Pibgorn (instrument) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The pibgorn is a Welsh

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

species of idioglot reed

Reed (instrument)

A reed is a thin strip of material which vibrates to produce a sound on a musical instrument. The reeds of most Woodwind instruments are made from Arundo donax or synthetic material; tuned reeds are made of metal or synthetics.-Single reeds:Single reeds are used on the mouthpieces of clarinets...

aerophone

Aerophone

An aerophone is any musical instrument which produces sound primarily by causing a body of air to vibrate, without the use of strings or membranes, and without the vibration of the instrument itself adding considerably to the sound...

. The name translates literally as "pipe-horn". It is also historically known as cornicyll. It utilises a single reed

Single-reed instrument

A single-reed instrument is a woodwind instrument that uses only one reed to produce sound. Examples include clarinets, saxophones, and some bagpipes. In a single-reed instrument, the reed is attached to a mouthpiece that is blown into to vibrate the reed, producing the sound...

(Welsh: "cal", or "calaf"), cut from elder

Elderberry

Sambucus is a genus of between 5 and 30 species of shrubs or small trees in the moschatel family, Adoxaceae. It was formerly placed in the honeysuckle family, Caprifoliaceae, but was reclassified due to genetic evidence...

(Sambucus nigra) or reed (Arundo fragmites), like that found in the drone

Drone (music)

In music, a drone is a harmonic or monophonic effect or accompaniment where a note or chord is continuously sounded throughout most or all of a piece. The word drone is also used to refer to any part of a musical instrument that is just used to produce such an effect.-A musical effect:A drone...

of a bagpipe, being the ancestor of the modern clarinet

Clarinet

The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...

reed. The single chambered body of the elder pipe has a naturally occurring parallel bore

Chanter

The chanter is the part of the bagpipe upon which the player creates the melody. It consists of a number of finger-holes, and in its simpler forms looks similar to a recorder...

, into which are drilled six small finger-holes and a thumb-hole giving a diatonic compass of an octave. The body of the instrument is traditionally carved from a single piece of wood or bone. Playable, extant historical examples in the Museum of Welsh Life have bodies cut and shaped of elder. Another, unplayable instrument at the Museum, possibly of a later date, is made from the leg bone of an unspecified ungulate

Ungulate

Ungulates are several groups of mammals, most of which use the tips of their toes, usually hoofed, to sustain their whole body weight while moving. They make up several orders of mammals, of which six to eight survive...

. Contemporary instruments are turned and bored from a variety of fruitwoods, or exotic hardwoods; or turned from, or moulded in plastics. The reed is protected by a reed-cap or stock of cow-horn. The bell is shaped from a section of cow-horn which serves to amplify the sound. The pibgorn may be attached to a bag, with the additional possibility of a drone; or played directly with the mouth via the reed-cap.
A double-pipe (having two parallel chanters both ending in cow-horn, with a common stock) of unknown provenance, dated 1701 held by the Museum of Welsh Life has caused some controversy as to its possible Welsh or Mediterranean origin.

History

The Pipes in Wales, of which the pibgorn is a class, are mentioned in the laws of Hywel Dda

Hywel Dda

Hywel Dda , was the well-thought-of king of Deheubarth in south-west Wales, who eventually came to rule Wales from Prestatyn to Pembroke. As a descendant of Rhodri Mawr, through his father Cadell, Hywel was a member of the Dinefwr branch of the dynasty and is also named Hywel ap Cadell...

(died 949–50) - the earliest transcription of which dates from 1250 - which specify that "the King should recognise the status of a Pencerdd (the second in importance of the three court musicians, namely; Bardd Teulu, Pencerdd and Cerddor) in his service by giving him an appropriate instrument - either Harp

Harp

The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...

, Crwth

Crwth

The crwth is an archaic stringed musical instrument, associated particularly with Welsh music, once widely-played in Europe.-Origin of the name:...

or Pipes." In modern Welsh orthography these three instruments are called Telyn, Crwth a Phibau". Peniarth 20 (Brut y Tywysogion

Brut y Tywysogion

Brut y Tywysogion is one of the most important primary sources for Welsh history. It is an annalistic chronicle that serves as a continuation of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae. Brut y Tywysogion has survived as several Welsh translations of an original Latin version, which has...

) c 1330, states that there are three types of wind instrument: "Organ, a Phibeu a Cherd y got", "Organ, and Pipes and Bag music".

However, the instrument itself is older than these references, and is part of a pattern of distribution of similar idioglot reedpipes, hornpipes

Hornpipe (musical instrument)

The hornpipe can refer to a specific instrument or a class of woodwind instruments consisting of a single reed, a small diameter melody pipe with finger holes and a bell traditionally made from animal horn...

and bag-hornpipes that includes the "Old British pibcorn or hornpipe" alboka

Alboka

The alboka is a double hornpipe or clarinet native to the Basque Country.Although the alboka is a woodwind instrument, its name is derived from the Arabic "al-bûq"...

