Bombarde

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The bombarde is a breton folk instrument from Brittany. A cross between an oboe and a conical-bored pipe chanter, it is blown in the mouth, with the reed between the lips. Typically pitched in B flat, it plays a diatonic scale over two octaves.

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

The bombarde is also a traditional instrument in Cornish folk music. However its use in present day cornish music is much less widespread. Bands such as Dalla and Pyba use the bombarde. It is often used alongside cornish bagpipes and drums to produce a sound similar to a bagad, particularily for one off nozow looan. The name "bombarde" is also used in music for a series of powerful reed stops, usually at 8', 16' or 32' pitch in the pipe organ.bg:Бомбарда fr:Bombarde (musique) nl:Bombarde (muziekinstrument)