Expert: Pat G - 4/20/2010

Question
Hi, I am a conductor and currently, I'm really interested in ancient music. The other day, I came across a picture of a really strange instrument. Supposedly from the ancient period. I'm not asking for you to do my work, but do you know what the instrument is called?
The link to the image is here.
https://www.edline.net/dynimg/_DSLCf_/docid/3865500720808998082/ea/false/cci/1271721384850
Thanks for all the help.

Answer
Hello, David,

It's a pretty crude drawing, so I can't tell you exactly what it's called, but it is some kind of bagpipes or uilleann pipes. As you may be aware, bagpipes are played in a number of different countries, not just Scotland. Smaller sets, uilleann pipes, are played in Ireland, but various forms of bagpipes are played in many European countries, parts of southwest Asia and north Africa, and some other countries, such as Turkey. Obviously, each country has its own name for the local style of instrument. Even though these are "ancient" instruments, they are played in modern times in many places. Here is a list of different countries and what they call their bagpipes:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bagpipes

Here is a short list of composers who composed music with bagpipes in it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_composers_who_employed_pipe_music

I hope this helps.