Sousaphone

A large brass instrument whose circular body wraps around the player and whose bell faces forward. It carries the tuba’s bass role in marching bands.

Brass instrument: A wind instrument that produces sound through vibrating lips against a cup-shaped mouthpiece. The sousaphone produces its sound by the same lip vibration as other brass instruments.
John Philip Sousa: An American composer and conductor known for marches and leadership of the United States Marine Band. Sousa advocated a bass instrument whose bell projected sound upward and forward in outdoor bands.
Marching music: Music composed or arranged for ensembles that perform while moving in parades and field shows. The instrument’s forward bell projects bass lines toward spectators during movement.
Concert tuba: A tuba designed to be held while seated and played with its bell generally pointing upward. Unlike the sousaphone, the concert tuba is not built to wrap around a marching player.
Tuba: The lowest-pitched standard orchestral brass instrument, with a wide conical bore and cup-shaped mouthpiece. The sousaphone adapts the tuba’s bass function to a body carried around the player.
J. W. Pepper: An American musical-instrument manufacturer and publisher founded by James Welsh Pepper in Philadelphia. Pepper’s firm developed the early sousaphone design in collaboration with Sousa.
New Orleans brass band: A street-based ensemble tradition combining brass and percussion in New Orleans. Some New Orleans bands use sousaphones to carry mobile bass lines.
Marching tuba: A forward-facing tuba designed to be carried in front of the body while marching. Marching tubas project forward like sousaphones but use a different body arrangement.
Mouthpiece: The cup-shaped part of a brass instrument that receives the player’s vibrating lips. Lip vibration at the mouthpiece starts every note on the sousaphone.
Helicon (instrument): A circular low brass instrument designed to be worn around the player’s body. The helicon’s body-around-player form preceded and helped shape the sousaphone.

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Entrance of the GladiatorsRelated: Its powerful bass sound supports the kind of outdoor brass ensemble that performs marches.