Dord (instrument)

Dords are Bronze Age horns from Ireland. A total of 104 such Dords in different lengths have been found so far and could be dated to a period around 800 BC. The purpose, the details of the method of production ( bronze casting) and the playing technique are not known.

The longer pieces have a larger inner diameter as compared to the lures. They are therefore fanfare-like game modes, such as ( used as a " war " or " horns " ), they were initially thought not suitable.

Through comparisons with ethnic musical instruments, the British explorer Peter Holmes in 1971 came up with the idea to play Dords with the blowing technique of the Australian didgeridoo. The thus -produced sound is soft and rich in overtones, so that one now assumes that this is the blowing technique actually used the next. This suggests that the Dord was used rather for purely musical purposes or as a ceremonial instrument.

End of the 80s developed the musician Simon O'Dwyer in cooperation with the Irish Heritage Council a method Dords mimic structurally. Among other things in the music group reconciliation he could do (along with Australian didgeridoo player Alan Dargin, didgeridoo, Phil Conyngham, didgeridoo, and his wife Maria Cullen, bodhran ) the Dords a wider European audience.