A tuba is a four-part brass instrument with four different parts. The mouthpiece, which is where the musician blows air into the instrument, is one component. Another feature is the tube, which is quite long to accommodate the instrument’s low pitch. The tuba’s bell is where the instrument’s sound comes out, and the valves, or valve assembly, allows the musician to create various notes.
One of the tuba’s parts is the mouthpiece. A tuba player must form a seal with his or her lips against the mouthpiece and blow air into the instrument while vibrating the lips in order to make a sound. Without vibration, the instrument will not produce sound. Though it is attached to the small end of the tube, the mouthpiece is usually located near the tuba’s bell.
The tube is by far the largest tuba component. This section of the instrument is 12 to 18 feet long (3.7 to 5.5 meters), with shorter tubas tuned to higher keys than longer tubas. Tubas are available in a variety of shapes, but the tube is always coiled in some way so that a single musician can comfortably hold and play the instrument. Concert tubas are frequently coiled in an oblong shape, whereas marching tubas are frequently coiled into a circle that fits around the musician’s shoulders.
Another tuba part is attached to the tube at the end opposite the mouthpiece. The conical shape of the bell allows the sound to be dispersed throughout the instrument. Tuba bells can be pointed directly upward, as in a classical concert tuba, or toward the front, as in the recording tuba’s bell.
Tuba valves are the tuba parts that change the instrument’s pitch so that different notes can be played. Beginner tubas typically have three valves, while professional tubas typically have four to six. Because the three-valved tuba tends to go sharp when all three valves are depressed, more valves are useful in professional instruments. Piston valves, which require regular oiling to slide freely in their chambers, and rotary valves, which are more complex in design and require less routine maintenance, are the two main types of valves. The sound of the instrument is unaffected by the valve type.