, arghul

Arghul

The arghul , also spelled argul, arghoul, arghool, argol, or yarghul , is a traditional Arabic musical instrument...

, boha

Boha

The boha is a type of bagpipe native to the Landes and Gascony regions of southwestern France....

and others. .(See table below)

Medieval iconography of the pibgorn can be seen in one of the stained glass

Stained glass

The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...

windowshttp://www.flickr.com/photos/47859152@N05/4450708387/ of Beauchamp Chantry, the Collegiate Church

Local church

A local church is a Christian congregation of members and clergy.Local church may also refer to:* Local churches , a Christian group based on the teachings of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, and associated with the Living Stream Ministry publishing house.* Parish church, a local church united with...

of St Mary, Warwick

Warwick

Warwick is the county town of Warwickshire, England. The town lies upon the River Avon, south of Coventry and just west of Leamington Spa and Whitnash with which it is conjoined. As of the 2001 United Kingdom census, it had a population of 23,350...

Contemporary use

The pibgorn, alongside instruments such as the crwth

Crwth

The crwth is an archaic stringed musical instrument, associated particularly with Welsh music, once widely-played in Europe.-Origin of the name:...

, bagpipes, and the triple harp

Triple Harp

The triple harp, often referred to as the Welsh triple harp , is a type of harp employing three rows of strings instead of the more common single row...

, has recently witnessed a resurgence in popularity as part of a general revival of interest in Welsh folk music.

Some modern instruments play a tempered scale to accommodate fixed pitch instruments such as guitar or keyboard, and are commonly pitched in D. Historical instruments play in a variety of just scales and pitch.

Contemporary pibgorn makers in Wales include Jonathan Shorland, John Tose, John Glennydd, Keith Lewis, Gafin Morgan, and Gerard KilBride. In Scotland, Julian Goodacre

Julian Goodacre

Julian Goodacre is a maker and researcher of the historical bagpipes of the British Isles, based in Peebles, Scotland. Goodacre has particularly specialised in reviving the extinct English bagpipes, Welsh bagpipes, and Cornish bagpipes. -References:...

(double-hornpipe). In the United States; Alan Keith, Chad Fross.

Contemporary repertoire makes use of folksong and Hymn tunes adapted to the instrument, manuscript and printed collections of dance music that may be adapted to fit the instrument's compass of an octave, as well as the general oral tradition.

Bands like Fernhill

Fernhill (band)

Fernhill is a Welsh folk band, formed in 1996. They have been described by music critic and journalist Colin Irwin, as "highly regarded, innovative cultural ambassadors for Wales and its folk music, having toured in over 20 countries in four continents"...

, Mordekkers, Taran, Saith Rhyfeddod, Rigantona, Carreg Lafar

Carreg Lafar

Carreg Lafar is a traditional Welsh band.It was formed in Cardiff in 1994 with Antwn Owen Hicks, James Rourke, Rhian Evan Jones, Linda Owen Jones and Simon O'Shea. Carreg Lafar literally means a "speaking stone", or "echo stone"....

, Crasdant, Calennig, and Aberjaber have incorporated the instrument in their line-up in mixed consort. In the United States, bands Oceans Apart and Moch Pryderi have done the same.

Contemporary players of the instrument in Wales include Jonathan Shorland, Ceri Rhys Matthews

Ceri Rhys Matthews

Ceri Rhys Matthews is a Welsh traditional musician, record producer, and teacher.-Biography:Matthews was born in Swansea, Wales...

, Stephen Rees, Andy McLaughlin, Hefin Wyn Jones, Patrick Rimes, Huw Roberts, Jem Hammond, Gavin Morgan, Antwn Owen Hicks, Rhodri Smith, Peni Ediker, Eva Ryan, Idris Morris Jones, Gerard KilBride, Mick Tems and Peter Stacey. Players in the United States include John Good, Bill Reese, and Chad Fross.

Use of pibgorn, bagpipe and bag-hornpipes with electronic and digital dance music has been seen in recent years, initially with Ceri Rhys Matthews collaborating with johnny r of r-bennig on a dance mix called "Y bibgorn aur" in 1992; later in the nineties with hip-hop outfit Y Tystion on their album "Shrug off ya complex, Y taffi triog"; Lews Tewns' recording for "PUP Project"; and "Wepun EX Project". The Mordekkers have used Drum and Bass mixes with pipe music in a live context for a number of years playing at British festivals. More recently Celtech and Taran have also combined pibgorn and pipes with Drum and Bass, Dub, and House styles.

Ceri Rhys Matthews has recorded an album of music devoted solely to traditional music on unaccompanied pibgorn and drone called "Pibddawns"

External links

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