Tuba

brass instrument · orchestra · deep sounds · valves

Ginormous brass giant. The tuba is one of the largest instruments people play, with a wide bell and lots of twisty tubing that makes incredibly deep, rumbly notes.

Four or five valves. Most tubas have four or five buttons called valves that you press down to change which notes come out, kind of like how a piano has different keys.

Invented in Prussia. Two German inventors named Wilhelm Friedrich Wieprecht and Johann Gottfried Moritz created the tuba in 1835, and it became the bass voice for orchestras everywhere.

Part of a brass family. Tubas come from an old family of instruments that includes the serpent and ophicleide, which were earlier versions of low-note instruments.

Deep orchestra sound. When you hear that booming, rumbling bass part in an orchestra or marching band, that's usually the tuba making the music feel powerful and grounded.