Brasses are wind instruments made of brass or other metal in which sound is produced through vibration of the lips, and pitch is controlled by lip pressure as well as adjustment of the length of the sound tube by means of valves, a slide, or changeable sections of pipe called crooks. Sub-families include trumpet, cornet, horn, trombone, and tuba. Before the 19th century, each sub-family was represented in ranges from soprano to bass (producing such instruments as the bass trumpet), but modern usage has rendered archaic all but one or two from each group.
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