I’ve seen some Tabor Pipes on the net, and I was wondering, how do you pay them? All I know is that they have 3 holes and can be plyed with one hand. Any info about them would be appreciated! 
Hi celtic_lass,
here are some links you might find useful:
http://www.minstrel.us/tabor.htm
http://web.mit.edu/user/i/j/ijs/www/pipe-and-tabor.html
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/tabor_n_pipe/
And trust me, these little buggers may be a little more on the tricky side than a whistle, but they sure are fun to play.
Cheers
Claus
PS: Here on our Morris Open website you can hear me playing some Pipe & Tabor on “Somerset Wassail”:
If you play the tabor pipe with your left hand you are free to play another instrument with your right. Traditionally it was usually a small drum, but its possible to play for instance the bass notes on a guitar as an accompaniment.
The tabor pipe is a bit limited compared to the whistle. It has a range of just one octave and the sound is very piercing and ornamenting is not as flexible. (good for outdoors playing though - ear plugs recommended!). I´ve got a Susato D-pipe which is very nice to play, and its surprising how complex tunes one can play on the tabor pipe!
You can simulate your own tabor pipe with a whistle.:
Keep the top three holes covered. You can even cover them with tape (cheap whistle only!)
Cover all the remaining holes with the usual three fingers.
Ignore the first octave.
Overblow to 2nd octave and remove one finger at a time to play: D,E,F#,G
Overblow more to get a higher set of overtones. Put down all the fingers and remove one at a time to play the rest of the scale: A,B,C#D
All you get is one octave, but with a bit of fooling around you’ll be surprised how many tunes you can play with only one octave.
The tabor pipe is a fun and interesting instrument, even given all its shortcomings. I’m lucky to own a low D pipe by Ralph Sweet. It plays an octave starting on the ‘low D’ of a standard D whistle, so it’s not as piercing as the high D pipes. I also have a small tabor (drum) I got from Lark in the Morning. I used to play these at the local Ren Faire, and was a big hit because it was a true period instrument.
Tons of fun, and Generation makes one that costs no more than their regular whistles, so check it out. It’s a kick.
I have a tabor pipe, a copy of the somebody or other’s tabor pipe tutor, and the accompanying cassette, all for sale at a very reasonable price, if you’re that curious.
The pipe is a custom Generation D whistle with only three holes, in the appropriate places for a tabor pipe.
Tabor pipe uses the harmonics of the overblown second and third octave, plus the 3 holes and their fingerings, to beget a little more than one ocatve.
This is unusual in a wind instrument (ie, to have the fundamental not be the primary octave) but is quite common in brass.
The book is something less than a hundred pages or so of photocopied, coil bound. Clearly a self publication, but probably all the market such and instrument is likely to support.
Here’s the book I have:
http://www.mit.edu:8001/people/ijs/pipe-and-tabor.html
Dick Bagwell, Pipe & Tabor Tutor, subtitled a Self-Teaching Method, 1988, addendum Feb 1992 60 pages, music, illustrations; with 30 minute cassette He Pulled Out His Tabor & Pipe for about $20.
I got all three from Ralph Sweet back in the day. I dunno if Ralph’s still making tabor pipes.
~~
The guy from the spanish band la Musgana (sp?) makes spectacular use of his.
Not only can you play the tabor (drum) while playing, but there’s a special accompaniment stringed thing I saw played by a French guy. It was basically like a simple hammer dulcimer which is held up against one shoulder. Its strings are struck with a stick. The strings are tuned so that one area of the thing produces the tonic chord, the other area the dominant chord. I suppose it could also be tuned to play tonic and flat 7 for modal stuff.
I have a hard enough time playing one instrument at a time, much less two! 
http://www.sweetheartflute.com/pipes.html
It looks like he makes one in G and sells Susato abd Generation D pipes.
the stringed instrument pancelticpiper refers to is the Tambourin a Cordes. Popular in France and used mostly to accompany the French version of the tabor pipe known as a galoubet which uses a slightly different scale than the English tabor pipe.
Lark in the Morning sells both instruments.
http://larkinam.com/search.asp?t=ss&sb=0"&ss=galoubet
http://larkinam.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_TAB017_A_String+Drum_E_