With the Sounds of the old Melodies ... - Number 1: The Russian Bagpipes
The Siberian Alexander Starodubtsev is a master for the production of ancient Russian folk instruments. From his hands come many copies of instruments, on which Russians played hundreds of years ago. Who would have thought that not the harp had the greatest popularity in the middle of the nineteenth century in Russia, but the bagpipes ... which is nowadays regarded as the property of Scotland.
In Russia, there has been an instrument such as the bagpipes for centuries. The musicians played it in the villages until the middle of the last century, until other modern musical instruments replaced it. Russian artisans have now tried to revive the old musical heritage. Alexander Starodubtsev found drawings in old newspaper archives that showed a real Russian bagpipe. He added a few a few elements himself, which were not displyaed in the drawings, and researched other information that is important for the development of a bagpipe in the Internet. Furthermore, he used synthetic leather coated with a special composition of plastic.
Alexander works at a local university of art and culture. His passion is the production of musical instruments. The collection of the artist ranges from unusual elements from African drums to Iranian tambourines. Simple materials pass his hands, such as plastic or wood, which he then transforms into musical instruments.
The Russian bagpipe has its origin in the signal horns used for the work of the shepherds in the pastures. By gradually changing the tube structure, the bagpipes got perfected. It is assumed that the bagpipe was already used in the first military band, which was used during the sovereignty of Ivan the Terrible in the 16th century.
In the early 19th century, there was a reform of the Russian army. At that time, many national wind instruments came to Europe, such as the flute, the tuba, the oboe or the clarinet. The classical Russian military marching band was buried in oblivion. The bagpipe also went this way.
