PIFFERO: Italian musical instrument

The piffero is a double reed musical instrument that has a conical bore. This musical instrument belongs to the family of oboe. The piffero is used to play music in the tradition of the Quattro province. The instrument is also played throughout southern Italy with various fingering patterns by local tradition.

The musical instrument is a descendant of the medieval shawm and belongs to musical family of bambarde.

The reed used by the musical instrument is put in a conical brass tube that is itself put in a pirouette. This distinctiveness that is shared with oriental and ancient oboe instruments is unique in the Italian world.

The musical instrument is made with 8 tone holes, one hole is on the back of the instrument is always covered with the thumb finger of the left hand and ends with a bell, where a cock tail feather respites during execution.

In northern Italy, the musical instrument was accompanied by an Appennine bagpipe called Müsa. In the early part of the 20^th century, the Müsa was largely substituted by the accordion, which some musician found more versatile in some ways.  Meanwhile, toward the ending part of the 20^th century, the bagpipe musical instrument made a comeback and presently, the piffero is generally accompanied by either of these musical instruments, or by the two.

The musical instrument is sometimes used as the name of an organ stop that emulates the sound of members of family of shawm. While piffero is the name of an organ stop called voce umana.

Another Italian word for piffero is fife. Piffero is as well the name of a performance ensemble known in renaissance music.