zampogna

Zampogna players have secular and religious repertoires. The former is used for the novena and devotional processions, while the latter are used to accompany dancing and singing.

shepherd with bagpipe In present day Italy, the Zampognaro (shepherd with bagpipe) plays the Novena, the nine days leading up to Christmas… a celebration and announcement of the birth of Christ. The music is festive and vibrant, accompanied by singing and dancing. It's a time of reunion and company – heralding the arrival of the holidays.

It is etymologically related to the Greek sumphōnía (συμφωνία), meaning "concord or unison of sound" (from σῠν- syn-, "with, together" + φωνή phōnḗ, "sound") and applied later to a type of bagpipe.

The Zampogna is a bagpipe from Italy. It is unusual in that there are two chanter pipes - one for each hand - that play the melody. All four pipes have long double reeds : air from the bag is squeezed over these reeds to produce the zampogna's organlike sound.

The “zampogna” player (zampognaro) blows a hollow wooden socket, through which the air gets into the bag and, at the same time, he squeezes the bag, kept under his arm, in order to maintain constant air pressure which assures the continuous sound.

Two types of zampogna are made in Scapoli: “con chiave” (or “keyed” pipes) and “la zoppa” (or “lame” pipes). “Keyed” pipes have two chanters of different length and two drones, the longer of which produces the sound, while the second is mute, and double reeds on all the sounding pipes.

The “zampogna” player (zampognaro) blows a hollow wooden socket, through which the air gets into the bag and, at the same time, he squeezes the bag, kept under his arm, in order to maintain constant air pressure which assures the continuous sound.

The Italian zampogna is unique, with two chanters - one for each hand - arranged for playing in harmony, often to accompany a species of bombarde (especially at Christmas); the chanters and two drones are held in one stock, and all have double reeds.

The zampogna is a bagpipe found in mountainous regions across Central and Southern Italy, including Sicily.

This fellow is playing a zampogna, an Italian bagpipe. Zampogne (plural for zamponga) are found throughout Italy.

Italian (southern): from ciaramella 'bagpipe' applied as a metonymic occupational name for a maker of bagpipes or a piper or possibly as a nickname for a windbag.

bagpipe, wind instrument consisting of two or more single- or double-reed pipes, the reeds being set in motion by wind fed by arm pressure on an animal-skin (or rubberized-cloth) bag.