Besson Prodige 177 student E-flat tuba (silver)

In UK brass bands, the EE-flat (‘double E-flat’) tuba is the standard full-sized E-flat bass instrument, with a compensating mechanism, large bore, wide bell, and four valves. The single E-flat tuba is built at the same pitch but is more compact, lighter weight, three-valved, and has no compensating mechanism. This makes it popular with students or players who prefer a more manageable instrument. The same distinction applies to B-flat tubas, where the full-sized compensating (‘double’) BB-flat models sit alongside smaller, non-compensating single B-flat student versions.

A compensating tuba has extra tubing that automatically keeps the lowest notes in tune, so players don’t have to work so hard with alternate fingerings or embouchure adjustments. A non-compensating tuba doesn’t include this mechanism, but benefits from being lighter and easier to handle. More experienced players who prefer a compact instrument can still tune those low notes with a bit of technique and practice.

In practice, yes. Historically, some three-valve instruments included compensating tubing, but modern professional designs universally rely on a fourth valve. The fourth valve both lowers the pitch by a perfect fourth and redirects air through the compensating loops, meaning these two functions are interdependent. Today, all widely available four-valve tubas are compensating, while three-valve models are invariably non-compensating.

Yes. Both terms indicate the same musical instrument. The brass band world prefers the term ‘bass’ for its lowest pitch instruments, for both the part they play in the ensemble and the instruments themselves. On this website, for consistency, we use the universal term ‘tuba’ to refer to the largest members of the brass instrument family.