Piffero

The Piffero ( Piffaro ) is a double reed wind instrument and thus belongs to the family of oboes.

It is the main instrument of the traditional music of the Quattro Province, a mountainous region in the north of the Italian Apennines, consisting of the four provinces of Pavia, Alessandria, Genoa and Piacenza.

The instrument is a descendant of the medieval shawm and belongs to the family of the bombards. It is tuned to g ¹.

Traditionally, the Piffero is accompanied by Musa, the Apennine typical bagpipes. In the early 20th century, Musa has been largely replaced by the accordion, the musicians found diverse. But towards the end of the twentieth century the bagpipe learned a comeback and the Piffero is therefore nowadays often accompanied by one or both of these instruments.

One of the few active instrument maker is Ettore Losini called Bani in Degara di Bobbio. Related to the Piffero is based in Sicily larger Bifora or Pifara.

Structure of Piffero

• The mouthpiece (Italian Musotto ) consists of the pirouette, the wax a conical brass tube is glued with the sound-producing double reed.
• The body with conical bore has eight finger holes. The eighth hole is located on the back of the body and is played with the left thumb.
• The bell (Italian campana ) usually has a hole for a cock tail feather
• A brass ring (Italian vera) backs up and decorated the connection between the body and bell.
• Rooster tail feather to clean the double tube sheet during breaks and Decoration