The bagpipe belongs to which group. Types of bagpipes: Scottish Highland Bagpipes, Irish Uilleann Pipes, Gaita and others

Bagpipes- traditional musical brass reed instrument many peoples of Europe. In Scotland, the chief national instrument. It is a bag, which is usually made of cowhide, calf or goat skin, taken off entirely, in the form of a wineskin, sewn up tightly and equipped with a tube on top for filling the fur with air, with one, two or three playing reed tubes attached below, which serve to create polyphony.

Bagpipe device

A bagpipe, as a rule, consists of a bag (actually, a bag) and a set of various tubes (pipes) inserted into it.
Bagpipe elements are divided into:
basic (sounding)
Chanter- this is the pipe on which the melody is actually played. A chanter can range from a simple pipe to a complex device with valves and tuning mechanisms, like an Irish bagpipe (Uilleann).
Drones(also called bourdons) are trumpets that play a background bass (usually) sound that accompanies the main melody, which is also called a "bourdon sound". They can be from 1 to 4 pieces. In Ireland, they found a way to make a rather complex instrument out of them. Uilleann pipes (Irish bagpipe) has, in addition to the three main drones, three, in essence, chanter, called regulators (regulators). They are inserted into the same drain as the drones, but only make a sound when the special valves they are equipped with are opened.
Blower(blowpipe) - a tube through which a bagpipe is blown. As a rule, it is equipped with a valve that does not allow air to come out of the bag back, and on the other hand, a mouthpiece that is convenient for the player. If the bagpipe is with a dry air supply, then the blower is equipped with a fitting that is inserted directly into the frog (bellows).
The tubes are inserted into the bag using drains. These are wooden cylinders that are hermetically tied into a bag.
Secondary (replaceable)
Bag(bag) - a reservoir for air, in which all drains are tied. The bag is necessary to maintain constant pressure: air is evenly and continuously supplied to the reeds of the chanter and drones. In ancient times, it was made from the skins of domestic animals, moreover, removed with a “stocking”. Later, bags began to be sewn from specially dressed leather: sheep, cow and even elk. For greater tightness, the bags are impregnated with special compounds that prolong the service life of the bag.
Today, several firms in Europe, Canada and Australia make bags for various kinds bagpipes made of high-tech membrane fabrics (GoreTex), technologists did not stop at one type of bag, for greater convenience and “controllability” of the bag, they began to laminate the skin along with GoreTex. To maintain moisture-condensing separators inside the bag, such a bag is also equipped with a powerful zipper that can withstand high air pressure.
Frog(bellows) - furs, similar in design and appearance to blacksmith's. The frog is fastened with one strap to the piper's belt, and the other is fastened to the elbow. It has an inlet valve on the outside. On the inside there is a special socket for inserting a blower fitting. The frog provides a supply of dry air to the bag: due to the precision construction of the reeds of such instruments, humid air is absolutely unacceptable.
Carpet(cover) On top of the bag, it is customary to put on an elegant cover made of noble fabric, which is called a carpet. Drones are decorated with fringe and tassels (depending on tradition).
canes(reeds) - these details of the bagpipes are hidden from the public eye inside the drains. They are the elements that make the sound. Canes are inserted inside drones

