by an oddchance, I’m coming into possession of a Zampogna shortly (NB: that’s the Italian bagpipe, not the S. American panpipe)
Does anyone have a fingering chart?
(I’ve done a Google search with no luck, and I’ve e-mailed Chris Bayley)
yours hopefully
brian
Ask Sean Folsom. he’s registered here as Sean an Piobaire
Thanks, Busker Sean for recommending me, Giovani, lo Zampognaro, although Uncle Tedley(Ted Anderson), could answer this one, as well as I. If the zampogna has chanters in octaves, i.e. small chanter and big chanter, the high( di ritta) chanter has 6 notes, viz. Si, Do (key note),Re,Mi Fa, Sol. Si (orTi)which is covered by all 4 fingers down, plus thumb, and moving up in see-quence from there, Do would be thumb and 3 fingers, Re thumb +2, etc. till your’e all fingers off: Sol. Make sure you have lots of bees wax to tune the tone holes. Note futher, that the Scapoli people believe that the small chanter goes on the right hand and the bag under the right arm, so that your HEART (on the left side of the body) is not adversely affected by the pressure of the bag. This is regardless of whether your’e Right or Left handed… myself… I had been playing OTHER PIPES, with the bag under the left arm, for too long, that I didn’t want to change. And, as I’m used to the thumb hole on the back of the chanter, fingered with my left hand thumb… well it was easy to do that, as well. Now for the Manga chanter ( di mano sinestra) all fingers down (little pinky on the key) is the key note Do, an octave below the thumb and 3 finger note of the high chanter, followed by Re 3 fingers, Mi 2, Fa 1, and all off… you guessed it, SOL! be sure and tune the Devils holes on the removable, screw on, Bottom Bell,of the big chanter, located near the top of the cone… some have 2 vent holes some have 4 (open to the 4 directions, like a Native American flute," Cho- Tonka" in Sioux) These vents you fill and carve out with bees wax using a wax pick, to fine tune the note DOH, that being the most changeable note on the chanter…it’s Distal! the Drone(s) tune to the 5th: Sol, in unison with the Sol on the Big chanter and the dinky drone is in unison with the (all off) Sol of the small chanter. Now since you’re in Hong Kong, you can get a piffero player, by 1. buying a piffero, 2. convert a So- Nah player to play the piffero, as that’s the instrument that the MELODIES are played on. The ZAMPOGNA is the vamping harmony backup (think drones and regulators) Oh it still sounds good, just limited, as the scale is not extensive. List of makers at Utriculus/Circulo Della Zampogna, at Scapoli, Molise, Italia, tell em Sean Folsom sent ya! (Giovani lo Zampognaro)
By the way, Sean’s playing of four types of Zampogna (and 26 other pipes!) on his ‘Bagpipes of the World’ CD is pretty groovy too.
wow
thanks Sean. very informative - open fingering I can handle (I’m a whistler)
I have found suona in G - but I want to sing to the zampogna, and use it to accompany Northumbrian pipes, fiddle, etc. I know it’s not traditional, but I’m scottish…
I was in Naples last Christmas, and just fell in love with the beast
cheers
b
Si Piachere Signori…
Singing with the Zampona IS Traditional, it’s usualy done with by the Piffero player: songs are Il Pastorale di Natale, Tu Shende Della Stella, Piva , Piva, et cetera, et cetora,…Giovanni
while on the subject of Zampognas,
Does anybody have measurements for zampogna reeds? I have one that a friend gave me, but it’s reedless. I have looked on the net, asked a few people (players and makers), but have come up with nothing. All i need is some starting dimensions to work off of.
Thanks,
Luke
PS my zampogna is the ZAMPOGNA de SCAPOLI type (according to www.hotpipes.com)
Dear Luke; I’m sorry you’ll have to wair till I get back to California where all my reed notes and my Scapoli Zampogna is in storage. I did modify the cane reeds some what to answer to the fact that the high chanter is an octave higher and a half tone sharp. I think this done on purpose, as the reeds “load up” with moisture (and go flat), during the Zampogna season (Nov. 15th-Dec.6th). The piffero has alternate fingerings at the top of the scale for the same reason, water saturation. The rubber innertube on the Zampogna, doesn’t help in this regard, either. That Zampogna at" hotpipes" is my Scapoli pipe (circa 1978). by Ettore Di Fiore (RIP) purchased by Jeff Stonehill, now a resident of San Juan Island, not far from Seattle, I traded a Gaita Gallega for it, in 1982. The rubber bag and bag cover are original to the set, and have held up very well over the years, but the ever curing rubber always covers the reeds with sulfides, plus the mold that grows, etc. Goatskin is much better. If your Zampogna is of the recent variety,those pipes have been re-worked to accept plastic reeds, and you can avail yourself of this by ordering some from Luigi Ricci, reed and Zampogna maker, tell him Sean sent you…he’s listed on the circolo della Zampogna site. You do have to determone wether they are in 26 centimeters (A flat) 28cm(sorta G) 32cm(Fsharp) and so on so he can send you the right sizes Good Luck! Sean an Piobaire