Tu’ba, 1

The straight trumpet of the Romans.—2. A name applied to the 3 lowest members of the saxhorn family. —The original tubas inv. by Wieprecht of Berlin in 1835, are of broad scale and have 4 valves, giving a complete chromatic scale of about 4 octaves. The da tuba in Bp, and contraba tuba in Bib, are the ordinary orchestral sizes in Germany; these, and also some others, are in general use in military bands... 7uba curva, a species of nat. ural trumpet of very limited compa , taught in the Paris conservatory at close of 18th century.—3. In the organ, a reed.stop (tuba mir a’bilis) on a heavy pre ure of wind, of very powerful and thrilling tone.