Alan's Links To Other Related Sites

Note: If you find a dead link to a site from this page, please let us know about it.

Bagpipe Links

There is a growing body of bagpipe related information and resources on the Internet, particularly for the Great Highland Bagpipe. It is because of this, that the emphasis of this page will be on lesser known varieties which have not been covered as completely by other sites. The majority of links lsited here will reflect what I think are the more interesting or informative sites. In some cases, they will be links to sites that may not have much information, but are devoted to rare or little known bagpipes. If there's something in particular that you can't find here, your best bet is to go to Bob Dunsire' Bagpipe Web Directory (also listed below under 'General Bagpipe Links'). This site, with over 2000 entries, is the most extensive and complete list of bagpipe links on the Internet.

If you have a link to a site, newsgroup, mailing list, or other Internet resource that ought to be here, send an e-mail to Alan (use the 'Contact' button on the navigation table at the bottom of the page) and I'll be happy to add it; I am especially looking for informative Eastern European, Middle Eastern, and Balkan piping links.

Use the table immediately below to navigate to different bagpipe link groups on this page.

General

Other

General Bagpipe Links

Usenet Newsgroup: rec.music.makers.bagpipe - with discussions relating mostly to the better known British Isles bagpipes.
Bob Dunsire' Bagpipe Web Directory - Claims to have over 2000 piping related links! Extremely useful.
The Universe Of Bagpipes - Although this site's main purpose is to promote a most wonderful music CD and offer Scottish HIghland bagpipes and instructional materials for sale, it is also perhaps the best general bagpipe site on the Web. It contains hundreds of detailed photos with descriptions, and with sound samples of 30 different pipes of the "Old World". A real treasure!
The Bagpipe Society - is a British based organization dedicated to all aspects of world piping. The site has information about joining the society and its benefits which include a quarterly newsletter with articles, record reviews, music and events. Members also recieve an annual journal containing articles, interviews and plans.
R.Niepold's website "sons et coulers" contains an interesting section called Galerie de la cornemuse with photos and descriptions of various European bagpipes. Well worth a visit. (en français)
Aron Garceau's Bagpipe Paintings and Etchings page is devoted to old works of art depicting bagpipes. The catagories include: Etchings, Paintings, Collections, and Tapestries. Also included are the sources and some commentary. Nicely done!

Back to the bagpipe menu

British Isles Bagpipes Links

Andrew Lenz's Identifying Drone Reeds - Andrew has created a page that serves as a "Guide to Recognizing Brands of Drone Reeds and Drone Valves". Quoting Andrew, "This page is intended to provide both a bit of history of and a guide to drone reeds for the Great Highland Bagpipe. Included on this page is a section devoted to drone valves." This page is a must for all those Highland pipers who are considering buying a set of synthetic drone reeds or have aquired a set of pipes with 'mystery reeds'.
An article by Brian McCandless on The Pastoral Bagpipe, a little known historical instrument said to be the ancestor of the Irish uilleann pipe, can be found here.
The Lowland & Border Piper's Society is a Scottish based organization dedicated to reviving interest in and promoting the playing of the bagpipes of the Scottish Lowlands and Borders. The site has information about joining the society and its benefits which include a quarterly newsletter and an annual journal containing articles, interviews, music reviews and plans.
Northumbrian Piper's Society's Homepage - The most complete source for information on this bagpipe, including how to subscribe to the Northumbrian smallpipe e-mail list.
Northumbrian Smallpipes Book and Services by John Liestman.
Making a Set of Northumbrian Bagpipes
Welsh Bagpipes and the Welsh Pibgorn - is the website of Welsh pipe maker John Tose. Contains a bit of historical information on Welsh bagpipes as well as other traditional Welsh reed pipes.
Na Píobairí Uillean - The Uilleann Pipers (of Ireland) homepage; resources for uilleann pipes.
Cumann na bPíobairí / Irish Pipers' Club - This is the Seattle, WA (USA) organization. Good articles on these pipes can be found here.
San Francisco Pipers' Club Home Page - The home page for the S.F. uilleann pipers club.

