Bass trombone

The bass trombone is a member of the brass (Hornbostel–Sachs 423.22). Learn how it makes its sound and explore related instruments.

How the bass trombone makes its sound

In the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which classifies instruments by how they produce sound, the bass trombone belongs to the brass (lip-vibrated aerophones): the player's buzzing lips set the air column vibrating – trumpets, horns, trombones, tubas and the didgeridoo.

More broadly it is one of the aerophones (wind instruments), where sound comes from vibrating air.

Press play above and watch the spectrum: the evenly spaced peaks are harmonics, and their relative strength is what gives the instrument its character.

From Wikipedia

The bass trombone is the bass instrument in the trombone family of brass instruments. Modern instruments are pitched in the same B♭ as the tenor trombone but with a larger bore, bell and mouthpiece to facilitate low register playing, and usually two valves to fill in the missing range immediately above the pedal tones.