World's largest tuba to be displayed in Frankfurt

Ever seen a tuba the size of a human? Brass-lovers in Germany will be able to do just that when the abnormally large instrument is displayed as part of the 2013 music trade fair.

The world's largest playable tuba is set to be displayed as part of the Musikmesse festival in Frankfurt. Measuring an impressive 2.05 metres and weighing in at 50kg, the tuba is the world's largest playable brass instrument.



At almost eight feet tall, the giant tuba is exactly double the dimensions of its normal-sized counterparts. Not only does a player need to be tall enough to reach the valves, but they need to have the lung capacity to ensure air flows through the 50 metres of tubing to produce a sound.



The record-holding instrument was created in 2010 by 20 different companies in Markneukirchen, Germany, a town known for producing high-quality instruments. In 2012, professor Jörg Wachsmuth, a solo tuba player in the Dresden Philharmonic, recorded the fastest ever performance of the Flight of the Bumblebee by Rimsky-Korsakov on the instrument.



The tuba will be on display at Musikmesse, Frankfurt, between 10-13 April. It's not the first oversized instrument to feature at the musical trade fair; last year, visitors were wowed by the world's largest violin, which measures 4.27 metres tall.