The bagpipe
Stjepan Vuković
Komletinci, the 2nd half of the 19th century
wood (plum), leather
turning, gluing, tanning
length of the drone pipe = 61 cm
length of diple = 26,5 cm
length of the bag (mijeh) = 50 cm
Et 49530
The Collection of Musical Instruments
The wooden parts of the bagpipes are made of coarsely turned wood. The blowpipe (puhaljka, dulac) consists of two parts: the first blowpipe and the second blowpipe. The first is larger, the second is on the outside and it is made of plum. The horn which is inserted into the chanter is missing. The holes on the chanter are arranged 5:1. The holes which determine the sound are usually drilled on the left-hand side, but here they are drilled on the right-hand side chanter. According to Širola, a horn was attached onto the chanter. It was made of maple, but it is missing here.
According to some of the older ethnographic records, the most skilled bagpipe players were those from Slavonija, Srijem, and Bačka. The bagpipes were played at weddings, important holidays, and traditional festivities - by one player only or by a group of players together. So, for example, Širola writes that four bagpipes players played in Osijek in 1861 when bishop Strossmayer’s bust was erected. The bagpipes are most commonly played for dances dancing: circle dances (kolo and ora), a dance with the bride, and other types of dances. In addition to playing the instrument, the bagpipes player often invited and encouraged people to dance, and sometimes the player danced as well or used funny lines to make people more joyful. (Širola 1937)
