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This mahogany pitch pipe is of the type commonly used in churches before the days of organs, for pitching the key of tunes.
This mahogany pitch pipe is of the type of type commonly used in churches before the days of organs, for pitching the key of tunes. It consists of a barrel with a mouthpiece. Inside the barrel is a sliding piece of wood with a piece of cork at one end and a handle at the other. The user would blow into the mouthpiece while drawing out the sliding wooden part - the further it is drawn out, the lower the note.

1 pitch pipe: wood (mahogany); good condition

MERL 'Catalogue index' card – 'Pitch pipes of this kind were commonly used in churches before the days when they had organs, for pitching the key of tunes. It consists of a mahogany wood barrel 12 inches in length 1.7 inches high and 1.3 inches wide. There is a mouthpiece and a hole .2 inches from the mouthpiece. At the other end of the hollow barrel is fitted a sliding piece of wood which fits tightly into the inside of the barrel. This piece of wood is 11.5 inches in length and it has a shaped handle at one end, projecting from the barrel, while at the other is a piece of cork. A lead strip runs along the top. The sliding wooden part must be drawn outwards to produce a sound, the note being high when it is pushed right into the body of the barrel, and correspondingly lower as it is drawn outwards. The pitch pipe works on the same principle as the ordinary tin whistle, that is of blowing into a close space with only a small aperture.', Lavinia Smith No. 107., Lavinia Smith Catalogue (D60/28) - 'A list of the contents of the East Hendred museum. July 5 1940 // Small articles on the Wood Table // 107. Pitchpipe [sic] by which the parish clark pitch the tunes in the days when there was no organ in churches' (The entry in Smith's catalogue is crossed out in what looks to be red crayon), Lavinia Smith Catalogue (D60/28) [page 38] - 'No.107 Pitch Pipe // [pencil sketch] // 11 1/2'

Rippon, Miss Dorothy May Lyddon (Agent)