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The Bagpipe
The Bagpipe
The Bagpipe
Bagpipe
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Bagpipes have always been made in many shapes and sizes, and have been played
throughout Europe from before the Norman Conquest until the present day.
Medieval pipes usually had a single drone - see contemporary illustrations of
Chaucer's Canterbury Tales for English single-drone pipes. Around 1400 (give or
take 50 years), most shepherd-style pipes acquired a second drone. A third drone is
added about after 1550. See paintings by Brueghel and the illustrations in
Praetorius' Syntagma Musicum. The Renaissance also saw the advent of small, quiet
chamber pipes such as Praetorius' Hummelchen or the French shuttle-drone
models, some blown with bellows under the arm rather than with the mouth.
The construction of the bagpipe allows a continuous supply of air to be maintained.
By squeezing the bag with his left hand while a breath is taken, the flow of air can be
kept up in both the drone pipes and chanter. Other features of this instrument are
the mouthpipe and the double reed of the chanter and drone. The mouthpipe
contains a round piece of leather hinged onto the bag end which acts as a one way
valve. As the player blows air in, the flap opens; when he stops blowing the air
pressure within the bag forces the flap shut. The chanter has seven finger holes and
a thumb hole, and has a usual range of an octave and one note.
The bagpipe is ideal for solo dances and monophonic music. It has been mentioned
for use in polyphony, but if so, problems would arise. The drone would preclude the
possibility of any change of mode, and the continuous sound would prohibit
observance of rests.
Additional Resources:
Aron Garceau's Bagpipe Iconography page
Bill Gority's Bagpiping Page
Andrew Lenz's Bagpipe Journey
The Universe of Bagpipes with photos, sounds,
and links
Bagpiper.com
RootsWorld Bagpipes of the World
Ewan Macpherson's Bagpipe Page
La cornemuse en Europe et en France
Scottish National Piping Centre
the Bagpipe Society
Tone Czar Bagpipes
David Daye's Bagpipe page
M. Praetorius: Syntagma musicum (Wolfenbuttel,
1619/r1958)
M. Mersenne: Harmonie universelle (Paris,
1636/r1963)
G. H. Askew: 'The Bag-pipe in Early Britain',
Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, (1940)
E. Winternitz: 'Bagpipes for the Lord',
Metropolitan Musium of Art Bulletin, (1958)
A. Baines: Bagpipes (Oxford, 1960)
H. Hickmann: Agyptien, Musikgeschichte in
Bildern, (Leipzig, 1961)
F. Crane: Extant Medieval Musical Instruments: a
Engraving from
Musica instrumentalis
by Martin Agricola