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The
Roman tuba is an ancient musical instrument, different from the
modern tubaThe tuba is the largest and lowest pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
. Tuba (from
tubus,
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
for tube) was produced around 500 BC, and like the
CornuA cornu or cornum was a type of brass instrument similar to the buccina used by the Roman army of antiquity mainly for communicating orders to troops in battle. It is a Latin word literally meaning horn. The instrument was about 3m long and took the form of a letter 'G'...
(a similar instrument), was used as a military signal trumpet. The origin is
EtruscanEtruscan civilization is the modern English name given to the culture and way of life of a people of ancient Italy and Corsica, residing between the Apennines and the River Tiber, whom the ancient Romans called Etrusci or Tusci...
and has many similarities with the Greek
salpinxA salpinx was a trumpet-like instrument of the ancient Greeks. -Construction:The salpinx consisted of a straight, narrow bronze tube with a mouthpiece of bone and a bell of variable shape and size; extant descriptions describe both conical and tulip-shaped bells...
. It was a straight instrument, usually of bronze, about four feet long, and played with a detachable bone
mouthpieceOn brass instruments the mouthpiece is the part of the instrument which is placed upon the player's lips. The purpose of the mouthpiece is a resonator, which passes vibration from the lips to the column of air contained within the instrument, giving rise to the standing wave pattern of vibration in...
. This instrument, although disputed, could be the ancestor, and the source of the name for the modern tuba.
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