Vittorio Soave and Antonio Cortazzo - Novena

Since it's officially the Christmas season, what better way to announce it by uploading a nice recording of the zampogna (or Italian bagpipe)?
Oftentimes, when a favorite vocal artist uploads something I would often upload something in return to "cash back", as it were, their fandom. In this case, one of my absolutely favorite singers Abby Simone uploaded a little short of a clip of her singing, and her vibrato is like... WOAH!!!!!!! Because I'm running out of cool shtuff to upload, it might be a better idea to just wait for any of my favorite artists, whether it be Christine Elise, Madilyn Bailey, Abby Simone or Lauren Alvarez, to upload something which would be the cue for me to upload another cool recording.
So, as some of you might not know, ever since late September, my Facebook account, which was WRONGFULLY DISABLED, was finally restored at the prompting of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB). They finally realized that the AI bots were far too brutal and it was a total false positive, so for those of you who wish to communicate with me on Facebook, I'm back on Facebook again!
I mention this because I found this super EPIC recording recently on one of my favorite zampogna Facebook groups, so please bare in mind I did not record this at all - it was recorded by someone else. So don't blame me if you find the visuals to be off.
This is a duet featuring the piper Vittorio Soave playing a 5-palmi zampogna a chiave in the key of B-flat, accompanied by Antonio Cortazzo playing a size 28 ciaramella in the key of F, but using the B-flat range including overblown notes which far too many ciaramella players completely overlook. Also, notice how he's using a seriously operatic / coloratura vibrato in his playing. That's PROPER ciaramella playing! Playing the ciaramella without vibrato is like singing opera without vibrato! The vibrato totally reminds me of Lauren Alvarez, Abby Simone of course, Madilyn Bailey, Abby Fischer, Emma Matthews, etc.
Anyway, Vittorio's zampogna definitely sounds like it was made to the Lucana design, and we're of course not sure of the make but I'm assuming it might be either Carmine Trimarco (1864 - 1960) or the Forastiero brothers. It's in the key of B-flat, so the right-hand soprano chanter produces the notes F4 (Sol), E-flat 4 (Fa), D3 (Mi), C4 (Ré), B-flat 3 (Dó) and A3 (Ti), while the left hand bass chanter can play F3 (Sol), E-flat 3 (Fa), D3 (Mi), C3 (Ré) and B-flat 2 (Dó). The tenor drone plays an F3 (Sol), and the sopranina drone which I can't ever stand, plays an F4 an octave above the tenor.
As far as the ciaramella, I can't quite tell what design it is, whether it's Lucana or central Italian, but I can tell you that by its default pitch, it would equate to a 3.5 palmi zampogna a chiave, but just using a B-flat scale instead of an F-major scale. That's why it's designated as a size 28 ciaramella. Finally, you'll notice that the verses are not sung, instead Vittorio just has some nice solos. This makes it ambiguous as to what type of Novena is being played. However, since I discovered this recording on Immacolata day (December 8), I'm assuming this is for the Immacolata (i.e. the Immaculate Conception of Mary).
Behind the size, "Palmi" is a very old Italian measurement, which varies between 25 centimeters each (short palmi), and 26.5 centimeters each (long palmi). The difference between two tones generated by those two frequencies is an entire half step or semitone. This measurement was not written in stone and so it varied anywhere from 25 to 26.5 centimeters, so the variation in pitch within the palmi measurement gives you as much as an entire half step or semitone. In Lucania, the size of a ciaramella is named after the accompanying zampogna. For example, while a 3-palmi zampogna is called a 3-palmi because it is actually 3 palmi long, in Lucania, the equivalent ciaramella, which is realistically 25 centimeters long, is also called a 3 palmi. In central Italy, everything is named after the ciaramella's length, so in this case, a 3-palmi zampogna in central Italy is called a 25, because the matching ciaramella is 25 centimeters long. So by the pitch of this zampogna, this one is 5 short palmi.
Thanks, enjoy, and feel free to comment!
#Italian #bagpipes #zampogna #zampogne #Ciaramella #Ciaramelle #Vibrato #Lucania #Lucano #Lucana #Novena #Novene #Immacolata #Natale #christmas