Tritonikon

Tritonikon copper contrabassoon patented in 1839 by Schöllnast of Pressburg (Bratislava), and also named Universal-Kontrabass. It had a tube length of 4.56 m. (ca. 15 ft.) doubled back on itself 5 times, 15 keys, all closed except for the first, and a crook to carry the double reed. The tube terminated in a bell. Its compass was D1–f0, notated an oct. higher. By 1856, Vaclav Červeny of Königgrätz (Hradec Králové) had worked out an improved model and brought it out in tuba form, pitched in E♭…