Historical Musical Instruments on SOHL.COM

Court Musette, late 17th Century

Fri, 27 Aug 2021 12:00:00 +0000

Chanter, Stocks, Small chanter

I had a chance to briefly study this instrument in 1999 when it was in the possession of a friend. I don’t know its current whereabouts. It is made of Ivory, well turned as you would expect from an instrument made for a wealthy client. and probably dates to the late 1600s. I was able to make several x-rays of the instrument with the help of a friendly local chiropractor, and these are included below. These x-rays showed several interesting things about this instrument is that visual inspection did not:

Renaissance 3-Hole Pipes

Sat, 26 Mar 2016 12:00:00 +0000

The three hole pipe is an ancient instrument, dating back to bone flutes found in the Neolithic. It has been popular throughout Europe and parts of the Americas as a dance instrument since it can be played with just one hand, leaving the other hand free to play a percussion instrument – a drum, a string drone, a triangle. On this page I’ve collected notes and sources I’ve used to make reconstructions of 3 hole pipes from renaissance Europe. We are particularly fortunate in that there are written sources, iconographical sources, and surviving instruments from this period – meaning that very little guesswork is needed to create working modern instruments.

The Quills: the forgotten American folk woodwind.

Thu, 20 Jan 2011 12:00:00 +0000

The Quills are a early American folk woodwind, first recorded in the early part of the 19th century among Afro-Americans in the south. There are at least two kinds of woodwinds called the quills: a cane fife with several holes, and a panpipe with several separate cane pipes. They are assumed to be of African origin, since similar instruments are found in various parts of Africa, and they were most common among 1st and 2nd generation Africans in America.

Reconstructing the quills

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 12:00:00 +0000

See the post The Quills: the forgotten American folk woodwind for general information about the American instruments known as the quills.

African players make their own instruments, and I imagine that Henry Thomas did as well. Recent players of the cane fife in America do so as well. So, what do you need to know in order to make a historically accurate instrument?

First off, you need to understand the difference between the cane fife (quills) and the panpipe form of the instrument, and decide which one you want to pursue. There are modern players and makers of the cane fife form of the instrument, so for the moment I’m going to concentrate on the panpipe version made famous by Henry Thomas.

A French grand cornemuse, 18th c, private collection

Wed, 15 Jun 2005 12:00:00 +0000

The instrument is incomplete, with some parts modern. The chanter is known to be original, and the top joint of the bass drone known to be a reproduction. These images are based on full-size xerox originals, which are (unfortunately) the best quality images I have at hand. The pewter inlay is particularly spectacular on this instrument.

The images have been scaled to fit on the page, but the files are actually at much higher resolution. They can be downloaded and viewed in any image editing program. These images are not displayed to scale on this page, but the source images should scale correctly.

3d renderings of renaissance recorders

Fri, 02 Feb 1996 07:42:00 +0000

Renaissance recorders were popular throughout Europe from about 1500 to 1650. They were among the most popular “consort” instruments, meaning that they were played in groups (or consorts). A typical consort for renaissance recorders would be made up of one alto, two tenors, and a bass instrument. Michael Praetorius, writing in 1618, expressed a preference for a consort made up of a tenor, two bass recorders, and a great bass. Praetorius also mentions an “ideal” consort made up of 21 instruments, made in 7 different sizes. He illustrated these instruments in his encyclopedic Syntagma Musicum.