What has your tuba been confused with?

[BrassedOn]

When: Commuting to work onto an Air Force Base. Taking my Tuba in the Cronkhite bag through the gate in my back seat. Additionally, lugging it on my back into the building (to avoid sitting in my car all day in the FL daytime heat).

Confused with what: I was always concerned someone would unknowingly think it was some kind of suicide backpack or IED. No one ever even blinked an eye.

For the tuba, yes "big trumpet", okay I buy that. "French horn", mmm okay, but bigger and right handed valves, no complaint. "Close, it's a tuba." And yes, many times explained sousaphone-tuba family tree.

Just a few years out of the military, I was traveling with my tenor trombone, in a very slender case with shoulder strap. Passing a window in the airport, I could help notice that I had held the strap just like my M-16 rifle. This is just weeks after 9-11. I felt "obvious".

Out and about with my euphonium is a different story....
Fred Mertz (or a reasonable facsimile): "What's that instrument"
Me: "A euphonium."
Fred Mertz: "Not it's not. I played that in high school."
Me: "Oh, yes, a baritone horn."
Fred Mertz: "Yes, right. Now what's the difference between a baritone horn and a euphonium"?
Me: "Two thousand dollars". (Accurate at the time. Of course, now it could be either much more than that, or much much less?)

[Mike C855B]

... Has anyone else been accused of being an oboe player?

Yes. The only time it upsets me is when I've been playing English horn.

[bigtubby]

Causality is difficult to ascribe but perhaps due to the fact that our audience is fairly enlightened or the fact that one of my go to horns is the diminutive c1890 Schuster Army, my tuba is often confused with a baritone horn.

[MaryAnn]

... Has anyone else been accused of being an oboe player?

Yes. The only time it upsets me is when I've been playing English horn.

Maybe ten years go someone asked me what an English horn was, and as I was describing it a young woman basically shouted over me that I was wrong, and her "correct" description was of some brass instrument. She was quite emphatic.

[pecktime]

One time my tuba was mistaken for a musical instrument...

I put a stop to that malarkey right away!

[David Richoux]

My group California Repercussions was at a Sacramento rock recording studio for our most recent CD. The recording engineer was blanking on what to call the bass section, said “Superphones!” over the studio talk-back speakers. Sure worked for us, busted up the rest of the band.

[Bill Troiano]

Last Sat., during one of the worse gigs of my life, mainly because it was raining hard at times, and we were under a tent that was too small and set up in the mud, a guy came over to me and said, "I never saw a french horn that big."

And, Tom, I'm glad you got my message. It sat in my Outbox for a couple of days. I don't know why it takes so long for it to send. Nice looking tuba of yours in the picture !!

[Mike C855B]

... a guy came over to me and said, "I never saw a french horn that big." ...

My wife said it must be really awkward putting your hand in the bell.

[Bclark14]

Someone once asked me if my tuba was a French horn. When I told them no, it was a tuba, they assured me that they knew what a tuba looked like and my instrument was not a tuba. As everyone knows, the tuba wraps around your body.

Last semester I was walking between classes when one of the instructors saw me wheeling my tuba case. He told me about how he played trumpet back in high school and said that it was nice to see that there was now a French horn player at our school (apparently they didn't have any in his band). After telling him that I played the tuba, he said "But the tuba winds around your body and has the big bell"