Pipasso
The pipasso is a type of bagpipe found in northern France and Belgium. It is commonly called the "Picardy bagpipe". In the Belgian province of Hainaut, it is also known as the muchosa. History The pipasso was traditionally played by shepherds in festival processions, and was often played alongside popular instruments such as the hurdy-gurdy and the fiddle. However, by the 1700s, it had largely been replaced by the fiddle and by bass instruments. There are a few outliers in the tradition that continued on beyond the 1700s. Unfortunately, no recordings of the last living players (who were mostly shepherds and beggars living in the 1900s) exist, and scarce information survives about the typical repertoire a pipasso player would have been able to perform. The historical models that have been preserved have a one-octave range. Construction According to the eighth volume of the Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, illustrations dating back to the 1300s and 1400s suggest that the instrument consisted of a simple bag made from a bladder, as well as a single-piece, often conical, chanter. These illustrations did not include a drone. By the 1450s–1550s, the most common model of the pipasso was made from a sewn bag,