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SYRINX (ovpryE)

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Originally appearing in Volume V26, Page 317 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SYRINX (ovpryE) , the See also:Greek name for the See also:pan-pipes. The principle on which it See also:works is that of the stopped See also:pipe, but it is blown in the same manner as the See also:ancient See also:Egyptian See also:nay or oblique See also:flute. The pipes composing it were stopped at one end, so that the See also:sound waves had to travel twice the length of the pipe, giving out a See also:note nearly an See also:octave See also:lower than that produced by an open pipe of equal length. The breath directed horizontally across the open end, impinged against the See also:sharp inner edge of the pipes, creating the See also:regular See also:series of pulses which generate the sound waves within the tubes. The syrinx consisted of a varying number of reeds, having their open ends or embouchures in a See also:horizontal See also:line and their stopped ends, formed by the knots in the See also:reed, gradually decreasing in length from See also:left to right. Each pipe gave out one note, but by overblowing, i.e. increased pressure of breath and tension of lips, harmonies could be obtained. The syrinx or pan pipes owes its See also:double name to ancient Greek tradition, ascribing its invention to Pan in connection with a well-known See also:legend of the Arcadian See also:water-nymph " Syrinx." 2 The exact See also:form of the See also:instrument and the number of pipes (1o) at the beginning of the third See also:century s.c. is shown in one of 1 The See also:Syriac versions made by him and his successors have unfortunately perished (see See also:Wright, p. 213). 2 See Serv. ad See also:Virgil, Ecloga, ii. 31 ; and See also:Ovid, Metam. i. 691, &c.the Idyllia figurata,3 in which the legend is repeated. The pan-See also:dean pipes continued in favour with the rustic populations of the See also:West See also:long after the See also:organ evolved from it had eclipsed this humble prototype.

The syrinx was in use during the See also:

middle ages, and was known in See also:France as frestel or freetiau, in See also:medieval Latin as See also:fistula pans, and in See also:Germany as Pansflote or Hirtenpfeife (now Papagenoflote). At the beginning of the 19th century a revival of the popularity of this instrument took See also:place, and quartets were played on four sets of pipes of different sizes and See also:pitch. The See also:modern mouth-organ is the representative of the syrinx, although blown by means of a See also:free reed.

End of Article: SYRINX (ovpryE)

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