Bombarde

Bombardes from Kevrenn an Arvorig

The bombarde is a French folk instrument from Brittany. A cross between an oboe and a conical-bored pipe chanter, it is blown in the mouth, with the reed between the lips. Typically pitched in B flat, it plays a diatonic scale over two octaves.

Producing a very strident and powerful tone, it is most commonly heard today in bagads, the Breton version of the pipe bands. Traditionally it was used in a duet with the biniou for Breton folk dancing.

The bombarde requires so much breath that a bombard player (talabarder) can rarely play for long periods. This suits Breton music, where there is often a solo line which is then echoed by a chorus: the bombarde plays the solo line and then the player recovers while the other instruments play the echo.