Musical instrument WI

Don't quite see that happening with the likes of Richard Wagner. Didn't he have special instruments made for the music of his operas? Also the modern band or orchestra doesn't use the same instruments that even existed 150 years ago. The multitude of instruments just isn't there by the early 20th century.

Also, how do we know that instead of playing a tuba we wouldn't be hearing the likes of a sousaphone at concerts?
 
Sousaphones andf tubas are almost the same thing but not quite. The susaphone was invented by John Philips Sousa as a way for some onr to play the tuba and march at the same time. He took the length of tubing in a regular tuba anc instead made it so it wrapped around the person's body.
 
American_Samurai said:
Sousaphones andf tubas are almost the same thing but not quite. The susaphone was invented by John Philips Sousa as a way for some onr to play the tuba and march at the same time. He took the length of tubing in a regular tuba anc instead made it so it wrapped around the person's body.

Also the major difference in the sousaphone, at least the early models, is the position of the bell. On a sousaphone, as opposed to the marching band tuba, the bell faces upward rather than forward, hence its nickname 'the rain catcher'. This was in order to direct the tuba's music upward above the band so as not to mask out the other instruments.
 
But aren't these all just different arrangements of the tubing and bell in a basic instrument which has the same sound column length, keying, timbre, and range. Thus aren't they all "tubas", really? In what way does Mikey's "ophicleide" differ from the "tuba"?

So I'll take it farther and suggest an alternate world where the bass register in marching bands is handled by big amplified bass violins or 20-foot long straight alphorns on little wheels.
 
Observe what a ophicleide looks like.

ophicleide.jpg
 
there's an excellent book out there named _How The Fender Bass Changed The World_... it's amazing how one instrument really did change so many kinds of music, and had such an effect on popular culture-- jazz, rock, funk, heavy metal, reggae, rap, punk.......... Try playing "My Generation" on a tuba:)
 
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