History of the bagpipe

The most popular and widespread bagpipe in the world is undoubtedly Scottish: Great Highland Bagpipe. At the mention of the bagpipe, most people think of it. Many still continue to be convinced that the bagpipe was invented at all in Scotland.
However, the bagpipe as a whole, of course, is not specifically Scottish instrument.
Although early history bagpipes is still not entirely clear, it can be argued with a high degree of certainty that it originated in the East. Most likely, its predecessors were instruments such as oboe or horn. In many musical traditions, the bagpipe is still used in ensemble with these instruments. When and to whom it first occurred to attach inflatable fur to them remains a mystery. The first mentions of bagpipes in written sources are found in 400. BC. at Aristophanes.
In general, the very principle of the bagpipe - voice, accompanied by monotonous harmony - is undoubtedly one of the most ancient forms of music performance. One voice, even if it leads a wonderful, beautiful melody, is still one. If there is at least something that complements it, it listens much more vividly. A person has only 2 hands, and with at least some significant range of the instrument, they are both occupied. The bagpipe, on the other hand, makes it possible to connect one or more bourdon elements (permanent basses).
When exactly the bagpipe appeared on the shores of England and Ireland is still the subject of controversy. Someone assumes that the idea was brought by the Romans, someone finds more ancient ways. However, throughout the Middle Ages, the Scottish Bagpipe developed rather isolated and closed, remaining unchanged and a traditional instrument of the clans.
The expansion of the instrument began in the 12th and 13th centuries, when Europe began to experience a period of cultural upheaval associated with the Crusades and the accompanying expansion of cultural horizons and exchange. However, as before, the bagpipe remained a "folk" instrument. This is due to the fact that the instrument was originally designed to sound outdoors - the sound had to be loud.
The introduction of bagpipes into the premises began in the 17th and early 18th centuries, and at the same time, numerous variants of more chamber modifications of the Great Highland Bagpipe appeared.
Northumbrian smallpipes, Uilleann pipes, Scottish smallpipes and the French musette appeared during this period. Apparently in the same period, the Spanish Gaita (or Gaita gallega), which is the closest relative of the French Veuze, acquired its final form - combining the best qualities both Celtic and Eastern European bagpipes.
However, even in this form, the popularity of the bagpipe was short-lived. With the development of Western European music, following the path of complication, honing both musical technique, and instruments, the bagpipe gradually fell into disuse, as having too limited a range and functions.
This decline in interest continued from the early 19th century until the 20th century. At the beginning of the 20th century, there was an opinion that the Great Highland Bagpipe was a barbaric instrument, it is not clear how it survived to this day.
However, in Scotland, no one thought to abandon the national instrument and the tradition of performing and making bagpipes was passed down from generation to generation. This served well in those days when, with the growth of the British Empire, the English army began to actively raise Scottish regiments. The bagpipe, of course, was an indispensable attribute of each such division and, in this form, spread throughout the world.

And during the first and second world wars, when the Scottish regiments had already acquired an excellent reputation, a large number of pipers were trained especially for them.

This time also coincided with the rise in popularity of many national traditional forms of bagpipes in Europe.
Today, the bagpipe is the official instrument of military bands and ceremonies for English-speaking countries. In addition, with the growing interest in the style of "folk" and national music and dance, many types of bagpipes became popular again. They play again at weddings and dance parties Europe, and the traditions of their manufacture are carefully reconstructed. In the UK, Ireland, Spain, the traditional Pipe Bands have been revived - small orchestras of national instruments with bagpipes in the main composition.
However, the development of the bagpipe did not freeze at the level of the 19th century - at this moment several variants of electronic bagpipes have been developed. There are specialized keyboard MIDI bagpipes, some of which allow you to switch the sound of several different types of bagpipes.

A bagpipe is a folk wind musical instrument made of several tubes embedded in a leather bag or bubble through which air is blown.

Bagpipes is a traditional musical wind instrument of many peoples of Europe and Asia.

The bagpipe is an air reservoir, which is usually made of calf or goat skin, taken off entirely, in the form of a wineskin, sewn up tightly and equipped with a tube on top for filling the fur with air, with one, two or three playing reed tubes attached below, which serve to create polyphony.

One of these three pipes with side holes (chanter) is used to play a melody, and the other two (bourdons) are bass pipes, which are tuned together in a clean fifth. Bourdon emphasizes the skeleton of the octave mode (modal scale), on the basis of which the melody is composed. The pitch of the bourdon pipes can be changed using the pistons they contain.

A bagpipe bag is most often made of leather, but bags made of synthetic materials are sometimes found.

Some bagpipes are designed in such a way that they are not inflated by the mouth, but by the bellows for pumping air, which is set in motion. right hand. Such bagpipes include, for example, the Uilleann Bagpipe, an Irish bagpipe.

