Big Ol' Zampognas

[sean an piobaire]

SO:
Ciaramedda
Chiaramedda
The "Typical" name for the Sicilian Bagpipes.
I think the "h" is to help us English speakers.

The Chirimia.... a Folk Oboe, played in Mexico and Guatemala,
originally from Spain.

Ciaramella
Chiaramella
The "other" name for the Piffero, plus, it is an interchangeable
name for the Zampogna, with the ordinary non-piping public,
"at large".

The CIARAMELLE Di AMATRICE
That really different Zampogna. The music of this Pipe sounds to me,
like the Sopilkas / Shawms (played in pairs) from Krk Island, on the
Croatian Coast.
Check out part of this site, that has a bit about
92 year old Alfredo Durante, who is nick-named "Raffone":

http://www.vetozza.com/raffone.htm

There was a Zampognaro who came to the 1996 Festa
Della Zampogna (I can't remember his name)
that played the Saltarelli on this instrument.
It sounds great in a discordant way !
I imagine the Meanads danced to this kind of music,
around the idols of Dionysis , 2,000 (plus) years ago !

I hope I've done something to ADD to the word-spelling confusion !

Sean Folsom

[Yuri]

Did you notice that in the second photo of the original three the player has the top hole of the left hand plugged up, and is only using three holes? Would that be normal?

[MichaelLoos]

I've seen the same player in a video. He does use four holes, the fourth one is in the back of the chanter, opposite the plugged hole. I had the impression something might be wrong with his little finger, therefore the rearrangement.

[CHasR]

the middle guy, the one in the stripe shirt, yes?

what happens when that top hole is plugged is that both chanter fingerings match up:

thumb + 2 fingers down on the ritta (small) one gets you, say, an A(la).
2 fingers down on the manca (large) chanter would get you normally, B (si).

BUT by blocking the top hole on the manca and replacing it with a thumb hole,
THEN thumb & 2 fingers down on both manca and ritta gets you an A (la).

So, the fingerings become alike for both chanters.

OR, he cant reach the holes with his left hand. either way it works.
Looks like its the same size as Sean's???

Makes for some interesting musical opprotunities to play in octaves...

[CHasR]

this just seems to have turned up on my hard drive; honestly don t know where its from or how i got it;
terribly out of focus, probably damaged, but
Of particular intrest as the zampognaro appears to have a bass drum on his back.

[CHasR]

Nice photo of a sei palmi on this site:

http://www.viaggiarenelpollino.com/zampogna.html



plus there's some surdulina pictures, too.