The tuba is a large brass musical instrument that occupies the bass-to-contrabass range. It belongs to the family of valved bugles, which are distinguished by their wide conical bores and the use of valves to alter pitch. Most modern tubas feature four or five valves, though some variations include three or six.
The instrument descended from the serpent and ophicleide. It was invented in Prussia by Wilhelm Friedrich Wieprecht and Johann Gottfried Moritz, eventually being patented in 1835 as the Baß-Tuba. This original model was pitched in 12-foot F and utilized five valves to produce a fully chromatic contrabass instrument with a deep, full timbre.