Classical Wisdom Litterae - March 2020

The askaulos was a pipe with a bag (the bladder of a large animal or the entire body of a small one) that could maintain continuous sound and allowed the player to pipe without pause. Air was compressed with the movement of the elbow into the bladder, saving the breath. A cane pipe was inserted into one of the natural holes of the bladder to inflate it or a foot “pump” bellows was used. It had 1-4 playing pipes with reeds like clarinets. Emperor Nero played the choraulam et utricularium , the askaulos . Kochlos were made out of the Conch shell, a natural trumpet. The instrument was created by breaking the first three coils at the point of the Triton (trumpet), Cassis (Helmet) or Strombu s (True Conch) shells. The Minoans used side-blown triton shells. The syrinx, otherwise known as pan pipes, was an instrument named after the nymph who hid from Pan and were mostly played by country people. Made of wood, bronze, clay, resin or presumably cane they were considered a shepherd’s instrument and a love charm. A series of reed pipes in increasing length and sometimes width- they were played by blowing across the top of the reeds to produce different sounds. They could also be plugged with wax at various lengths to produce a range of notes. The salpinx was a long bronze or ivory trumpet. It had a mouthpiece of bone and bronze rings strengthening its joints. Its bronze bell was associated with important moments: a call to war for hoplites, to begin chariot races or generally as a call to attention and to silence crowds. They were much longer than the trumpets of the Middle East they developed from. Their alto (lower) register was achieved by their length. Next up, the tuba, or the Roman salpinx . The Romans believed the Etruscans developed the tuba. It was about 4 feet in length, made entirely of bronze, and required enormous pressure to blow, perhaps requiring a forbeia . It made a raucous sound and was used by the army. The Reading Aulos in situ in the Symposium display at the Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology A bagpipe player in Greece: the folkloric Greek bagpipe, the Gkainta, is very similar to descriptions of the ancient askaulos XLVIII