The Northumbrian Smallpipes
The Northumbrian smallpipes (also known as the Northumbrian pipes) are bellows-blown bagpipes from the North East of England. It consists of one chanter (generally with keys) and usually four drones.
The cylindric-bored chanter has a number of metal keys, most commonly seven, but chanters with a two octave range can be made which require seventeen keys, all played with either the right hand thumb or left hand pinkie. There is no overblowing to get this two octave range, due to the cylindrical bore; the keys are therefore integral, along with the length of the chanter, to obtaining the two octaves.
The Northumbrian smallpipe's chanter having a completely closed end, combined with the unusually tight fingering style (each note is played by lifting only one finger or opening one key) means that traditional Northumbrian piping is staccato in style.
Dim lights Embed Embed this video on your site
- Horse-head fiddle - Extraordinary virtuosity from the musician play...
…is an international forum for untranslatable words and phrases from around the world. In reality no word is untranslatable, but some words take a lot to explain. These words can tell us a lot about cultural values and priorities. |