safford: pan-pipes of peru 



187 



the theoretical lengths of pipes producing corresponding notes 

 of the diatonic scale. If the length of the c pipe be indicated by 

 L, the c' pipe, an octave higher, measures one-half this length, 

 or ^ L, while the lower C pipe measures twice its length, or 2 L. 

 The upper g, or sol pipe, which produces the fifth, or dominant, 

 measures f L, while the lower G pipe is twice as long as the 

 latter, or t L. The length of the upper / pipe, which produces 

 the fourth, or subdominant, is f L, while the lower F pipe is 

 twice as long, or f L. In the same way, we have the length of 

 the upper e, or mi pipe, producing the major third 1^ L; the 

 lower E pipe I L; the upper a, or la pipe, f L; the lower A, i L; 

 the upper h, or si pipe, tV L; the lower B pipe, if L; that is, tV 

 longer than the c pipe. 



The pipes were not all cut with equal accuracy: sometimes a 

 reed was a little too long or too short, consequently producing 

 a flat or a sharp tone. 



The following table shows the actual measurements in milli- 

 meters of the reeds composing the smallest pair of syrinxes in 

 the United States National Museum. (No. 210,439). 



It could hardly be expected that in making instruments so 

 crude as these pipes, fashioned from simple reeds, the Indians 

 should have an established standard pitch. Slight variations 

 were found in different sets of instruments in the same orchestra, 

 although an attempt had undoubtedly been made to attune them 

 perfectly. An odd Peruvin syrinx in the collection of the United 



