It is named for its long, conical bore bent into a snakelike shape, and unlike most brass instruments is made from wood with an outer covering of leather.

[4] In the early 19th century, keys were added to improve intonation, and several upright variants were developed and used, until they were superseded first by the ophicleide and ultimately by the valved tuba.

The sound of a serpent is somewhere between a bassoon and a euphonium, and it is typically played in a seated position, with the instrument resting upright between the player's knees.

[5] The original serpent was typically built from hardwood, usually walnut or other tonewoods like maple, cherry, or pear, or sometimes softer woods like poplar.

[10][11] The lower tone holes are too small to act effectively to shorten the air column, but by dampening resonances they nevertheless aid note selection and contribute to the serpent's characteristic soft timbre.

[12] While early serpents were keyless, later instruments added keys for additional holes out of reach of the fingers to improve intonation, and extend range.

[10] The majority of surviving specimens in museums and private collections are nominally bass serpents built in eight-foot (8′) C, thus having a total tubing length of about 8 feet (2.4 m).

[18] The prototype instrument was built c. 1840 by Joseph and Richard Wood in Huddersfield as a double-sized English military serpent, and survives in the University of Edinburgh museum collection.

[27] Towards the end of the 18th century, the increased popularity of the serpent in military bands drove the subsequent development of the instrument to accommodate marching or mounted players.

In England, a distinct military serpent was developed which had a more compact shape with tighter curves, added extra keys to improve its intonation, and metal braces between the bends to increase its rigidity and durability.

[4] In France around the same time several makers produced a serpent militaire initially developed by Piffault (by whose name they are also known) that arranges the tubing vertically with an upward turned bell, reminiscent of a tenor saxophone.

[28] Many of these instruments were built in Lyon and often had the buccin-style decorative zoomorphic bells popular in France at the time, shaped and painted like a dragon or serpent head.

[29] The English bass horn, developed by London-based French musician and inventor Louis Alexandre Frichot in 1799, had an all-metal V-shaped construction, described by German composer Felix Mendelssohn as resembling a watering can.

[30] The bass horn was popular in civic and military bands in Britain and Ireland, and also spread back into orchestras in Europe, where it influenced the inventors of both the ophicleide and later the Baß-Tuba.

[35] The era of upright serpents was brief, spanning the first half of the 19th century from their invention to their replacement by the ophicleide and subsequent valved brass instruments.

[36] German opera composer Richard Wagner, by the 1869 première of his Der Ring des Nibelungen cycle, was writing his lowest brass parts for tuba and contrabass trombone.

In 1976 he established the London Serpent Trio with English Early Music Consort players Andrew van der Beek and Alan Lumsden, performing new works and historical arrangements, both serious and whimsical, throughout Europe and North America.

The range can easily extend downwards to A1 or even F1 by fingering the low C note with all holes covered, and producing falset tones, by slackening the embouchure ("lipping down").

[23] The serpent began to be called for in orchestras by opera composers in the mid-to-late 18th century, and their subsequent adoption in military bands prompted the publication of several method books, fingering charts and etudes, including duets for student and teacher.

[49] In jazz, French tubist Michel Godard has incorporated the serpent into his music, and has frequently collaborated with Lebanese composer and oud player Rabih Abou-Khalil.

[52][53] Douglas Yeo premièred "Temptation" for serpent and string quartet, written by his Boston Symphony Orchestra colleague, trombonist and composer Norman Bolter, at the 1999 International Trombone Festival in Potsdam, New York.

[57] American composer Austin Wintory's Grammy-nominated and BAFTA-winning soundtrack for the 2012 PlayStation 3 video game Journey includes a serpent as one of the five soloists, played by Noah Gladstone.