Hélicon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the musical instrument. For other uses of "helicon", see Helicon (disambiguation).
The hélicon is a brass musical instrument in the tuba family.
It is the predecessor of the sousaphone, and the two have a similar shape and are both typically worn around the upperbody. A distinguishing characteristic of the hélicon is a smaller diameter in the coiled chamber which forms the body of the instrument.
The instrument is very popular in central and eastern Europe and is a common choice for military fanfare.