in mind, companies have provided harnesses that sometimes use a strap joined to the tuba with two rings, a 'sack' to hold the bottom of the tuba, or numerous straps holding the larger parts of tubing on the tuba. The strap(s) goes over the shoulder like a sash or sit at the waist, so the musician can play the instrument in the same position as when sitting. Jazz The tuba has been used in jazz since the genre's inception. In the earliest years, bands often used a tuba for outdoor playing and a double bass for indoor performances. In this context, the tuba was sometimes called "brass bass", as opposed to the double bass (string bass). Many musicians played both instruments. This practice was mostly used in the New Orleans jazz scene. The tuba was used most frequently with the Louis Armstrong groups and prominent in the album Hot Five. In modern jazz, it is not unknown for their players to take solos. New Orleans style brass bands like the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and the Rebirth Brass Band use a sousaphone as the bass instrument. Bill Barber played tuba on several Miles Davis albums, including the sessions compiled as the Birth of the Cool and Miles Ahead''. New York City-based tubist Marcus Rojas performed frequently with Henry Threadgill. Starting in 1955, Stan Kenton made his fifth trombonist double on tuba, namely on ballads to make use of the tuba's distinct warm, enveloping sound. See also Brass instrument valves Contrabass bugle Subcontrabass tuba Sousaphone Helicon (instrument) List of tuba players Roman tuba Tuba repertoire Tubachristmas (music event) Wagner tuba References External links The International Tuba-Euphonium Association International Tuba Day Tubenet Sean Chisham's popular Tubenet discussion forum Brass-Forum.co.uk UK based brass discussion forum Brassmusic.Ru — Russian Brass Community Tuba/Sousaphone as blues instruments More Thoughts on Tuba Official site for the annual TubaChristmas concerts Contrabass instruments Bass (sound) German musical instruments Marching band instruments Orchestral instruments