A type of valve used in musical (brass) insturments. French Horns have 3 or 4, Tennor Trombones may have one, (modern) Bass Trombones 1 or 2, and Tubas, when rotary valves are used, 3 to 5.

Please excuse the crudeness of the following ASCII Art, but I think that as bad as it is, its better then trying to explain the operation in words:

(open/unengaged)
    | /\ |        |   |
    | |  |        |   |
    | |  \   __   |   |
    \     \_/##\_/    /
    /#     ######    #\
   /# /\    ####      #\
  |##  |     ##       ##|
  |##  |     ##       ##|
   \#  |    ####      #/
    \# |   ######    #/_____
    /  /  / \##/ \
   /     /        \_________
   | /\ |
   |  | |
   |  | |

(closed/engaged)
    | /\ |        | |  |
    |  | |        | |  |
    |  | \   __   | \/ |
    \  \  \_/  \_/    /
    /#  \   /____    #\
   /###     \       ###\
  |#####################|
  |#####################|
   \###  _____\      ###/
    \#  /  _  / _     #/_____
    /     / \__/ \ \_____\
   /     /        \______/__
   | /\ |
   |  | |
   |  | |


Yes, those are supposed to be circles.

The exact angle/arrangement of the tubing varries, though it would be unusual if the main tube was not in straight alignment. This allows for the least restriction most of the time.

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