Hungarian Bagpipe
Playlist
The Hungarian bagpipe tradition
dates back to the 9th century. Settlers of the area were fleeing
Islamic invaders and were likely from Spain. There are numerous bagpiping
traditions in the region but what sets Hungarian bagpipes, known as dudas, apart is the double-bored chantor pipe. This
chantor pipe consists of a melody pipe and a contra pipe with the contra both
having open tone holes to change pitch. The contra pipe, which truly
distinguishes Hungarian pipes from all others, is a drone and has one tone
hole. The drone sounds the tonic when open and the dominant when covered. The
contra is used to provide rhythmic qualities as well as being able to emphasize
notes. The melody pipe spans an octave. An important feature of the melody pipe
is the flea hole that when uncovered raises the pitch a semitone. The flea hole
allows for chromatic playing.
Bagpiping has its roots in rural
communities until its revival in the 1960s. Bagpiping is an important cultural
aspect that is further punctuated by folklore and proverbs. Most of what we
know of the tradition was gathered by Bartok in his studies of Hungarian folk
music. Unfortunately, bagpiping was on a decline during the time of his studies
so there is very little information on the subject. Traditional Hungarian
Bagpiping can now be studied at the Hungarian School of Folk Music.
Traditional Hungarian bagpipe
song. Traditional songs were more diatonic in nature with many pipers permanently
stopping the flea hole with wax to make playing easier.
This video clearly shows the
performer using the contra pipe as an accenting tool. Is you watch the pinky of
the bottom hand that is what controls the contra pipe.
This is a good example of bagpipe
music after the revival as it is more chromatic in nature.
After the revival in the 1960s,
bagpipe tuning was standardized making ensemble playing possible. Also features
the Hurdy Gurdy, another traditional Hungarian folk instrument, traditional singing
and percussion.
Just wanted to clear things up that upon further review the
bagpipe played in this video is NOT a Hungarian duda. It does not have a double
bored chantor, meaning it lacks a contra pipe, or a flea hole. Also the pipes
do not have resonators which is typical of a duda. The bagpipe shown is a Gaida
which is from the Balkens.
I love how important the bagpipe is to this culture! I loved the solo videos because it was interesting to see how different people play the bagpipe.
ReplyDeleteThe bagpipe has always been a fun instrument to me but seeing the passion that this group of people have for it give me a whole new level of respect for it. Plus the skill need to play it is impressive, having to push all that air to fill up the bag is not a easy feat.
ReplyDeleteSo outside of having the best names for instruments in the business, as well as a good eye for video location, the technique of these bagpipe players is impressive. Even though the bagpipes in the last video are not the Duda, the Hurdy Gurdy accompaniment works really well and sounds great.
ReplyDeleteBefore your presentation, I never thought of the bagpipe outside of Irish and Scottish traditions. It's so interesting to me that the tradition that created the instrument isn't one of the first traditions that people think of while thinking of the instrument.
ReplyDeleteOh fun!! More bagpipes. I wish I had come across these recordings when I was working on my presentation. It's cool to see the different constructions of bagpipes, and to hear the similarities and differences in their sounds!
ReplyDelete