Chiff and Fipple Forums

Thank you everyone for the responses. I'm going to follow up on some of these leads. TheSilverSpear - You make an interesting point about my language. Without writing an in depth diatribe here, I suppose I generally do tend to look skeptically at modernization's affect on traditional culture. I try ...

Great article, Charlie. What's that from? And where is the picture? And are you in contact with his family with the old pipe? I'd like to meet them now that I'm in NYC.

Hi everyone. I'm taking a masters level class this semester at NYU taught by Mick Moloney and Jene Butler. The course if called Globalization and Irish Music and Dance. My final grade is based on a research paper in which I get to chose the topic. My paper is going to be on the transition of Irish m...

Making my documentary about zampognas available for free on Youtube for the first time. Enjoy


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3ASbHhw ... 5WDoi06kWg

the bagpipe that the site called sordellina is a zampogna that i never saw. It isn't a surdulina, because a surdulina has cylindrical single-reeded chanters of the same lenght and with the same number of holes, but not even a zampogna zoppa... I think it's an a-paro from Sicily or maybe southern Ca...

Well it seems like it was written by someone who has a general knowledge of bagpipes, though not really an expert on the different varieties. The Italian pipe labeled as a Surdulina is rather curious. I don't think it's a surdulina. Knowing whether it has a thumb hole on the melody chanter would cle...

Who wrote the descriptions for these pipes?

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/19/health/scottish-bagpipers-urge-cleaning-to-prevent-infection.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&ref=global-home&adxnnlx=1363719671-BaVFsSYSfcWiQRAPuA6UAA& Is this something that non-Scottish pipers need to be concerned about? I'm wondering if this is the result of u...

Tagua nuts are hollow in the center and you never really know what the inside is going to be like or how cavernous it will be. I brought back a bunch from Ecuador and got stopped and harassed by customs but they let me keep the nuts. I don't have a lather or make pipes, but I wanted to try to make r...

Chiara, I might suggesting in the meantime watching youtube videos. This will give you a feel for the instrument. Also, like other said, look for a zampogna player in the Italian community where you live. There are lots of different zampogna styles from diff regions. They are all loosely related to ...

If you are in the Bay area, please come out and support Drone Magic this month. I will be there playing the Italian zampogna. http://www.dronemagic.com/ They are also showing a screening of my documentary film before the event starts. Here is a preview video of the film: http://youtu.be/3pa4W7iA5So ...

Been awhile since I added some videos to this thread. Here is a video of me playing with Concetto Testa, a "carritieri" which means he used to drive the painted horse drawn Sicilian carts. He is the last of a dying breed since that profession has been replaced by the automobile starting in...

Jack - I have never once in all my field recording trips encountered anyone who has played let alone talked about the ocarina. That doesn't mean that it wasn't used traditionally in Southern Italy. From Wikipedia I found this: 'Its earliest use in Europe dates back to the 19th century in Budrio, a t...

Some more piping videos. These are of Leonard Carpita who is from Castemola which is near Taormina, a popular tourist destination. Carpita is considered by many to be the "best" maker of Sicilian pipes. He is also in my documentary, playing in traditional Sicilian clothing in the street at...

Cool, looks like fun! I'd be interested in talking to the sound engineer who did the mic placement etc.