Music & Membership Links Music-making
Music & Membership
Links Music-making
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The American Pipers Guild, founded in 1991, is an organization formed to promote the making and playing of bamboo pipes. |
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Concert August 14, 2009, 12 noon - 1 p.m.The American Pipers Guild will give a concert at noontime on August 14, 2009 in Lexington, MA at the First Parish Church (the white church on the Battle Green in the center of Lexington). Guild members, playing bamboo pipes they made. Pipe-Making Course in England, July 2006The British Pipers’ Guild will be offering a course for makers and players of bamboo pipes at the University of Essex in Colchester, England from July 25th to August 3rd, 2006. A variety of classes and activities will include pipe-making, playing at different levels with music from many different countries in large and small groups, concerts, pedagogy for teachers, singing, dancing, decoration, and preparation of new works composed especially for the occasion to be premiered in a final concert. Each participating country will present a concert of its own music. Outings to explore the region are also offered. For more information please see pipersguild.org Where Did Pipes Originate?A British music teacher, Margaret James, started making these in the 1920's, based on an old goatherd's pipe. During the last century their popularity gradually spread to different countries - Austria, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland - where groups and guilds, similar to medieval guilds, were formed to make and play pipes. Now there are big international courses involving all those countries every few years where the camaraderie is remarkable. What are Bamboo Pipes?Bamboo pipes are simple musical instruments with cork used for the embouchure, resembling recorders but with a sweeter sound. They are not sold but must be made by the players themselves, under the guidance of a master teacher. They come in sopranino, soprano, alto , tenor, bass, quart bass and great bass sizes, alternating between G and D as the fundamental tone. Their range is an octave and a third to an octave and a sixth, depending on the type of instrument. They are carefully tuned so they can be played with a variety of other instruments. Why Make One?There is something unique about creating one's own sound, as part of a high-quality musical instrument, and subsequently playing with others who have done the same. One learns more about acoustics and the production of sound than from buying a ready-made instrument. In addition, it brings you into contact with a special international movement of pipe makers and players. |
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Last update on 04/02/09 |
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