Piva Emiliana



The piva emiliana

The piva emiliana is a sweet sounding, mouth-blown, two-droned bagpipe of medium volume, pitched in G and it is experiencing a promising revival in northern Italy.
The instrument was to all intents and purposes extinct by the 1960s. Today there are several teachers, a couple of makers and about 150 players, and interest is steadily increasing. And one or two professional traditional music groups have incorporated the piva emiliana in their touring line-ups.

Until the 1960s, the piva, the traditional north Italian bagpipe, was used in formal occasions like weddings and was a part of everyday life. But the customs and way of life changed, and the piva was put aside in favour of the fiddle and accordion.
The main feature of the piva that makes it unique among other northern Italian pipes is the chanter: the number of holes and their placement.
The old piva emiliana chanter had seven fìnger holes on the front and no thumb hole on the back. Probably the old instrument had only eight notes, an octave, in one key, but Franco Calanca found he could cross-fìnger one additional low note.
Both drones are cylindrically bored and fitted with compound reeds. The larger drone, with a flared bell rests on the shoulder and the smaller drone hangs over the player's arm.