Mystery gadget 76



What is the name of this musical instrument?

Answer is here.

Or after the jump.
     Posted By: Paul - Thu May 30, 2019
     Category: Music | 1920s





Comments
I guessed a herniated, cut-and-paste tuba, due to the suspect outlines at the mouthpieces.
Posted by Virtual in Carnate on 05/30/19 at 09:44 AM
I'd bet that Peter Schickele would have a name for it.
Posted by KDP on 05/30/19 at 06:25 PM
I am dubious that this "invention" is anything other than a concept. Nothing on it anywhere else online, so far as Google can tell. Lots of bass harmonicas, but none attached to a horn. And note that the illustration is only a drawing. If it was being used by any orchestra, a photo should be easy to locate.

Last but not least, a brass instrument of that size would require a significant amount of pressure to get any sound out of it. (Which is why every brass player blows through pursed lips.) The way one generally blows through a harmonica, with its multiple reeds, seems utterly inconsistent with a brass instrument.
Posted by FRANK on 05/31/19 at 11:09 AM
Frank, I remember many years ago seeing a group of performers using what were essentially kazoos attached to the bodies of various brass and woodwind instruments. They sounded like kazoos. I suspect this is a similar idea, intended to act like a megaphone to a standard bass harmonica.

There have been legitimate harmonicas with bells, such as this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNCYxSlihWQ
Posted by ges on 06/01/19 at 09:45 PM
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