'octave trombone'), one of which was a large sackbut built in A one octave below the tenor, with a very long slide and an extension handle to reach the lower positions.

[8] Canadian trombonist and early music specialist Maximilien Brisson proposes the other type was a large-bore quint-posaune with an extra whole-tone crook, resulting in an instrument in C capable of playing down to G1, the lowest open string of the G Violone.

[10] The innovation that enabled a practical instrument was the double slide, first documented nearly two centuries later in 1816 by German writer and composer Gottfried Weber.

For the première in 1876, Wagner commissioned a contrabass in 18′ B♭ from Berlin instrument maker Carl Wilhelm Moritz, who built it with a double slide.

[17][18] Italian composers for much of the 19th century specified the cimbasso as the bass voice of the brass section, a confusing term which over time referred to an upright serpent, ophicleide, or early variants of the tuba.

[13] The contrabass trombone is increasingly called for in large orchestral works by modern composers, and routinely since the late 1990s in film and video game soundtracks.

Although it eliminates the need for a long slide with a handle, it doubles the weight, the friction of movement, and the length of the air column that must be strictly cylindrical.

In theory the range extends as far as F♯0 using both valves, but in practice very low pedal tones become increasingly difficult to produce on cylindrical-bore brass instruments due to their inherent acoustical limitations.

In Germany, composer Richard Strauss wrote for it in his opera Elektra (1908), and Arnold Schoenberg scored Gurre-Lieder (1913) for a section of seven trombones including alto and contrabass.

[7] French composer Vincent D'Indy, inspired by performances of Wagner's Ring cycle, wrote for it in several of his later works, including his last two symphonies.

It has also been called for in works by composers Gustav Holst, Havergal Brian, Alban Berg, Anton Webern, Edgard Varèse, György Ligeti, and Pierre Boulez.

[7] Since the late 1980s the contrabass trombone has appeared in orchestral works by Harrison Birtwistle, Sofia Gubaidulina, Hans Werner Henze, and Manfred Trojahn.

[32] It has also enjoyed a revival particularly in film and video game soundtracks, due to the influence of Los Angeles session players Phil Teele, Bill Reichenbach, Bob Sanders and others.

The contrabass trombone first appeared in film music in Jerry Goldsmith's score for Planet of the Apes (1968), played by Phil Teele.

[5] It is unwieldy, being about twice as heavy as a tenor or bass trombone, and its cylindrical bore is less efficient than a similar-pitched tuba, requiring more air to produce a good sound.