pan pipes

Mechanics & Inner Workings

Panpipes are built by setting up alternating lengths of reed tubes and the player blows into them. They are relatively cheap and easy to construct relative to most other wind instruments. More interestingly, from a fantasy/sci-fi perspective, panpipes are relatively unique among wind instruments in that they don't need human-like lips to operate, just the ability to blow a continuous stream of air. So that means, unlike a clarinet or trumpet, they can be operated by someone with a beak or lizard maw. So tengku and kobolds can play them as well as humans and demi-humans. Between the versatility of potential user and the ease of construction, panpipes are the most culturally wide spread wind instrument in Scarterra.

History

On earth, panpipes go by several names and there is archaeological evidence placing them well into prehistoric times, and the musical potential of different sized reed pipes seem to have been independently discovered in places as far apart as East Asia, South America, and Anatolia. On Scarterra, panpipes were developed in the First Age by kobolds first.

"There is hardly a single innovation that wasn't supposedly invented by dragons orelves. And the idea of a mighty dragon playing a set of small reed pipes is laughable. We kobolds are the oldest bipedal race of Scarterra., and we created the first reed pipes long before elves even existed. Elves copied us, whether they admit it or not. Kobold clans are spread across every continent on Scarterra and our pipes look very similar and we share common tunes across thousands of miles showing the origin of panpipes is very ancient indeed." -Mokbe kobold priest of Phidas

Significance

by me with Midjourney
-Saad the traveling minstrel

"Most professional musicians use some kind of stringed instrument as their primary instrument because you can sing while playing, but a lot of amateur musicians favor wind instruments (so no one asks them to sing). But any musician worth his salt can play more than one instrument, I have some panpipes. Panpipes are really common because any farmer or herder can buy or make one. Panpipes are simple enough that a beginner can learn some decent tunes fairly quickly to amuse friends and family but they are elegant enough that a skilled musician can still play them for royalty and leave a good impression."