A French grand cornemuse, 18th c, private collection

Norm Sohl

The instrument is incomplete, with some parts modern.  The chanter is known to be original, and the top joint of the bass drone known to be a reproduction. These images are based on full-size xerox originals, which are (unfortunately) the best quality images I have at hand.  The pewter inlay is particularly spectacular on this instrument.

The images have been scaled to fit on the page, but the files are actually at much higher resolution.   They can be downloaded and viewed in any image editing program.  These images are not displayed to scale on this page, but the source images should scale correctly.

These are from my own working notes, with no guarantee regarding the information’s accuracy.   I’ve included this information simply because it is not documented elsewhere, and it may be of value to others.  If you have more to add, please comment.

Chanter

Composite_Chanter

LOA:                 635

  • tenon:              32.4         dia: 22.2

  • Chanter top:    64           dia: 25.7

  • Bell                  635         dia: 66

bore:

  • Staple socket:  0 to 35, about dia 7

  • Bore throat:    35         dia about 4

Fingerholes:  Hole diameter from tracing, actual hole throat a bit smaller.

  • Th:    139        dia: 5

  • 1        170         dia: 6

  • 2        202         dia: 7

  • 3        232         dia: 8.5

  • 4        301         dia: 9

  • 5        335         dia: 9×12

  • 6        373         dia: 8.5

  • 7        405         dia: 6.5    doubled in renaissance style, one hole plugged with wax

Top joint, Bass Drone

Composite_Bass_Drone--Top_Joint

LOA: 453

Bore:   9.4

Middle Joint, Bass Drone

Composite_Bass_Drone--Middle_Joint

LOA:  442

Bore:   9.1

Bottom Joint, Bass Drone

 

Composite_Bass_Drone--Lower_Joint

LOA:  442

Bore:   7.5

Stock-Drone.BMP (35400 bytes)

Base Drone Stock

Blowpipe

BlowPipe

 

tracings

Some rough rubbings of inlays

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