How the musette de cour makes its sound
In the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which classifies instruments by how they produce sound, the musette de cour belongs to the double-reed instruments: two reeds beat against each other – oboes, bassoons, shawms and the duduk.
More broadly it is one of the aerophones (wind instruments), where sound comes from vibrating air.
Press play above and watch the spectrum: the evenly spaced peaks are harmonics, and their relative strength is what gives the instrument its character.
From Wikipedia
The musette de cour or baroque musette is a type of Baroque bagpipe. Visually, the musette is characterised by the short, cylindrical shuttle-drone and the two chalumeaux. Both the chanters and the drones have a cylindrical bore and use a double reed, giving a quiet tone similar to the oboe. The instrument is blown by a bellows.
The qualification "de cour" does not appear in the name for the instrument in original musical scores; title-pages usually refer to it simply as a musette, allowing occasional confusion with the piccolo oboe, also known as the (oboe) musette.
Other double-reed instruments
Frequently asked questions
What does a musette de cour sound like?
As one of the double-reed instruments, its sound comes from the way two reeds beat against each other.
What type of instrument is the musette de cour?
It is classified as double-reed instruments (Hornbostel–Sachs 422.12-62).
Sources & credits
- Wikidata Q13522404 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Musette de cour – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Image by Museumsinsulaner – Public domain