Helicon (instrument)

The helicon is a brass musical instrument in the tuba family. Most are B♭ basses, but they are also built in E♭ or F, and occasionally in tenor or even smaller sizes. The helicon has a wide, roughly-circular shape designed to be worn around the player's body, with the tubing wrapped under one arm and the bell resting on the opposite shoulder.

Classification

• Aerophone
• Wind
• Brass
• Bugle

Hornbostel–Sachs classification423.232
(Valved lip-reed aerophone with wide conical bore)

Inventor(s)Patented by Stowasser, 1848

Developed1840s

Quick facts Brass instrument, Classification ...

Helicon

Brass instrument
Classification	Aerophone Wind Brass Bugle
Hornbostel–Sachs classification	423.232 (Valved lip-reed aerophone with wide conical bore)
Inventor(s)	Patented by Stowasser, 1848
Developed	1840s
Related instruments
Tuba Saxtuba Sousaphone

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The instrument is very popular in Central and Eastern Europe^{[citation needed]} and is a common instrument for a military band and a mounted band.^{[citation needed]} It is used by Ed Neuhauser of the traditional folk band Bellowhead.

The range of the B♭ helicon is two octaves below that of a B♭ cornet,^[1] thus similar to that of the more common B♭ bass tuba (though generally without the additional valves and other optional features sometimes seen on tubas, so that a few notes in the lowest range are unavailable on the helicon).

The sousaphone is a specialized version of the helicon. The first sousaphone, a non-production prototype made by J. W. Pepper & Son, Inc., had an upright bell, hence the nickname "rain catcher" because of its shape. Later production versions differ primarily in two ways: a bell shaped to face forward with a larger flare and a bell diameter of 22 to 28 inches (56–71 cm), and a "goose-neck" leadpipe which offers greater adjustability of mouthpiece position at the expense of tone quality.