Scottish bagpipes exist and have their own characteristics, as well as Irish, Italian and Spanish, French, Mordovian, Armenian, Chuvash, Belarusian ... The Lithuanians called the bagpipe "Labanora Duda", "Dudmaishis". In Georgia, the bagpipe was called Stviri or Gudastviri. She didn't have bourdon pipes. There were two melodic pipes. The Estonian bagpipe is called Torupill. Her bag was made of goat skin. The number of tubes is from three to five.

Scottish bagpipe - English. Scotch bag-pipe - "Scottish pipe bag". This instrument was so popular that even angels were depicted playing the bagpipes. In Italy, it is customary to play the piffaro (the Italian name for this instrument) on the feast of the Nativity in front of the image of the Virgin Mary with the Child. Therefore, in the pictures Italian painters on the theme of "The Adoration of the Shepherds" one can also see the playing of these instruments.

The French bagpipe is called the musette. Her fur was made mainly from fabric.

The image of the bagpipe is present in the scenes of peasant holidays in the paintings of German, Dutch and Flemish artists XVI-XVII centuries (Fig. 636, 637). In Renaissance painting on secular subjects, the bagpipe has phallic symbolism. A similar, but somewhat softened, veiled meaning was acquired by the musette in the everyday life of the French court of the 17th-18th centuries. Characters of paintings in the genre of "Gallant festivities" (French "Fêtes galantes") of the era french styles Regencies and Rococo are played on the Musette.

Today, the bagpipe remains, perhaps, only in the national orchestras of Scotland and Ireland. The sound of the bagpipe is so loud and shrill that it is not recommended to play it for more than half an hour a day. :-)

Bagpipes in Russia

The bagpipe was a very popular folk instrument in Russia. It was made from mutton or cowhide (hence the name of this musical instrument) raw skin, on top there was a tube for pumping air, on the bottom - two bass pipes, creating a monotonous background, and a third small pipe with holes, with which they played the main melody.

Another version of the origin of the name. In the 9th-11th centuries, the composition Kievan Rus Volyn tribes were included. Due to the fact that the name of the tribe is very similar to the name of the instrument, some researchers conclude that the instrument got its name from the name of this Volyn tribe.

The bagpipes were ignored by the highest circles of the world: its melody was considered inharmonious, inexpressive and monotonous, it was usually considered a low and common folk instrument. Therefore, during the 19th century, the bagpipe was gradually replaced by more complex wind instruments such as accordion and button accordion.

How to play the bagpipes

The bag is filled with air through the valve tube. special device- furs or just mouth. Then the valve closes, and the air cannot go back through this tube.

Pressing the bag with his hand, the musician forces the air out of it into bourbons - special tubes with tongues or canes. They oscillate and certain sounds are produced.

A bagpipe usually contains between one and four bourbons. They create the background music.

When it comes to Scotland, men in plaid woolen skirts, gloomy mountains, moorlands, piercing icy winds, strong whiskey and, of course, loud and resonant bagpipes immediately come to mind. It irritates some, disturbs and brings anxiety to the soul, others its sounds remind of something elusive, but very close, dear. For the Scots themselves, the sound of the bagpipe is an echo of history, the past, a connection with the roots that is not lost over the centuries, but becomes stronger with each new generation. For a simple man in the street, one thing is invariable - the Scottish bagpipe leaves no one indifferent.

Scottish bagpipe

The bagpipe is Scotland's most popular and iconic element. Although it is not a native Scottish musical instrument (the bagpipe was brought by the Vikings), it was this “pipe bag” that glorified Scotland on a par with the kilt.

Like all Scottish musical instruments, the bagpipe is made from scrap materials. Most often it is made from goat or turned inside out. A kind of bag is made of leather, which is tightly sewn up with five tubes inserted into it. Air is supplied through one upper bagpipe. On the bottom are holes for changing sounds. The top three make these same sounds.

The sound of the bagpipe is unlike any other musical instrument. Maybe that's what makes it so unique.

In the old days, each clan had its own piper, who accompanied all the holidays, events and campaigns of the leader.

Medieval Scottish pipers reproduced lingering melodies with a hardly perceptible form. This kind musical works still bears the name Piobaireachd and today is a textbook written specifically for the Scottish bagpipes.