Back to the bagpipe menu

Northern and Western Continental European Bagpipes

Bagpipes of Brittany

Breton Musical Instruments at the Ceolas Celtic music archive.
Jim Meloche's The Bagpipes of Poitou - is a site devoted to the veuze, and includes a fingering chart.

Bagpipes of the Low Countries

Belgisch Genootschap van Doedelzakspelers - Belgian Society of Bagpipe Players...dedicated to the bagpipes of Belgium (Nederlands).
Stichting Draailier en Doedelzak - The Dutch Hurdy Gurdy and Bagpipe Foundation; lots of resources for bagpipes of the Low Countries.
Stichting Volksmuziek Nederland - The Foundation for Dutch Folk Music (Nederlands).

Bagpipes of Iberia

Manuel Carro's Bagpipes in Spain: Galician Bagpipes - Lots of resources for the gaita gallega, including sources for pipes and music, and other types of Spanish bagpipes.
The home page for El sac de gemecs - gives a small amount of information on the little known Catalon bagpipe (Cornamusa Catalana).

Bagpipes of France

Naoki Ueo's Musette de cour pages gives a bit of information on this baroque instrument, popular in the 17th and 18th centuries, especially amongst the French aristocracy. Also includes many nice pictures of this petite pipe and it's players.
Bohaires de Gasconha site [français / Occitan] - contains much information regarding the boha or cornemuse landaise and this important organization.
la cornemuse dans le sud - is a site devoted to the craba (crabo), also called bodega (boudeguo), the bagpipe of the Haut Languedoc region of France. Not much information, but does have a few photos. (en français)

Other Northern & Western European Bagpipes

Circolo della Zampogna - is an association based in Scapoli (Italy) devoted to the promotion of the culture and regions traditionally associated with the zampogna (Italian bagpipe). It sponsers the anual 'Festival Internazionale della Zampogna'. Site includes a list of makers. (Italiano)
The Calamus International Association - exists to promote the zampogna, especially as played in the Ciociaria region. It's site includes a general history of the instrument, notes on it's construction, reed-making, and a history of it's players. In (English, Italiano, Deutsch, and Espanol).
Stephan Erber's Sackpfeifenclub - General information about German Dudelsäcke, including history, photographs, pipe-makers, and schools (auf Deutsch).
Thorstens Sackpfeifen-Seiten - Thorsten Stoye's excellent site about German bagpipes and their history; lots of photographs.
Olle Gallmo's Swedish Bagpipe Page - Information about the säckpipa of the Dalarna region of Sweden.
For information about how to join the Swedish bagpipe e-mail list (which is mainly in Swedish), send an e-mail to: svenskpipa-request@update.uu.se

Back to the bagpipe menu

Eastern European and Balkan Bagpipes

Kustas Tiivas' website Torupill is a very informative site giving much needed information about this little known bagpipe of Estonia.
RussWind - E-mail discussion group about Russian folk woodwind instruments, including Russian bagpipes. To subscribe, send an e-mail to: majordomo@acpub.duke.edu containing the message subscribe russwind.
The website Polish Bagpipes is a collaboritave effort by Pawel Dziemski, Joe Armata (text) and Snori (photos). It describes 8 types of bagpipes from 5 regions of Poland.
Donald Lindsay's Hungarian Bagpipes on the Internet - provides a small amount of information on the duda with some photos and a sound sample.
Gajdy in Slovakia - Milan Rusko's site on Slovak bagpipes and bagpipers with photos and MP3 files. Anyone know what happened to this site? Please e-mail me if you do.
My friend Hector Bezanis describes Bulgarian gaidas in an article on Bulgarian Folk Instruments - at the Lark In the Morning web site.

Anyone with any other (Internet) information about Eastern European or Balkan types of bagpipes (photos, recordings, references, etc.), please e-mail me (use the 'Contact' button on the navigation table at the bottom of the page).

Back to the bagpipe menu

North African, Middle Eastern & South-west Asian Bagpipes

Anyone with any (Internet) information about Middle Eastern or Asian types of bagpipes (photos, recordings, printed music, references, etc.), please e-mail me (use the 'Contact' button on the navigation table at the bottom of the page).

