Shuttle pipes are a type of

bagpipes Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, ...

which derive their name from the

drones Drone most commonly refers to: * Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg * Unmanned aerial vehicle * Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft * Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to: ...

used to produce the

harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. Howev ...

.Dr. Raphael Pazo: ''History of Shuttle Bagpipes'', http://www.californiabagpiper.com/id59.html, last updated on Thu February 23 09. Rather than the long tube-like drones of most bagpipes, shuttle pipes use a shuttle drone, a cylindrical chamber enclosing a series of folded drone tubes, each terminating in a slot covered by a sliding "shuttle" which can be adjusted to lengthen or shorten the distance traveled by air moving through the tube, thus flattening or sharpening the pitch of the note produced.Christopher Bayley: ''Shuttle Pipes'', http://www.bagpipeworld.co.uk/country/britain/shuttle.html, accessed May 26, 2012.Jerry Finegan: ''Scottish Smallpipes & Shuttle Pipes'', http://www.raleighbagpiper.com/Smallpipes.aspx, last updated 2011. Like other bagpipes, shuttle pipes have a

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. On more elaborate bagpipes, such as the Northumbrian bagpipes or th ...

which is used to play the

melody A melody (from Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combina ...

. Some modern versions use

Great Highland Bagpipe The Great Highland bagpipe ( gd, a' phìob mhòr "the great pipe") is a type of bagpipe native to Scotland, and the Scottish analogue to the Great Irish Warpipes. It has acquired widespread recognition through its usage in the British mil ...

fingering so that Highland bagpipers can easily play it.George O. Barton, Pipe Master: ''Shuttle Pipes History'', http://www.celticpiper.com/pipes/shuttle.html, accessed May 26, 2012. The bag of the modern shuttle pipe is either mouth-inflated through a blowpipe (or blowstick), or

bellows A bellows or pair of bellows is a device constructed to furnish a strong blast of air. The simplest type consists of a flexible bag comprising a pair of rigid boards with handles joined by flexible leather sides enclosing an approximately airtig ...

-inflated. Shuttle pipes appeared during the latter half of the 16th century, possibly in France, influenced by the

Rackett The rackett, raggett, cervelas, or sausage bassoon is a Renaissance-era double reed wind instrument, introduced late in the sixteenth century and already superseded by bassoons at the end of the seventeenth century. Description There are fo ...

, and were popular in the 17th and 18th centuries. The original form is generally believed to have been bellows-blown—a drawing of a set of bellows-blown shuttle pipes appears in a 1618 ''Syntagma Musicum'' (''Treatise of Music'') by composer and music theorist

Michael Praetorius Michael Praetorius (probably 28 September 1571 – 15 February 1621) was a German composer, organist, and music theorist. He was one of the most versatile composers of his age, being particularly significant in the development of musical forms b ...

(1571–1621), and a bellows-blown French form, the

musette de cour The musette de cour or baroque musette is a musical instrument of the bagpipe family. Visually, the musette is characterised by the short, cylindrical shuttle-drone and the two chalumeaux. Both the chanters and the drones have a cylindrical b ...

, is portrayed by Flemish baroque artist

Sir Anthony van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy. The seventh c ...

(1599–1641) in his early 1630s painting ''Portrait of François Langlois''.The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London: ''Portrait of François Langlois'', http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/anthony-van-dyck-portrait-of-francois-langlois, accessed May 26, 2012. The

was reputedly played by

King Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

of France (1638–1715). Interest in the shuttle pipes waned in the 19th century, and they were nearly forgotten by the early 20th century, but they were rediscovered in the 1980s, and they now fill a niche in popular and traditional music for a bagpipes sound where highland pipes would be overwhelming. walsh-shuttlepipe

References

External links

Musette de cour portrayed in van Dyck's '' Portrait of François Langlois '', early 1630s.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shuttle Pipes Bagpipes 16th-century introductions 16th-century establishments in France 16th century in music Early musical instruments

See also

References

External links