Pipe (instrument) Pipe (instrument) A pipe is a tubular wind instrument in general, or various specific wind instruments. The word is an onomatopoeia, and comes from the tone which can resemble that of a bird chirping. Fipple flutes are found in many cultures around the world. Often with six holes, the shepherd's pipe is a common pastoral image. Shepherds often piped both to soothe the sheep and to amuse themselves. Modern manufactured six-hole folk pipes are referred to as pennywhistle or tin whistle. The recorder is a form of pipe, often used as a rudimentary instructional musical instrument at schools, but so
Tin whistle groups, especially popular during the American folk music revival. In 1973, Paddy Moloney (of The Chieftains) and Sean Potts released the album "Tin Whistles", which helped to popularise the tin whistle in particular, and Irish music in general. Mary Bergin's "Feadóga Stáin" (1979) and "Feadóga Stáin 2" (1993) were similarly influential. Other notable players include Carmel Gunning, Micho Russell, Joanie Madden, Brian Finnegan, and Seán Ryan. Many traditional pipers and flute players also play the whistle to a high standard. Festy Conlon is considered by some to be the best slow air player. Award-winning singer and musician Julie Fowlis recorded