High school marching bands across Southern California–from Los Angeles to Manhattan Beach–have had their tubas stolen, and their music directors think they know why. There’s a banda bandit on the loose in Los Angeles. "The band is driven by the tuba and the drummer," Bill Roper, a professional tuba player explains to the [Associated Press.](http://www.freep.com/usatoday/article/53421518?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Metro%20Detroit|s) "The tuba serves the time function and the bass function, and the rest of the band can’t exist without that."