Through the ages

Not everyone knows, but Scottish musical instruments are not limited to one bagpipe. This tool is only more popular, advertised and more often used on national holidays. It is logical to assume that the population of this region also invented other musical instruments that not only raised morale during the battle, but also had signal and entertainment properties.

Carnyx

A fairly rare Scottish folk musical instrument is the carnyx. Now, unfortunately, they don't play it. Last time he sang almost 2000 years ago. Now the exhibits found by archaeologists are stored in national museum Scotland. Carnyx, like bagpipes, has a very melodic sound. But if the bagpipe sometimes irritates with its "squeakiness", then the carnyx has a very gentle, velvety sound. It is just as sad, but it has the sound of the wind that lives in the Highland mountains, the smell of a fire and the taste of the salty northern sea. Just like the bagpipe, the carnyx was made from natural materials, or rather from a deer antler. Its main purpose was to give a combat signal.

whistle

Another Scottish wind instrument is the whistle. In appearance, and in its sound, it is more like a flute. The time frame of its origin is not exactly known. It seemed like he had always been there. Unlike the carnyx, the whistle is still used today. He is especially loved in Irish folk art. The whistle is a very distinctive Scottish musical instrument. Its name in translation means "tin whistle".

What unites the brass of Scotland?

All Scottish musical instruments have an unusual sound magic. The famous bourdon (stretching) tone was formed as a result of the use of natural materials. And the age-old transformation appearance, and the material led to the fact that, say, the same bagpipe became so native to the Scottish population that over the past 300 years not a single military parade or any significant event took place without it.

Scottish musical instruments, among which the bagpipe occupies a dominant position, are distinguished by their simplicity and melodic sound. In addition, they all had a practical purpose. They transmitted signals, raised morale, or simply rejoiced in moments of despair.

Technical extraction of sound

One of the tubes (chanter) has side holes and is used to play a melody, and the other two (bourdons) are bass, which are tuned to a clean fifth. Bourdon emphasizes the skeleton of the octave mode (modal scale), on the basis of which the melody is composed. The pitch of the bourdon pipes can be changed by means of the pistons in them.

Typology and differences

Some bagpipes are designed in such a way that they are not inflated by the mouth, but by a bellows for pumping air, which is set in motion by the right hand. These bagpipes include the Uilleann Bagpipe, an Irish bagpipe.

Kazakh bagpipe

The Kazakh national instrument is called Zhelbuaz, outwardly it resembles a leather waterskin, it is made from goat skin. The neck of the zhelbuaz is closed with a special plug. In order for the instrument to be worn around the neck, a strong leather cord is attached to it. AT recent times the instrument is used in concerts of Kazakh national orchestras and folklore ensembles. Found during archaeological excavations, kept in the Museum of National Musical Instruments named after Ykylas Dukenov. A stable temperature is maintained. To prevent the moth from eating the exhibit, dust is regularly wiped off with special gauze. famous composer Nurgisa Tlendiev used zhelbuaz for the first time in the concerts of the Otrar Sazy orchestra.

Armenian bagpipe

Irish bagpipe

It consists of a double reed chanter like the oboe, one or two bass bourdons with single reeds like the clarinet. The chanter has an internal tapered channel, seven finger holes and reverse side hole for thumb left hand. In addition, it is equipped with three non-closable holes located in its lower part on the bell.

Italian bagpipe

The bagpipes of this region can be divided into 2 types - northern Italian, similar in design to French and Spanish instruments, and southern Italian, known under the common name zamponia(Italian zampogna) and distinguished by two melodic pipes in a common drain with two bourdon pipes. Traditionally, zamponya is used as an accompaniment. chiaramelle(ital. ciaramella) - a small oboe-like instrument.

Mari bagpipe

Mari bagpipe ( shuvyr, shuvyr, shuvyur, shuvyur, shubber). It consists of fur (animal bladder) and 3 tubes - 1 for air injection and 2 play, melodic, located in a wooden box and having a common cow horn bell. Their range is third and fifth, the number of playing holes: 2 and 4 (it is possible to perform 2-voice melodies). The sound range is diatonic. The sound is strong, sharp, buzzing timbre. Known since antiquity. Used as an accompaniment folk songs, dance melodies. Often used with the Mari drum (tumyr).

