Tabor pipes, based on Michael Praetorius (early C17).
Small tabor pipes, from left, in A, C, and D
My tabor pipes are based on those described and illustrated by scaled drawings in Praetorius’s Syntagma Musicum II (1612). The information he gives is, in places, to say the least puzzling, if not contradictory, but I have found that pipes constructed from his scaled drawings work well and conform fairly closely to the information given in his narrative.Praetorius’s range tables include only one size of tabor pipe, in d’, with a two octave range. This correlates closely with what he describes as a tenor pipe, and the smaller of the two he illustrates and labels "diskant". It plays well over the full range, but being lower pitched that most tabor pipes, has a quieter, less piercing tone.
Praetorius’s larger drawing is the "bass" pipe, which, when constructed is approximately in the A below the tenor, and is played using a long crook and resting the instrument on the left shoulder.
My range of pipes starts with the high D pipe at about 12" long, down to the bass pipe at over 30". I generally aim to voice these wooden pipes with a less strident, more mellow tone than most folk pipes, and in keeping with other renaissance flute-type instruments. They are made from sycamore and fruit woods such as pear and plumwood, and the small pipes can also be made from boxwood.
Bass tabor pipe in A, showing the working of the crook.
For further information, try these links:
International Pipe & Tabor festival, Gloucester.
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