Zaqq
Encyclopedia
The żaqq is the most common form of Maltese
bagpipes
. The instrument was once associated with Maltese folk-festivals.
An 1869 reference describes the instrument as being made of dogskin, played under the left arm with the legs directed upward, and often accompanied by tambourine and dancers. The use of the żaqq in daily life came to an end in the 1970s, the instrument having been perhaps replaced by the accordion earlier in the century, but there are ongoing attempts to revive it by various folk music ensembles such as Etnika.
There was also a smaller type of Maltese bagpipe known as the qrajna (a diminutive of qarn ["horn"]).
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
bagpipes
Bagpipes
Bagpipes are a class of musical instrument, aerophones, using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. Though the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe and Irish uilleann pipes have the greatest international visibility, bagpipes of many different types come from...
. The instrument was once associated with Maltese folk-festivals.
Description
Very similar to the bagpipes of North Africa, the Maltese żaqq consists of a chanter (saqqafa) with two side-by-side pipes (qwiemi) made of cane and set into a wooden yoke, using two single-reeds (bedbut). A single bull's horn bell (qarn) is typically attached to the end of the chanter. There are no drones. The bag was traditionally made of (preferably) dogskin, but goat- and calfskin were also used; there are ethnographic reports that skins of large tomcats also served.An 1869 reference describes the instrument as being made of dogskin, played under the left arm with the legs directed upward, and often accompanied by tambourine and dancers. The use of the żaqq in daily life came to an end in the 1970s, the instrument having been perhaps replaced by the accordion earlier in the century, but there are ongoing attempts to revive it by various folk music ensembles such as Etnika.
There was also a smaller type of Maltese bagpipe known as the qrajna (a diminutive of qarn ["horn"]).
Etymology and spelling
It is sometimes erroneously referred to as the zapp due to a spelling error in a 1939 English-language publication. The Maltese word żaqq literally means "sack" or "belly" and derives from Arabic ziqq ( زِقّ "skin" [as a receptacle]). It is sometimes stated that żaqq derives from Italian zampogna but this is not the case.Further reading
- Ruben Zahra. Iz-zaqq the Maltese bagpipe. Mills College Theses, Mills College