To function, a bagpipe must, at the very least, have an air supply, a bag, a blowpipe and a chanter; it usually includes one or more drones. The bag is made from the skins of sheep, goats or cattle. Resembling a horn, the chanter is the melody pipe with a reed. The drone, which resembles a flute, is another pipe with a reed.

Compared to the typical Scots pipes, in which the tubes are inserted into the bag individually (though near each other), in most Sicilian ones the chanter and drones all emanate from a single, hollow wooden "plug" attached to the bag. As the sound results from a more-or-less uniform airflow toward and through the plug, it differs very slightly from that of the Scots pipes. The design also influences playing technique.

In Italy a bagpipe is called a "zampogna," and the player is a "zampognaro." (This gave rise to a surname based on bagpiping as an ancestral profession.) The Sicilian "chiaramedda" is just one kind of Italian bagpipe, though among the most popular in Sicily.

Most of the remaining bagpipers of Sicily work in the Etna region. As you might imagine, the tunes they play are Sicilian, rooted in Sicilian folklore.

About the Author: Andrea Catalano has written numerous articles and one book dealing with Sicilian popular (folk) culture.