The tuba is the lowest-pitched, and largest in the brass family of musical instruments. The tubist (or tubaist) creates sound by blowing into the large mouthpiece, which produces vibration in the instrument, and then uses their fingers to press the valves to produce different sounds. The tubist holds the instrument upright while playing, which is different from the way trombones or trumpets are held. In order to play the tuba properly, a tubist requires a lot of breath. A tuba's body consists of the mouthpiece, main tube, valve tube, valves, and the bell. It consists of vertically coiled tubing, three or four valves, a wide conical bore, flared bell, and a cup-shaped mouthpiece.