Contrabass Bugle

The contrabass tubas are the lowest-pitched of all of the instruments in the tuba section. Pitched in either C or Bb – which is usually referred to as CC and BBb – and in orchestras, the CC tuba is most commonly used. In countries such as Russia, Germany, and Austria, the BBb tubas are most common, and this is also a common tuba used in the United States in schools and by amateur musicians.

CC tubas have a fundamental pitch of 32 Hz, whereas BBb tuba is 29 Hz. There are at least five different types of contrabass tubas, most of which are pitched in BBBb, and they sound a full octave lower than the basic BBb contrabass tuba. Most music for this instrument is written in bass clef.

A type of tuba designed for marching. It is preferred by drum corps with large tuba sections because it offers a more rich sound than a sousaphone at the expense of volume.