The launeddas, triple clarinet or triplepipe is a typical Sardinian woodwind instrument, consisting of three pipes. It is polyphonic and played using circular breathing. An ancient instrument, dating back to at least the 8th century BC ^[1], launeddas are still played during religious ceremonies and dances (su ballu) ^[2]. Distinctively, they are played using extensive variations on a few melodic phrases, and a single song can last over an hour, producing some of the "most elemental and resonant (sounds) in European music" ^[3]. Jump to: navigation, search A bass clarinet, which sounds an octave lower than the more common Bâ™­ soprano clarinet. ... Jump to: navigation, search Sardinia (Sardigna, Sardinna or Sardinnia in the Sardinian language, Sardegna in Italian, Sardenya in Catalan), is the second largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (Sicily is the largest), between Italy, Spain and Tunisia, south of Corsica. ... A woodwind instrument is a wind instrument in which sound is produced by blowing through a mouthpiece against an edge or by a vibrating reed, and in which the pitch is varied by opening or closing holes in the body of the instrument. ... Polyphony is a musical texture consisting of several independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice (monophony) or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords (homophony). ... Circular breathing is a special technique utilized primarily by players of the didgeridoo (and some other wind instruments) in order to continuously blow air out of the mouth. ... (9th century BC - 8th century BC - 7th century BC - other centuries) (800s BC - 790s BC - 780s BC - 770s BC - 760s BC - 750s BC - 740s BC - 730s BC - 720s BC - 710s BC - 700s BC - other decades) (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium AD) Events Assyria conquers Damascus and Samaria...

Launeddas are used to play a complex style of music that has achieved some international attention, especially Dionigi Burranca, Antonio Lara, Luigi Lai and Efisio Melis; Burranca, like many of the most famous launedda musicians, is from Samatzai in Cagliari. Melis and Lara were the biggest stars of the 1930s golden age of launedda, and each taught their style to apprentices like Lara's Aureliu Porcu ^[4].

Launeddas consist of three reed pipes, two five-holed chanters of different lengths and one drown. They are played using circular breathing ^[5].

References

• "[ Franco Melis]". Musical Traditions Internet Magazine. URL accessed on August 26, 2005.
• Surian, Alesso. "Tenores and Tarantellas". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East, pp 189-201. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0
• Areddu Alberto G.,Launeddas e altri studi greco-italici, Sassari 2004 [6]

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Notes

1. ^  Surian, pg. 190 Surian calls the launedda very ancient, appearing on votive statues from the 8th century BC.
2. ^  Surian, pg. 190
3. ^  Surian, pg. 190
4. ^  Musical Traditions Internet Magazine
5. ^  Musical Traditions Internet Magazine

External links

Sonus de Canna - information on history, characteristics, construction details, partially in Italian

Triplepipe.net - information on history, pictures, and MP3 samples Jump to: navigation, search MP3 is a popular digital audio encoding and lossy compression format invented and standardised in 1991 by a team of engineers working in the framework of the ISO/IEC MPEG audio committee under the chairmanship of Professor Hans Musmann (University of Hannover - Germany). ...