"Medieval" Market Pipes

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About Bagpipes

Bagpipes are an ancient European musical instrument iconographically documented as early as in 1270, although written sources are even slightly older. Perhaps with the exception of 18th-century France, bagpipes were part of rather folk instruments, and as such they occur in one form or another in most European countries, and almost every European nation has "its own" bagpipes. Bagpipes have different numbers of chanters and drones; the drones can be directed backwards, sideways, or forwards; bags are made of whole animals or sewn from leather; they can be mouth blown or bellows driven; the chanter can have only a few tone holes, but also a complex key system; some instruments play single tune and others can play three-part polyphony or chord accompaniment; in bagpipes we can find all possible types of fingering. Only a few musical instruments can be found around the world in so many different variants.
Despite the great diversity of shapes and approaches, we can observe basically two main design principles.
The first group of instruments uses cylindrically drilled chanter and single reed. These instruments are found in the eastern half of Europe, as well as in Asia and North Africa. Such bagpipes are quieter and give smoother, clarinet-like sound. This includes, for example, Bohemian bock, bagpipes of the Balkan Peninsula or the Swedish Säckpipa. The second group works with a chanter drilled conically and fitted with a double reed. In this group we find bagpipes typical of Western Europe, including the well-known Great Highland bagpipes, French Cornemuse du center, Irish Uillean pipes, or the Spanish Gaita. The sound is typically louder and sharper. This group also includes medieval bagpipes from my workshop, which you will find on this page.
At the transition of these two types, there are instruments with cylindrical bore and double reed. These are characterized by a cultivated quiet tone. These include the Small Scottish bagpipe (Northumbrian bagpipe), French Musette de Cour, or Bzíkalky (Hümmelchen) from my workshop.




A. Baines, Woodwind instruments and their history, London 1967
A. Baines, Bagpipes, Oxford 1973
Pavel Kurfürst, Hudební nástroje, Praha 2002
Čeněk Zíbrt, Dudy staročeské i novější, Český lid 1924

Medieval Bagpipes from My Workshop

The term "medieval" bagpipes is largely inaccurate, it means bagpipes used by music groups playing different styles of medieval music.
What these instruments have in common is a loud conically drilled chanter with a double reed, the drones are usually over the shoulder, the bag is mouth-blown and they are intended for playing outdoors in markets, castles, city festivities or in medieval taverns.
Some real medieval bagpipes can be found on the page of historical reconstruction resp. of course their copies.
The design, the number of drones, and tuning are different and follow the specific requirements of the customer.
The most common are tunings in G major/ A minor (g1- a2 chanter, G/A, D/E, g/a drones) and C major/D minor (c2- d3 or c1-d2 chanter, drones C/D, G/A, c/d). But basically I am able to make an instrument of almost any scale and tuning.
The bells can be wooden or made of large cow horns.
I most often use maple wood for construction, but there is also a choice of pear, cherry, sour cherry, walnut, or hard woods such as boxwood, ebony, rosewood, etc.
Bagpipes can be decorated with a variety of techniques: etched and engraved brass rings and ferrules, brass, wooden and pewter inlays, figural and relief carving, or multicoloured dyeing.
The chanter can have a little finger or thumb key if required.
The range of the chanter is usually a ninth, but on request I can make the chanter drilled so that it overblows by another 3-5 tones (video). However, it will be a bit quieter.
I almost exclusively make plastic or carbon reeds in drones. Reeds in chanter can be made of plastic or cane.
Plastic reeds are easier to maintain ... they practically do not need to be adjusted and are usually lighter to blow than cane. It is therefore more suitable for beginners or occasional bagpipers.
Cane reeds are a bit heavier to blow, cyclic dampening and drying sometimes deforms the reed and it is therefore necessary to be able to adjust it properly before playing. For these worries, however, the cane reed is rewarded with a nicer tone and more stable tuning.
The bag can be leather or synthetic.
The price list is only indicative due to a number of material options, decorations, etc.

You can download a pdf about bagpipe maintenace and setup here.
You can see the full range of manufactured instruments in the galleries.
Other types of bagpipes can also be seen on the website of Hümmelchen and Historical reconstructions.

Pricelist

C2 bagpipe, chanter c2-d3, 1 drone: c/d 670 €
C2 bagpipe, chanter c2-d3, 2 drones: c/d, g/a 860 €
G1 bagpipe, chanter g1-a2, 1 drone: G/A 820 €
G1 bagpipe, chanter g1-a2, 2 drone:s G/A, d/e 1 050 €
G1 bagpipe, chanter g1-a2, 3 drones: G/A, d/e, g/a 1 240 €
G1 bagpipe, chanter g1-a2, 3 drone: kontra A, D/E, g/a 1 535 €
C1 bagpipe, chanter c1-d2, 1 drone: C/D 1 055 €
C1 bagpipe, chanter c1-d2, 2 drones: C/D, G/A 1390 €
C1 bagpipe, chanter c1-d2, 1 drone: c/d 815 €
Cowhorn bell +30 - 120 €/pc, depends on size
Carved head +270 €
Little finger key with fontanelle +72 €
Galerie
C2 bagpipe -  natural maple
C2 bagpipe -2 drones, carved head, cowhorn bells, stained maple

C2 bagpipe -1 drone, stained maple
C2 bagpipe - 2 drones, stained maple
C1 bagpipe - 1 drone, little finger key, fontanella, natural maple, brass rings
C1 bagpipe - 1 drone, little finger key, fontanella, stained maple, brass rings
G1 bagpipe - 1 drone, ebony/boxwood
G1 bagpipe - 2 drones, stained maple, pewter inlays, carved head
G1 bagpipe - 2 dronse, boxwood/stained maple, brass rings and ferrules
G1 bagpipe - 2 drones, stained maple
G1 bagpipe - 3 drones (incl. A contra), ebony/stained maple
G1 bagpipe - 2 drones, stained maple