Yet to principal bass trombone David Ridge, who has played contrabass trombone for San Francisco Opera "Ring" cycles, the advantages of following Wagner's specifications are significant.

WSJ: It Takes Brass to Play the Wagner Tuba | By Barbara Jepson | The Ring of the Nibelung

The tenor-bass trombone is approximately the size of a tenor trombone, but for notes in the low register the bass trombone register it has an extra length of coiled tubing that can be engaged by pressing a valve.

NPR: Young Tuba Player Gets Nod from Phila. Orchestra

Much orchestral music of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries also calls for bass trombone, but since the true bass trombone is a very long, very unwieldy instrument, most bass trombone parts are played today on a hybrid instrument called the tenor-bass trombone.

NPR: Young Tuba Player Gets Nod from Phila. Orchestra

In the "Ring, " four Wagner tubas join an enlarged brass section that includes other orchestral rarities like the bass trumpet, contrabass trombone and contrabass tuba, creating "choirs" of gleaming brass.

WSJ: It Takes Brass to Play the Wagner Tuba | By Barbara Jepson | The Ring of the Nibelung

This particular line-up included the legendary Bobby Hutcherson on vibraphone, Miguel Zenon playing alto, Nicholas Payton on trumpet, Isaac Smith on trombone, Rene Rosnes on piano, Matt Penman on bass, and Eric Harland on drums.

NPR: Joshua Redman Leads The SF Jazz Collective

From the first throbbing bass notes by Boris Koslov in "Gunslinging Birds" to the animated trombone and vocals of Ku-umba Frank Lacy in "E's Flat, Ah's Flat Too, " and the roaring full-band choruses that close out "Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting, " the Mingus Big Band was on.

NPR: Mingus Big Band: A Rousing, Raucous Concert