In addition to Webster 1913's bagpipe, musette is the name for a smallish oboe with a conical bore and lacking a reed cap. Pitch is one fifth above conventional oboe. Related to the Tristan Schalmei, a small oboe developed for Wagner's Tristan and Iseult.

This instrument is between 30 and 36 cm long in two joints. There are seven finger-holes, one thumb-hole, and two bell vents; fingering is similar to flute and saxophone. The double reed is thinner than the conventional oboe, with an incredibly piercing sound that can vary widely in pitch according to how it is played.

The major proponent of this odd instrument in jazz was Dewey Redman. It can be heard on the song "Image in Disguise" in his album The Ear of the Behearer and in the kicking track "Rock the Clock" in Ornette Coleman's Science Fiction sessions. To my knowledge the bagpipe musette has not been used in jazz.

Mu*sette" (?), n. [F., dim. of OF. muse.]

1.

A small bagpipe formerly in use, having a soft and sweet tone.

2.

An air adapted to this instrument; also, a kind of rustic dance.

 

© Webster 1913.

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