Back to the bagpipe menu

Other Reed Woodwinds

Since I make and play other various mouth-blown single and double reed instruments, I've decided that they need representation as well. If you have a link to a site, newsgroup, mailing list, or other Internet resource that ought to be here, send an e-mail to Alan (use the 'Contact' button on the navigation table at the bottom of the page), and I'll be happy to add it.

Bombarde FAQ - Texas Celtic Music Network's information page on various aspects of the Breton bombard (oboe).
Launeddas Associazione Culturale Sonus de Canna - A marvelous web page describing the launeddas, a bagless single-drone, double melody-pipe instrument blown with circular breath. Native to Sardinia.
Jordi Jorda's Gralla website - is devoted to types of oboes or shawms of the Catalon region of South-Western Europe. (en Catalan) Anyone know what happened to this site? Please e-mail me if you do.

Back to the main menu

Accordion Links

There are many accordion related links and resources on the Internet, and the list grows daily. Many of the links provided here are of a general nature, however, present and future emphasis will be towards providing information on button accordions, especially the diatonics, which are the ones I play. If you have a link to a site, newsgroup, mailing list, or other Internet resource that ought to be here, send an e-mail to Alan (use the 'Contact' button on the navigation table at the bottom of the page), and I'll be happy to add it.

General Links

Jeroen Nijhof's Accordion links - The BIG one; extensive number of links covering just about everything to do with accordions.
Accordiana - Information about, and links to, just about everything pertaining to "free reed" instruments.
Accordions Worldwide - provides readily accessible information services about all aspects of the accordion, for accordionists and enthusiasts.
The Usenet newsgroup rec.music.makers.sqeezebox. Or if you can't get the news, you can subscribe to the email list majordomo-squeezebox@cs.cmu.edu, containing the message Subscribe squeezebox or Subscribe squeezebox-digest.

Button Box Links

Fontana Accordion Club's Diatonic Accordion - Almost everything you'd want or need to know about diatonic and chromatic button accordions.
The world of diatonics and bandoneons, by DeJean.
The Diatonic Accordion Collective of Brittany - This organization has much to offer, including a well-thought-out tableture tune learning system, editorials, and articles concerning various aspects of diatonic accordions.

Back to the main menu

Miscellany

As suggested by the heading, below is a list of links to sites of various subjects that I find of particular interest or usefulness. If you have a link to a site, newsgroup, mailing list, or other Internet resource that ought to be here, send an e-mail to Alan (use the 'Contact' button on the navigation table at the bottom of the page), and I'll be happy to add it.

Ceolas Celtic Music Archive - The largest collection of information on Celtic music online; lots of bagpipe resources as well.
Martin Nail'sEnglish folk and traditional music on the Internet - A guide to resources.
Musictrad - is a site devoted to traditional music in France; loads of information about what's happening currently.
Centre de Musiques Traditionelles Rhône-Alpes - This site contains books, CDs, and other resources for French music; good photos/descriptions of chabrettes Limousinee (en français; some English).
Le Thiaulins de Lignieres - An historical reinactment organization that specializes in the culture of Berry in central France; inludes information and resouces for the traditional music and dance of this region.
RootsWorld - The online magazine of world music.
Strumenti musicali Calabresi [Italiano / English] - is a site devoted to descriptions of the many traditional musical instruments of Calabria (Italy) including the zampogna (Italian bagpipe) and organetto (diatonic accordion).
Edinburgh University Collection of Historic Musical Instruments Electronic Picture Gallery - Includes bagpipes.
The Galpin Society Homepage - A scholarly organisation dedicated to the study of historical musical instruments.
The Role of Drones, Bagpipes and Counterpoint in the Development of Harmony. - A short article from an APPENDIX TO "ORIGIN OF MUSIC", 3rd Ed. by Bob Fink, 1980.
Musicians and Instrument Makers Forum (MIMF) - A discussion forum with many diverse topics; links.