Bombarde

The bombarde, or bombard (in Breton) is a folk musical instrument from Brittany and Cornwall that is a cross between an oboe and a conical-bored pipe chanter (the part of the bagpipe upon which the player creates the melody). The bombarde is blown by the mouth; the reed is held between the lips. Typically pitched in B flat, it plays a diatonic scale over two octaves.

In Breton music

Producing a very strident and powerful tone, the bombarde is most commonly heard today in bagads, the Breton version of the pipe bands. Traditionally it was used in a duet with the binioù for Breton folk dancing.

The bombarde requires so much breath that a bombard player ("talabarder") can rarely play for long periods. This suits Breton music, where there is often a solo line which is then echoed by a chorus: the bombarde plays the solo line and then the player recovers while the other instruments play the echo.

In Cornish music

The bombarde is also a traditional instrument in Cornish folk music. However its use in Cornish music today is much less widespread than in Breton music. Bands such as Dalla and Pyba do use the bombarde, often alongside Cornish bagpipes and drums to produce a sound similar to that of a bagad (pipe band), particularly for a nozow looan (a Celtic-Cornish dance event).

In the pipe organ

The name "Bombarde" is also used for a powerful reed stop in Pipe Organs, often set to be played by the pedals and usually at 16′ pitch, or at 32′ pitch as a Contra Bombarde (French: Contre Bombarde) and occasionally at 8′ pitch. Sometimes organs also have entire divisions of powerful reed stops called "Bombarde", controlled by its own manual.

Films

*"Of Pipers and Wrens" (1997). Produced and directed by Gei Zantzinger, in collaboration with Dastum. Lois V. Kuter, ethnomusicological consultant. Devault, Pennsylvania: Constant Spring Productions.