Technology might have redefined how music audiences listen to and appreciate different genres today. Music instrumentation and sounds have over the centuries experienced tremendous change with integrated sound systems such as pianos used to produce multiple synchronized sounds. However, the authenticity that lies in instrumental sounds has been vital in ensuring that several skills and instruments retain their place in historical records as having changed the nature and genres of musical sounds. According to Moore (2016), tubas are such instruments that redefined musical sounds in the 19th century. Tuba as an instrument was first brought to application in the 1820s and was patented by Johann Gottfried Moritz in 1835 making it one of the historically known instruments of music. According to McGee (2017), the tuba has five valves. The structure could create enough musical notes that were easily controlled by a musician blowing air into the instrument. Tuba, like other tube instruments, is categorized under the brass instruments used, specifically for orchestras and bands to complement other instruments in the set.
Tubas are referred to as brass wind instruments that employ the valve and tube techniques to manipulate sound. Tubas have conical bores, a structure that resembles the past trumpet models. The designs of tubas are French influenced by the majority of the tubas borrowing the designs of the contrabass saxhorn (McLean, 2016). The use of valves has continued to allow the instruments to produce low tonal frequencies synonymous with the tube instruments (McGee, 2017). The structure of the tubas has been a crucial part of the instrument as it helps in outlining their roles. The types hence include military band tubas, orchestral tubas, and Wagner tubers.
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History of the Tuba
The 19th Century is commonly referred to as the era of ophicleide as tube instruments formed an integral part of orchestral music. A reflection at the ancient civilization instruments that needed musicians to blow air through them to produce sound. We have traditional bugles, horns, and trumpets as among instruments that are well-documented in both Roman and Greek cultures as blown instruments. Many musical instruments existed before the creation of the modern tuba with the tuba gaining much interest in the Romantic age (McLean, 2016). Tubas are tube instruments, the same category as trumpets, horns, and other tube equipment that in the past never employed the valves technique as is the case of tuba (McGee, 2017).
The romantic age saw classical music gain audience and thrived, especially in England and France. The tuba instruments were preferred during the age for their powerful sounds that were an important part of the church and orchestral singing groups. Bass tuba was a charter to the next instrument, tenor tuba. Tenor tuba had a higher range on its tonal reach with thicker tubes that were tapered. McLean (2016) states that Ferdinand Sommer advanced this invention of the tenor tuba, the resultant instrument was named euphonium a name adapted from Greek culture to mean beautiful sound. Unlike the predecessors, euphonium had a higher sound quality and as the tubes were thicker and made from a resilient material.
Euphonium would quickly face competition from Adolphe Sax instruments that included the saxhorns. According to McLean (2016), saxhorns included sopranino; the instrument was later advanced into soprano, alto, baritone, and tenor saxhorns that had different sound pitches due to the varying range in total. There was no much difference between the upcoming equipment from the original euphonium (Moore, 2016). The success of the euphonium and related instruments drew significant military and orchestral attention, making them preferred as sound instruments for low-tonal band sounds.
Instruments in the Tuba Family
Tuba instruments or “tubes” vary in their nature and structure. Depending on the tonal range, they are classified differently with structural elements forming a minor part of its variations. The different pitches by the equipment have led to them being categorized differently. Importantly, euphonium, sousaphone, and baritone have been categorized under the same family as tubas since they employ the use of valves as modalities of alternating sound (McLean, 2016). The different instruments have been used to symbolic of the different sounds in music, including tenor, soprano, and alto (Moore, 2016). The different instruments in the tubas family have all worked towards ensuring that there exists a continuity in the manner in which their evolution and use is sustained. Until the invention of musical keyboard equipment, tubas were famously used in orchestral and marching bands for purposes on intonation and sound diversification (McLean, 2016). Military use anchored on their aesthetics and ability to synchronize different sound alerts between instrumental periods.
