Culture & ArtsArtstubaSteve Dillon

Playing The World's Largest Tuba Requires Two People And Four Lungs, And It's Pretty Amazing

This Is The What Some Believe Is The World's Largest Tuba
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Deputy Enterprise Editor, Culture, HuffPost

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This is the world's largest tuba. Or, according to Carl Fischer Music, what "some believe is the world's largest tuba." It dates back to 1900, and is, as one might expect, quite large. So large, that it takes two human beings -- and an estimated four lungs -- to play it.

"It's not playable like a regular tuba," Steve Dillon, owner of Dillon Music, explains in the video above. He's the one propping the tuba up while Derek Fenstermacher, principal tuba at the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, attempts to squeeze notes out of the behemoth brass marvel. "But if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck. You can play fundamental tones on it."

Wait, is it a duck? Either way, take a second to watch Fenstermacher play the duck/instrument in this great clip, created by The New York Times.

Keep in mind, the Musikinstrumenten-Museum in Markneukirchen, Germany has also claimed to house the "world's largest functional tuba." Erm, and then there's this guy.

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Before You Go

A Titanic Violin
(01 of07)
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Auctioneer Alan Aldridge of auctioneers Henry Aldridge & son holds the violin of Wallace Hartley, the instrument he played as the band leader of the Titanic, on the 101st anniversary of the sinking of the ship, April 15, 2013 in Devizes, England. The auction house, which specializes in Titanic memorabilia and is having an associated sale on Saturday, spent seven years proving the violin was genuine and belonged to Wallace Hartley, who with his orchestra, famously played on as the ship sank in April 1912, and were among the 1,500 who died. Long thought to have been either lost at sea or stolen, it is being described, as far as Titanic memorabilia goes, as one the most important pieces that has ever come up for sale. Thought to be worth a six-figure sum, it is the property of an unidentified individual in Lancashire. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
(02 of07)
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Auctioneer Alan Aldridge of auctioneers Henry Aldridge & son holds the violin of Wallace Hartley, the instrument he played as the band leader of the Titanic, on the 101st anniversary of the sinking of the ship, April 15, 2013 in Devizes, England. The auction house, which specializes in Titanic memorabilia and is having an associated sale on Saturday, spent seven years proving the violin was genuine and belonged to Wallace Hartley, who with his orchestra, famously played on as the ship sank in April 1912, and were among the 1,500 who died. Long thought to have been either lost at sea or stolen, it is being described, as far as Titanic memorabilia goes, as one the most important pieces that has ever come up for sale. Thought to be worth a six-figure sum, it is the property of an unidentified individual in Lancashire. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
(03 of07)
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Sean Madden, of Fine Art Conservation holds the violin played by bandmaster Wallace Hartley during Titanic's tragic maiden voyage, during a photocall for the media in Lurgan, Northern Ireland, Monday, Sept. 16, 2013. The violin will go on display to the public at the Titanic Belfast exhibition on Wednesday. The instrument, which was discovered in an attic in North Yorkshire, England in 2006, and was earlier this year verified as that which second-class passenger Wallace Hartley played on Titanic's fateful night of April 14th, 1912. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison) (credit:AP)
(04 of07)
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Sean Madden, of Fine Art Conservation works to show the violin played by bandmaster Wallace Hartley during Titanic's tragic maiden voyage, during a photocall to the media in Lurgan, Northern Ireland, Monday, Sept. 16, 2013. The violin will go on display to the public at Titanic Belfast on Wednesday. The instrument, which was discovered in an attic in North Yorkshire, England in 2006, and was earlier this year verified as that which second-class passenger Wallace Hartley played on Titanic's fateful night of April 14th, 1912. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison) (credit:AP)
(05 of07)
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A detail from the violin played by bandmaster Wallace Hartley during Titanic's tragic maiden voyage, during a photocall to the media in Lurgan, Northern Ireland, Monday, Sept. 16, 2013. The violin will go on display to the public at Titanic Belfast on Wednesday. The instrument, which was discovered in an attic in North Yorkshire, England in 2006, and was earlier this year verified as that which second-class passenger Wallace Hartley played on Titanic's fateful night of April 14th, 1912. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison) (credit:AP)
(06 of07)
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Sean Madden, of Fine Art Conservation inspects the violin played by bandmaster Wallace Hartley during Titanic's tragic maiden voyage, during a photocall to the media in Lurgan, Northern Ireland, Monday, Sept. 16, 2013. The violin will go on display to the public at Titanic Belfast on Wednesday. The instrument, which was discovered in an attic in North Yorkshire, England in 2006, and was earlier this year verified as that which second-class passenger Wallace Hartley played on Titanic's fateful night of April 14th, 1912. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison) (credit:AP)
(07 of07)
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In this undated photo provided by Henry Aldridge on Friday, March 15, 2013 shows the violin that was played by the bandmaster of the Titanic as the oceanliner sank, Devizes, England. Survivors of the Titanic have said they remember the band, led by Wallace Hartley, playing on deck even as passengers boarded lifeboats after the ship hit an iceberg. Hartleys violin was believed lost in the 1912 disaster, but auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son say an instrument unearthed in 2006 has undergone rigorous testing and proven to be Hartleys. The auction house said has spent the past seven years and thousands of pounds determining the water-stained violins origins, consulting numerous experts including government forensic scientists and Oxford University. (AP Photo/Henry Aldridge) (credit:AP)
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