Tuba after American bandmaster John Philip Sousa, resembles a hélicon with the bell pointed up (in the original models as the J. W. Pepper prototype and Sousa's concert instruments) and then curved to point forward (as developed by Conn and others). Some ancestors of the tuba, such as the military "bombardon", had unusual valve and bore arrangements compared to modern tubas. During the American Civil War, most brass bands used a branch of the brass family known as "saxhorns", which, by today's standards, have a narrower bore taper than tuba—the same as true cornets and baritones, but distinct from trumpets, euphoniums,
Tenor horn rotary valves as opposed to the more common piston valves. Within a British brass band, the tenor horn section usually plays a unique part in the middle of the band, with the Solo Horn having frequent solo passages. However, it is less often featured as a solo instrument. The instrument's timbre, with little attack or resonance, as well as the parts it usually plays, makes the section difficult to hear individually, even in professional studio recordings. Despite this, the horn section contributes greatly to the rich mellow sound of a brass band. Tenor horns, especially those built in the middle