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panpipe

 
Dictionary: pan·pipe
(păn'pīp') pronunciation
n.
A primitive wind instrument consisting of a series of pipes or reeds of graduated length bound together, played by blowing across the top open ends. Often used in the plural. Also called mouth organ, Pandean pipe, Also called syrinx.

[PAN + PIPE.]


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Romanian panpipe; in the Horniman Museum, London
(click to enlarge)
Romanian panpipe; in the Horniman Museum, London (credit: Courtesy of the Horniman Museum, London)
Wind instrument consisting of pipes of different lengths made of cane (less often wood, clay, or metal) arranged in a row. It is blown across the top, each pipe producing a different note. The panpipe dates from c. 2000 BC and is found worldwide, especially in eastern Africa, South America, and Melanesia.

For more information on panpipe, visit Britannica.com.

Music Encyclopedia: Panpipes
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Instrument consisting of pipes of graduated lengths, joined together in the form of a bundle or a raft. They have no mouthpiece and are blown across their tops, while the lower ends are stopped. The earliest extant European depictions appear on bronze urns from north-east Italy and date from the 5th and 6th centuries bc. Panpipes were popular among the Etruscans and the ancient Greeks who considered them an instrument of low, merely rustic status. They appeared early in China where they are still popular. Today the panpipes are an important part of the folk music of Romania, Burma, Oceania (they are highly developed in the Solomon Islands) and all parts of South America, particularly in the Andean chain. The instrument's pastoral sound has attracted such composers as Telemann and Mozart, who used it in The Magic Flute; its tones have recently been used as a basis for electronic music.



 
Columbia Encyclopedia: panpipes
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panpipes, Pandean pipes (păndē'ən), or syrinx (sĭr'ĭngks), musical wind instrument, consisting of graduated tubes closed at one end and fastened together. The player holds the instrument vertically and blows into the open end of the tube; each tube has its own pitch. Of Chinese origin, the instrument was known to the Greeks (who connected its origin with the legend of the god Pan and the nymph Syrinx who was changed into reeds). It survives in some parts of Europe, South East Asia, and South America.


Translations: Panpipes
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Dansk (Danish)
n. pl. - panfløjter

Français (French)
n. pl. - flûte de Pan

Deutsch (German)
n. pl. - Panflöte

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. pl. - αυλός του Πανός

Italiano (Italian)
flauto di Pan, siringa

Português (Portuguese)
n. pl. - flautas de Pã (f pl)

Русский (Russian)
флейта Пана

Español (Spanish)
n. pl. - zampoña

Svenska (Swedish)
n. pl. - panflöjt, herdepipa

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
排箫

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. pl. - 排簫

한국어 (Korean)
n. pl. - 판피리

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - パンの笛

עברית (Hebrew)
n. pl. - ‮חליל קנים, חליל פן‬


 
 
Learn More
Pandean pipe
mouth organ
Fataleka & Baegu Music from Malaita (Album by Various Artists)

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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Music Encyclopedia. The Concise Grove Dictionary of Music. Copyright © 1994 by Oxford University Press, Inc.. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/ Read more
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