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7 The Amazing Diversity of Brass Instruments
Fig. 7.47 B / D min scatter plot for some typical contrabass trombones, natural french horns with
low (basso) crooking, and contrabass tubas
Fig. 7.48 Contrabass
trumpet in 26-ft E (Buffet
Crampon, Paris, c. 1920). EU
(4546)
At this size instruments are expensive, heavy and cumbersome, and stretch the
capabilities of human lips and lungs. A small number of giant tubas have been built
(Bevan 2000) but they have been more effective in providing publicity than in their
contribution to music. The natural instrument shown in Fig. 7.48 was built to provide
a ‘bass’ for trumpet fanfare ensembles in which the higher parts were played on
natural trumpets in 6
1
2 -ft E ; normally only the tonic (E 1) and dominant (B 1)
would be used.
7.3 Families
Families of instruments, in which family members differ in size and compass but are
similar otherwise, are well defined and easily recognised for many instrument kinds
including recorders, clarinets and saxophones. Because the boundaries between