by Yuri Terenyi » Tue Jul 31, 2012 12:51 am
Hi Steve, I'm going to go on with the aulos topic here, as it's yet another going off-topic in the recorder thread.
So, to get onto the subject, I made it clear at the beginning to the customer in question that there is a controversy about whether auloi had single or double reeds. Since we are talking about a family of instruments that existed for as an absolute minimum, a millenium, and in many regions, this is by no means a simple question. Taking into account the fact that at roughly the same time there were very closely related instruments used by non-Greek (and non-Roman) peoples in the wider area, it becomes even more of a problem. The launeddas is a good example. It existed at the same time as the aulos, except it didn't die out. Single-reed.
My personal feeling is that most of the time true Greek and Roman auloi wre double-reed beasts. However, I'm also quite sure that single reeds were employed as well, perhaps more in rural settings. But essentially sharing the music.
Anyway, I made my repro using single reeds, as I don't even dare to attempt making double reeds myself. I also made them using narrower bore than what survives. It always puzzled me how wide bores did the auloi use. There are perhaps some 20 or so articles dealing with the remains, and I read nearly all. It seems that a bore of around 10mm was normal. Boggles the mind. The only kind of instrument I can think of of similar dimensions is the Armenian/Turkish duduk, which is double reed, but sounding more like a clarinet.
There is also the very considerable problem of the scale. I personally didn't even consider the microtonal steps, that some proposed. I think if the Greeks were able to enjoy music ranging within two notes, all microtones, thy wouldn't have lasted as long as they did. In any case, the instruments, while it's possible technically to force them to play within a couple of notes, with all those fingerholes, are fairly obviously designed for normal diatonic playing. I settled for a section of a "normal" minor scale. In fact, the way it is, it corresponds more-or-less to the Dorian scale. The two pipes are equal.
Pity I cannot post a photo, I haven't taken any as I don't have a camera, and the guy sent me a photo of the pipes being displayed together with some other repro Greek things. like an amphora, a bronze sword and the like, but it got lost.