Convertible Tuba Help

[iiipopes]

Why on earth would anybody want to play an instrument pitched even lower? I retract my previous statement about G contra bugles and, seeing how my point about souzys or slings doesn't mean anything, I will retreat to the quote by Bob Jones, the great golfer, upon seeing Jack Nicklaus play, "He plays a game with which I am not familiar."

[Leland]

Why on earth would anybody want to play an instrument pitched even lower? I retract my previous statement about G contra bugles and, seeing how my point about souzys or slings doesn't mean anything, I will retreat to the quote by Bob Jones, the great golfer, upon seeing Jack Nicklaus play, "He plays a game with which I am not familiar."

Sit back, and see if I can remember enough of the story...

(now helped greatly by these websites:
http://www.tapsbugler.com/HistoryoftheB ... tents.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drum_and_b ... classic%29 )

It goes back to military regulations which standardized signal bugles into the key of G. All the bugles issued in World War I, and used in civilian drum corps at church youth groups and VFW and AL posts afterwards, were either military-issued M1892 bugles or based upon them.

Military bugles remained valveless, and some ensembles still use valveless bugles for special performances or ceremonies (our recent instrument purchase included about a dozen valveless G bugles and a few specially-built, 1800's style bugles for the Ceremonial Bugler position). However, that's been about the extent of evolution for military-issued bugles.

It was the civilian organizations that started changing the bugles. As you'd expect, besides parade appearances and post functions, they started adding exhibitions and, eventually, competitions. After long enough, though, it got boring playing the same bugle calls, so valves were added. G/D multikey bugles, where pressing the valve dropped it to D, became commonplace, and after long enough more valves and voices were added.

Here's the appropriate section in the Wikipedia article -- very concise, and still accurate:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drum_and_b ... %29#Bugles