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PCM: Are you the only Zampognist in Philadelphia?

Charlie Rutan: To the best of my knowledge I am the only Zampognist in the Philadelphia area.

PCM: Is the fingering different from the highlands pipes?

Charlie Rutan: Oh, it's totally different. The highland pipe has one chanter much like a recorder or tin whistle. The Zamponga has two chanters, the left hand plays the accompaniment the right hand plays the melody, much like a piano. It's like the guy on the Gong Show that played two saxophones at once, except that the mouth pieces are both in the bag and also there's a drone. The bass chanter is so la si do re the melody is fa so la si do re an octave higher and a few accidentals. So you have chanters in octaves and a drone which is on the dominate. There are a lot of different types of Italian pipes. The most popular is the one I have, the Grand Zampogna it sounds an octave lower. It's a huge instrument. There are about seven or eight different types.

PCM: So you had to learn a new instrument.

Charlie Rutan: It?s a totally new instrument. It?s new technique, new fingering. The only thing that is the same is that you're blowing into a bag. The Zampogna was developed as an accompaniment instrument. The melody of this type of music is played on the accompanying Ciaramelle which is the ancestor of the Oboe. Some people like to call it a Piffaro, it's a type of shawm, it's a medieval oboe. This instrument plays the melody, it has the phrasing it can play staccato and rests and accidentals and everything an Oboe can do. The Zampogna plays the moving bass lines the inner voices the counter melody, it also has the drones. It's really like an accompaniment melody texture between the Zampogna and the Ciaramelle.

PCM: Was it hard to find a Zampogna?

Charlie Rutan: I had to go through a guy in Chicago who knew the maker in Scapoli- I knew Scapoli was the center of the instrument. The guy in Chicago was the go between, the maker only spoke Italian. It took about six months from first contact.

PCM: Are you transcribing the music from recordings?

Charlie Rutan: It was much much harder to get the repertoire than it was to get the instrument. It really was. I had three or four recordings of tracks with Zampogna Ciaramelle. I transcribed them so we could play them. We had a vague idea to do some Christmas Carols. Western carols were actually harder to put down on paper for a Zampogna Ciaramelle. There is also one traditional song that was translated outside of the Zamponga world that other instruments can play, Tu Scende Della Stelle. (He descends from the Stars) That's the one everyone wants to hear on Christmas Eve, of course we knew that, it was the first song we learned . Just recently I finally found someone in Italy who would copy a whole mess of music and send it over. So that is what we have in addition to what we transcribed. So it is much harder to get the repertoire than the instrument.

PCM: Tell me about Susan and the Ciaramelle?

Charlie Rutan: Susan is a professional Oboist. She has played with orchestra's and teaches at Settlement Music School. She is a very talented Oboist, once she got the reed making down it was just a matter of writing out the music in a key that her fingers would respond to. For instance a "G" on the Ciaramelle is six fingers down, on the Oboe you get a "D". So we transposed everything to the right key and she can play it fine. It's a matter transposition and getting the right reed.

PCM: Susan makers her own reeds?

Charlie Rutan: Yes, the Ciaramelle is a double reed instrument. Susan makes her own reeds.

PCM: What are the pipes made from?

Charlie Rutan: It is made from in an inner tube. A bus inner tube, originally it was goat skin.

PCM: How many drones?

Charlie Rutan: The one I have has one, there are Zampogna's that have one to five.

PCM: Why did you chose the Zampogna with one drone?

Charlie Rutan: I chose it because it is the most popular. When Italians think of this instrument they think of this one, plus musically it is very versatile.

PCM: Is the Zampogna just played during Christmas?

Charlie Rutan: Traditionally it was played during the advent but there is a lot of history with saints days in addition to Christmas. There is a big festival during August in Scapoli. It is televised and there are many folk groups. It is popular like the highland pipes are here.  Every time I play highland pipes, people come up to me and say things like, 'gee, you really make me feel homesick for Scotland / Ireland', or, 'I haven't heard that song since I was a kid' and they tell me I've struck some deep place in their souls...if I can get that kind of reaction out of people listening to my Zampogna then that's my goal achieved... to bring them this music and take them home, if only for a moment..."