The bagpipe is wind and bellows tool. It is found in almost all folklore areas. After the kavala and gudukulka, the bagpipe occupies a worthy place in terms of popularity. It is known even in the ancient culture of Asian countries. Today it is found in almost all European nations.
There are three types of bagpipes in Bulgaria - Kaba, Jura and Macedonian. The Kaba bagpipe is characteristic only of the Rhodope Mountains. It has a soft sound and a deep tone. The bagpipe of the Rodobic bagpipe is curved at the lower end, which is actually the cause of the low sound. Jura bagpipes can be found all over Bulgaria without the Rhodopes. In different areas we can notice differences in pitch. Its sound is clear and clean and, unlike the kaba gada, the tone is high. The Macedonian bagpipe also has a curved bagpipe, but the pitch is between that of the kaba and the jura. It is found in Pirin, Vardar and Aegean Macedonia.
Main components of the bagpipe: bellows, hubs, bellows, bagpipe, whistles and a three-jointed pipe.
The fur serves to tie the three hubs. The bellows, the pipe and the rucello are inserted into them. The bellows also serves, it turns out, to introduce air. The bellows are usually made of kid or lamb skin, and the hubs are made of dogwood or the horns of an ox, goat, or deer.
The blower is a small cone-shaped tube with a connecting neck into which the hub is inserted. At the lower end of the neck is a circular flap of leather whose job it is to plug the mouth of the bellows when the performer takes a breath.
The piper is a wooden tube resembling an oblong cone and is made from dogwood or plum. It is the most important part of the bagpipe. In the upper part of the pipe, in a small channel with a connecting neck, the whistle is placed. There are 7 holes on the "face" of the gun, and on the back side - one hole for the thumb, located opposite the first small hole on the front side.
The squealer is a cylindrical tube made of reed, poplar or elder wood. A tongue is cut on the body of the squeal, which is actually the source of the sound. Its upper end is blocked with wax or cork, and the lower end is open for the passage of the vibrating air. At the lower end of the whistle, thin cotton threads are wound on the tongue and body. They play a role in tuning and keep the squeegee tight to the walls of the groove in the neck of the reel. The brook squeal and the pipe squeal have the same arrangement, but the brook's squeal is almost twice as long and has a larger inner tube diameter.
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The handle also made from dogwood or plum. It is a wooden cylindrical three-jointed pipe, and there are no holes in it. It consists of three different parts, each with a different size and shape. Bagpipe players call them "joints" or assemblies.
The first part of the shaft has two connecting necks. The squeaker is placed in the first neck. It is shorter and thicker and is inserted into the bellows hub. The second neck is inserted into the second part of the brook and is longer and thinner than the first. The second part of the shaft has only one connecting neck. The second and third assemblies are connected through it. The third part of the brook has no neck. Ten centimeters from the bottom edge, it widens its diameter to resonate the bass tone. The parts of the handle must be tight, so threads or cork are wound on each eye that joins them. This also helps the rucule to shorten or lengthen with more ease. The reed is used to produce the flat tone that accompanies the melody from the bagpipe.
Sound extraction. The tone is played by the squeals and squeals. Air is pushed from the bellows to the whistles, causing the tongue of the whistle to vibrate, which in turn causes the outer post to vibrate in the porthole and rudder
The small finger hole on the face is characteristic and very important for the bagpipe. A small tube of duck or hen's feather is passed through it, which the bagpipers call a "mouthpiece" or "murmurer". Thanks to it and through the different combinations of the fingers, all tones are obtained along the entire volume of the pipe.
The bagpiper blows air through his mouth into the whistles and at the same time presses the bellows with his elbow to his body. The air column in the bagpipe lengthens or shortens as the musician unblocks or blocks the holes in the front. In this way the different tones are obtained. When the coils are higher on the tongue and body of the squeaker, it plays higher, and when they are wound lower, it plays lower. A specific feature of the bagpipe is that it plays loudly. Playing the bagpipes is difficult and requires skill. The musician derives the tones only by means of different combinations of his fingers on the holes of the bagpipe.
Usage. The bagpipe is used both as a solo instrument and in folk orchestras and to accompany songs. In the orchestra of folk instruments, bagpipes of different heights are used, the height depending on the size and diameter of the pipes of the bagpipes, rucilto and piskunas. Lower tones are produced with a long reed, the groove of which has a narrower opening. And vice versa - we get high tones from shorter pipes with wider channel openings. At the same time, the way of playing (fingering, fingering) is the same for all bagpipes.
© 2024 Iliana Dechkova