozzle of just over two centimeters to generate a stream of air.

Usually the tuba is made of brass . This instrument , which is usually tuned in B flat , E flat , C or F , can have between two and six valves. The two-valve tubas are intended for those learning to play the instrument, while the more popular tubas have four valves.
It should be noted that the tuba can cover more than four octaves in length, and this makes it a highly versatile instrument. There are different kinds of tubas: for example, it is possible to distinguish between the tenor tuba , the French tuba and the contrabass tuba , among others.

The incorporation of the tuba to symphony orchestras is quite recent. It was not until the first decades of the 19th century that it began to be used, replacing the figle . In 1876 , Richard Wagner devised a version of the tuba (known as the Wagnerian tuba ) for his opera "The Ring of the Nibelung . " The Wagnerian tuba, which has since been used in various works , is a combination of the traditional tuba and the horn .
One of the composers who wrote scores indicating the specific use of Wagnerian tuba was Anton Bruckner, a musician highlight of the nineteenth century native of Austria, for his symphonies 7, 8 and 9. There is a metal instrument wind called euphonium or euphonium that Sometimes it is used to interpret the parts of the Wagnerian tuba; His plumbing is conical and his voice covers the range from baritone to tenor. Among the reasons for this replacement is the fact that its mouthpiece is horn, which makes its sound less penetrating and easier to produce.
The inspiration to create this peculiar instrument came to Wagner after a brief visit to a Parisian store, more than two decades before the design and manufacture of the first copy was completed. The German composer was looking for an instrument with which to interpret a specific part of his opera The Ring of the Nibelung with a more gloomy tone than the trombone could achieve , but less incisive, something that a French horn could achieve.
It was through a conical drill similar to that used to make a horn and a mouthpiece that was less wide than that of the trombone that he was able to obtain the effect he desired. In addition, it included rotary valves that, in the same way as in the horn, must be played with the left hand.

It is possible to find two sizes of Wagnerian tuba, the bass tuba (tuned in F) and the tenor tuba (in B flat); its extensions are comparable to those of normal horns, although the quality of its top notes is not as good. With the arrival of the 20th century, some manufacturers began to combine both models in one that contains both tunings .
Regarding the location of the Wagnerian tuba in the orchestra, it is linked to the musician who must interpret it: if it is a horn player, then it is on the trumpets and under the horns; in other cases, it is common to be located on the common tuba (the so-called contrabass tuba ) and below the trombones.
In the Philippines , Tuba is the name of a municipality that belongs to the Benguet province . It is also the name of the sap obtained from coconut, which is used to make a liqueur after distillation and a brandy or vinegar after fermentation .

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