For those moments when a bombarde sounds too discreet and retiring, there is a Turkish instrument (the name of which I have mercifully forgotten) which is a sort of sopranino bombarde. More decibels per gram than anything not using chemical explosives. I bought one in Istanbul a few years ago - gave it to a friend who lives in a house with six-foot-thick stone walls and a 400-year history of successfully withstanding armed attack by irate neighbours.