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Posted on 20090602 by MG
According to this BBC article, an ancient instrument of Roman origin used, with increasing rarity, up until Bach's time, has recently been reconstructed by researchers from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the University of Edinburgh.
The Lituus looks like a long (2.4 m) wooden trumpet and produces a sound similar to that of the trumpet, but with pronounced vocal inflections.
Unfortunately, the video that was originally part of the article no longer exists. A slightly different version of the lituus, shorter thanks also to the final curvature, can be seen in this video. The one played here is of Etruscan origin.