Observing these instruments closely, you realize that they relied on continuously independent on the structural forms that employed the differences in tube thickness as well as material that worked towards establishing tonal points of functionality in a band. There existed a variation in the instruments that formed part of the tubas family such as the saxhorns across countries such as UK, Japan, and the US where they were commonly used (Moore, 2016). The difference in cultures and uses of the horns ended up creating various groups of tubas with the most common types being the alto horn, the tenor horn, and the baritone (Pasquale et al., 2018). These three have largely been applicable across different jurisdictions with the most consistent being military bands that have continued to employ the instruments of the tuba as part of the orchestral bands of military music groups.
The Alto horn
The alto plays about five tones lower compared to the trumpet. Its application has often drawn from the horn players and trumpeters. Depending on the jurisdiction of application, the Alto horn has different names. In the US and Japan, the instrument is referred to as the alto horn while in the UK, it is the tenor horn.
The Tenor Horn
There exists an alteration in its naming as identified above, in the UK it is the alto horn while it is the tenor horn in the US and Japan. The difference in naming of these tubas has often created confusion, but regardless, their shapes and sound have been used as instrumental features in their differentiation.
The Baritone
The baritone is unique of the three and has three valve pistons. The tonal range for the baritone equates to that of the euphonium. According to Potter (2018) uniqueness in shape and features of tubas makes them an admired instrument. Tubas have been made for purposes of entertainment either for military brass bands orchestral.
Depending on their structure and sound tonal range, tubas can be grouped into different categories. The most common categories for tubas include the rotary and the piston tubas. The classification has quite a lot to do with the valves (McGee, 2017). The differences in tubas valves have been largely used as a point of differentiation with different countries showing ranging preference on the valves and how they are applied on the sound and instrumentation stage (Pasquale et al., 2018). A quick look at the differences in preference outlines that top-action tubas were preferred in France and the UK with their pistons moving vertically and are right-handed.
The differences in these instruments structures have helped in determining the jurisdictions in which they are used with front tubas preferred in the US, the rotary-valve tubas used in Russia, Germany, and Austria. All the instruments depending on their structures have a unique arrangement on their levers that makes them easier to carry as well as for aesthetic purposes (Pasquale et al., 2018). The designs have been used for either attraction or as a control mechanism for the sound either projecting it away from the musician or concentrating it towards the audiences (Chon, Huron, & DeVlieger, 2018). The valves and the sizes of the tubes have played a significant role in redefining the role and shape tubas depending on the audience and quality of sound needed in the audience.
Why the Tubas Were Created
Tubas continue to play a crucial role in music circles. Tubas were created for orchestral purposes with most military parades and bands relying on the tubas for low tonal sounds that had been part of the music parades for a long while. In the romantic period, tubas helped with blending sounds, especially in the church choir. Orchestral groups in the romantic age focused on composing music that touched on love and other emotional feelings. An example of a concert where the tubas were integral include the Symphonie franstique. The composers of the show programmed the instrumentation to illustrate the hallucinatory theme present in love affairs. According to Chon, Huron, and DeVlieger (2018), tubas have functioned for a while as entertainment equipment. Their application has been embraced by both military and social bands. The evolution of the tubas was propelled by the need to make the instruments lighter and can be carried by musicians during parade sessions. Tubas have played a crucial role in defining music sounds with bands and orchestral groups remaining an integral part of the music sector.
References
Chon, S. H., Huron, D., & DeVlieger, D. (2018). An exploratory study of Western orchestration: Patterns through history. Empirical Musicology Review , 12 (3-4), 116-159.
McGee, T. (2017). Instruments and their Music in the Middle Ages . Routledge.
McLean, M. G. (2016). Building Technical Facility in Tuba and Euphonium Players through the Tuba-Euphonium Quartet.
Moore, T. R. (2016). The acoustics of brass musical instruments. Acoustics Today , 12 (4).
Pasquale, A. C., Crimmins, A. G., Arkadiy, O. T., & Werner, J. S. (2018). U.S. Patent Application No. 15/356,266 .
Potter, C. G. (2018). The Electroacoustic Tuba: A Study of Selected Works for Tuba with Fixed Media and Live Processed Electronic Accompaniments . Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park.