Mordovian bagpipe

Russian bagpipe

The bagpipe was once a very popular folk musical instrument in Russia. It was made of raw sheepskin or cowhide, on top there was a tube for pumping air, on the bottom - two bass pipes, creating a monotonous background, and a third small pipe with holes, with which they played the main melody. The bagpipe was ignored by the upper circles of society, since its melody was considered inharmonious, inexpressive and monotonous, it was usually considered a "low", folk instrument. Therefore, during the 19th century, the bagpipe was gradually replaced by more complex wind instruments such as accordion and button accordion.

Information about it musical instrument there are quite extensive in the iconographic and written monuments of the culture of the Russian people, the period from the 16th century to the 19th century. The earliest image is in the Radzivilov Chronicle (XV century) on the miniature “Game of the Vyatichi Slavs”.

Ukrainian bagpipe

In Ukraine, the bagpipe has the name "goat" - apparently, for the characteristic sound and the production of goat skin. Moreover, the instrument is also given an external resemblance to an animal: they are covered with a goat skin, a clay goat head is attached, and the pipes are stylized under legs with hooves. The goat was, in particular, immutable attribute festivities and carols. There are bagpipes with a goat's head, in almost all Carpathian regions - Slovak, Polish, Czech, Lemko, Bukovina - there is traditionally a goat's head, wooden, with horns.

french bagpipes

In France, there are many types of bagpipes - this is due to the great variety musical traditions regions of the country. Here are just a few of them:

• Central French bagpipe ( musette du center, Cornemuse du Berry), common in the areas of Berry and Bourbonnais. It is a two-burdon instrument. Bourdons - large and small, the small one is located from the bottom, near the chanter, tuned to each other in an octave. The cane of the chanter is double, the bourdon ones are single; air is forced through the blower. The scale is chromatic, the range is 1.5 octaves, the fingering is semi-closed. There are later versions of this instrument with 3 bourdons and bellows for blowing air. Traditionally used in duet with a lyre.
• Cabretta (French: chabrette, Auversk. occitane : cabreta) - a single-burdon bagpipe of the elbow type, which appeared in XIX century among the Parisian Auvergne and quickly spread in the province of Auvergne itself and in the surrounding regions of the Center of France, practically displacing local, more archaic types of instrument, for example, the Limousin chabrette ( chabreta limousina).
• Bodega (Occitan: bodega) - bagpipes with goatskin fur, a blower and one bourdon, common in the southern Occitan-speaking departments of France.
• Musette de Cours musette de cour) - "salon" bagpipe, widely used in XVII-XVIII centuries in court baroque music. This type of bagpipe is distinguished by two playing pipes, a bourdon barrel and a bellows for blowing air.

Chuvash bagpipe

Shapar(scrape, shybyr, bubble). It consists of a bag (bulb of a bull or a cow), a bone or metal tube for air injection and 2 tin melodic tubes mounted on a wooden bed. They put on a bell made of cow horn and sometimes an additional one made of birch bark. The left tube has 2-3, the right tube has 3-4 playing holes (it has 3-7 small tuning holes at the bottom). Canes are usually single, although in the Tetyush region (Tatarstan) double ones are also used. The scales are very different using both chromatic and diatonic intervals.

Sarnay. Unlike the shapar, the bag is not made from a bladder, but from calf or goat skin. It has a blower, 2 bourdons (most often tuned in fifths) and one melody tube with 6 playing holes and finger grooves. All tubes are wooden. Single reeds, made of goose feather or reed. The scale is usually diatonic, but there are also omissions of steps, increased or decreased octaves, etc. They usually play while sitting, loudly beating the rhythm with their feet.

