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The reader may have noticed that some of the "tubas" pictured in this article look markedly different from one another. That is because they are actually different instruments. Generically referred to as "brass basses," to distinguish them from string basses, they are all commonly called "tubas."
The true tuba is pictured in the photographs of Lammi, Short, Mayl, Carroll, Maihack and Bezin. Within this grouping there are further sub-categories: whether the bell curves around toward the front (as shown in all the above-mentioned photographs) or points straight up; whether the valves fingered by the player point forward ("side action," as in the photographs of Lammi and Mayl) or straight up ("top action"); whether there are three or four valves and whether the instrument is pitched in B-flat or the higher and less common E-flat (which is more likely to have a fourth valve for added low range).
The sousaphone, invented by John Phillip Sousa for use in his marching band, is shown in the photograph of Girsback. It is a variant of the earlier helicon, which appears with Bruns, Kinch and Cadd. Both the sousaphone and the helicon are found with either three of four valves and pitched either in B-flat or E-flat.
Published in the The Frisco Cricket, which is available when you Join the Foundation (only $25!).
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