In the Candia pipe, it seems likely that Nos. 1 and 2 represented the bell end, slightly expanded, No. 3 joining the broken end of No. 2 at l; there being a possible fit at the other end at s with a in No. 4 (the drawings must in this case be imagined as reversed for parts 3 and 4), and No. 5 joining on to No. 4 at k.
According to Professor Myres there are fragments of a pair of pipes in the Cyprus Museum of precisely the same construction as the one in Candia. In the drawing, the shape and relative position of the holes on the circumference is approximate only, but their position lengthways is measured.
 | |
| (From a drawing by Prof. John L. Myres.) | |
| Fig. 1.—Diagram of the Fragments of an Aulos (Candia Mus.). | |
a, Triple wrapping of bronze as well as slide. b, Slide with hole. c, Slides with two holes not uncovered together. d, Slides with two holes not uncovered together, one hole at back. e, Slide. f, Slide missing. g, Slide missing, scars of slide holes. h, Slide. i and j, Slide. k, Socket. l, Male half of joint. | m, n, o, Slides, the top hole being in the slide only. p and q, Slides, with two holes; the small hole shown is in the pipe, there being a corresponding hole in the slide at the back. r, Bronze covering (and slide?). s, Male joint. t, The wavy line shows the extreme length of fragment. u, 13 mm. inside diameter, 14 mm. outside diameter. w, Engraved lines and conical form of bronze covering. x, Wavy line shows extreme length of fragment. y, Stopped end of pipe with engraved lines. |
The line between r and s is either a turned ring or part of bronze cover. The double lines to the right of t are engraved lines. | |
Bands of silver were found on the ivory pipes from Pompeii[3] (fig. 2), as well as on two pipes belonging to the Castellani collection (fig. 4) and on one from Halicarnassus, in the British Museum. In order to enable the performer to use these bands conveniently, a contrivance such as a little ring, a horn or a hook termed keras (κέρας) was attached to the band.[4]
Thirteen of the bands on the Pompeian pipes still have sockets which probably originally contained kerata. Pollux (iv. 80) mentions that Diodorus of Thebes, in order to increase the range of the aulos, made lateral channels for the air (πλάγιαι ὁδοί). These consisted of tubes inserted into the holes in the bands for the purpose of lengthening the column of air, and lowering individual notes at will, the sound being then produced at the extremity of the tube, instead of at the surface of the pipe. It is possible that some of the double holes in the slides of the Candia pipe were intended for the reception of these tubes. These lateral tubes form the archetype of the modern crook or piston.[5] The mouthpiece of the aulos was called zeugos (ζεῦγος),[6] the reed tongue glossa[7] or glotta (γλῶσσα or γλῶττα), and the socket into which the reed was fixed glottis[8] (γλωττίς).
The double reed was probably used at first, being the simplest form of mouthpiece; the word zeugos, moreover, signifies a pair of like things. There is, however, no difficulty in accepting the probability that a single beating reed or clarinet mouthpiece was used by the Greeks, since the ancient Egyptians used it with the as-it or arghoul (q.v.).
| (Drawn from a photo by Brogi.) |
| Fig. 2.—Roman Ivory Aulos found at Pompeii (Naples Mus.), showing slides and rings. |
The beak-shaped mouthpiece of a pipe found at Pompeii (fig. 3) has all the appearance of the beak of the clarinet, having, on the side not shown, the lay on which to fix a single or beating reed.[9] It may, however, have been the cap of a covered reed, or even a whistle mouthpiece in which the lip does not show in the photograph. It is difficult to form a conclusion without seeing the real instrument. On a mosaic of Monnus in Trèves[10] is represented an aulos which also appears to have a beak-shaped mouthpiece.
The upper part of the aulos, as in the Pompeian pipes, frequently had the form of a flaring cup supported on a pear-shaped bulb, respectively identified as the holmos (ὄλμος) and the hypholmion (ὑφόλμιον), the support of the holmos. An explanation of the original nature and construction of the bulb and flaring cup, so familiar in the various representations of the aulos, and in the real instruments found in Pompeii, is provided by an ancient Egyptian flute belonging to the collection of G. Maspero, illustrated and described by Victor Loret.[11] Loret calls the double bulb the beak mouthpiece of the instrument, and describes its construction; it consists of a piece of reed of larger diameter than that of the flute, and eight centimetres long; this reed has been forcibly compressed a little more than half way down by means of a ligature of twine, thus reducing the diameter from 6 mm. to 4 mm. The end of the pipe, covered by rows of waxed thread, fits into the end of the smaller bulb, to which it was also bound by waxed thread exactly as in the Elgin pipe at the British Museum, described below. There is no indication of the manner in which the pipe was sounded, and Loret assumes that there was once a whistle or flageolet mouthpiece. To the present writer, however, it seems probable that the constricted diameter between the two bulbs formed a socket into which the double reed or straw was inserted, and that, in this case at least, the reed was not taken into the mouth, but vibrated in the upper bulb or air-chamber. This simple contrivance was probably also employed in the earliest Greek pipes, and was later copied and elaborated in wood, bone or metal, the upper bulb being made shorter and developing into the flaring cup, in order that the reeds might be taken directly into the mouth. During the best period of Greek music the reeds were taken directly into the mouth[12] and not enclosed in an air-chamber. The two pipes were kept in position while the fingers stopped the holes and turned the bands by means of the φορβεία (Lat. capistrum), a bandage encircling mouth and cheeks, and having holes through which the reed-mouthpiece passed into the mouth of the performer; the phorbeia also relieved the pressure of the breath on the cheeks and lips,[13] which is felt more especially by performers on oboe and bassoon at the present day.
| (From a photo by Brogi.) |
| Fig. 3.—Beak mouthpiece. Found at Pompeii (Naples Mus.). |