Scottish bagpipe

The Scottish bagpipe has taken part in all the military campaigns of the British Army over the past 300 years. In the Battle of Waterloo in Belgium, which took place on June 18, 1815, during a counter-attack on the corps of the French Imperial Marshal Davout, a patriotic march of the 52nd Infantry Brigade of Scottish Riflemen "Scotland The Brave" (eng. "Scotland The Brave") was first performed on the Scottish bagpipe , Scottish (Gaelic) "Alba an Aigh"), which later became unofficial anthem Scotland.

Estonian bagpipe

Estonian bagpipe (Est. torupill) made from the stomach or Bladder large animal such as fur seal, has one, two or (rarely) three bourdon pipes, a flute as a voice pipe, and an additional pipe for blowing air.

Service and Consumables

A special composition (bag seasoning, bagpipe seasoning) is placed in the bag, the purpose of which is not only to prevent air leakage from the bag. It serves as a covering that retains air but releases water. A bag made of solid rubber (found on unplayable bagpipes, wall souvenirs that deceive tourists) would completely fill with water in half an hour of play

What does your imagination draw for you when you hear the sounds of bagpipes? Most often, this tool is associated with us with big man in a kilt, a great lover of adhesive tape, with an incomprehensible headdress. In general, with the classic Scot. It may come as a surprise to some that the bagpipe is not a Scottish instrument at all! In fact, there are a large number of varieties of this instrument, although, undoubtedly, the most popular today is the Scottish bagpipe called the Great Highland Bagpipe.

It is believed that the history of the bagpipe originates in the East. Obviously, the wind instruments, the forerunners of the oboe or horn, were the prototype of this instrument. Many musicians in their works combine the sounds of bagpipes with these instruments. The first mention of the bagpipe dates back to 400 BC. in the writings of Aristophanes. However, there is no information about who exactly decided to add fur to wind instruments. The bagpipe significantly diversified the sound of melodies, since, unlike ordinary similar instruments, it is characterized by bourdon polyphony.

Bagpipes are made from cowhide, calf or goat skin. It is completely removed from the animal, sewn together in the form of a wineskin, to which a tube is attached to fill the furs with air. At the bottom, one or more tubes are attached, which create a peculiar sound.

There is still no unequivocal opinion about when and how the bagpipe appeared in England. Some believe that the Romans brought it. The Scottish bagpipe is quite different from the English or Irish bagpipe. It is equipped with an additional blowpipe with eight playing holes, as well as a tube through which air is blown. The musician, playing the Scottish bagpipe, blows into one tube, after which he presses on it with his elbow to move the air into another that makes sounds. Interestingly, the Scots fell in love with the bagpipe so much that it became a family instrument, and each family performed its own unique melodies and in a peculiar manner. By the color of the fabric with which it was trimmed, it was possible to determine its belonging to one or another owner.

In the XII-XIII centuries, at the height of the Crusades, the bagpipe became more and more famous and in European countries. In general, the geography of distribution of this tool is quite extensive. The bagpipe was an outdoor instrument, and only from the 17th century could its sound be heard indoors.

But in Russia, the bagpipe did not take root, no matter how folk instrument, not among higher strata society. Her sound was considered boring and inexpressive, with which, in fact, it is difficult to disagree. In the 19th century, the bagpipe was replaced by more complex instruments - the accordion and button accordion, which are still loved by the Russian people today.

Almost every country has its own variation of the bagpipe. different peoples modified the instrument in their own way, adding certain elements or making it from other materials. There is a version of the bagpipe in Italy, France, Belarus, Spain, Armenia, Ukraine, Mordovia and Chuvashia. In the latter, for example, a bladder of a cow or a bull was used for manufacturing, and the pipes were made of bones or metal.

But, probably, in no other country did the bagpipe have such significant historical and cultural significance as in Scotland, where it has become a symbol of unity and power. During the battles, the sounds of the instrument raised the morale of the Scots, which, by the way, subsequently served as the reason for its ban in the British Kingdom, however, only for a while.

Historically, the bagpipe has become an exclusively male instrument, because to play it, you need to have very strong and developed lungs. Pipers are highly respected in Scotland as they represent the national spirit. Even today, not a single holiday in Scotland can do without a bagpipe.