Hümmelchen

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About Bagpipes

… you can read here.

Hümmelchen

These small bagpipes in the German environment are called Hümmelchen, i.e. bumblebee, and in Bohemia they were sometimes called Bzíkalky. They are first mentioned by Michael Praetorius in his work Syntagma musicum from the early 17th century.
The chanter has a narrow cylindrical bore, but is equipped with a double reed. The sound is quiet, cultivated, and suitable for the interior and as an accompaniment to singing.
Tuning is usually in C major/D minor or G major/A minor. Drones are most often two inserted into one stock.
I make plastic reeds in the drones, they can be plastic or cane in the chanter.
Hümmelchen can be either mouth or bellows driven. The variant with a bellows allows you to play and sing at the same time.
The material suitable for production is the same as for other bagpipes: maple, cherry, sour cherry, pear, boxwood, and hard woods. Hümmelchen bagpipe can also be decorated in the same way as other instruments (wooden, brass or pewter inlays, carvings, or etched brass rings), although there is less space for their slim construction.
You can download a pdf about bagpipe maintenace and setup here.
You can view the instruments in the galleries.
The price list is only indicative due to a number of material options, decoration, etc. Other types of bagpipes can also be seen on the pages of medieval market pipes and historical reconstruction.




A. Baines, Woodwind instruments and their history, London 1967
A. Baines, Bagpipes, Oxford 1973
Pavel Kurfürst, Hudební nástroje, Praha 2002
Čeněk Zíbrt, Dudy staročeské i novější, Český lid 1924
 

Pricelist

c1 hummelchen, chanter c1-d2, 1 drone: c/d 570 €
c1 hummelchen, chanter c1-d2, 2 drones c/d, g/a 670 €
c1 hummelchen, chanter c1-d2, 3 drones C/D, c/d, g/a 910 €
g hummelchen, chanter g-a1, 1 drone: G/A 720 €
g hummelchen, chanter g-a1, 2 drone:s G/A, d/e 865 €
g hummelchen, chanter g-a1, 3 drone:s G/A, d/e, g/a 880 €
   
Carved head +270 €
Bellows +220 €
Gallery
Hummelchen c1
2 drones, stained maple/boxwood
Hummelchen c1
2 drones, natural maple/boxwood, bellows
Hummelchen c1
2 drones, stained maple, bellows
Hummelchen c1
2 drones, stained maple
Hummelchen c1
2 drones, ebony, pewter inlays
Hummelchen c1
3 drones, stained maple
Hümmelchen g/a
chanter g-a1, 4 drones G/A, d/e, g/a, d1/e1, stained sour-cherry wood. The side stock is equipped with brass plug stops.