to make the drone the fundament of linear melody. to beat the rhythm emphatically. to shake loose the wind. the gull is the chanters melody to the droning sea sky. to breath out and to beat the floor and to cause the virus to be free. to be taken on the wind.

pibau pencader is a lifelong self funding music project in west wales devoted to playing, making and researching pibe cwd and pibgyrn.



ceri rhys matthews... about fifteen years ago i moved to the village of pencader in west wales. for some time i had been playing welsh bagpipes and hornpipes with jonathan shorland. when the village hall was refurbished, i began to use the building to pass on the knowledge i had gained to anyone interested. the activity went under the name pibau pencader - pencader pipes. not only did i want to pass on the skills i had learned but also i wanted to learn from local craftsmen, people with an interest in local history, culture and so on.

the numbers of people attending grew steadily and soon there was a demand for instruments. these were supplied by two people who had attended from the beginning. john glennydd and john tose were both craftsmen in wood but now began to turn their attention to woodwind instrument making; mr tose to bagpipes and hornpipes and mr glennydd more specifically to the pibgorn, or hornpipe. john glennydd also brought tunes to pibau pencader that he had begun to remember from his childhood days including "bois y cware" as sung by bronco at new year, as well as other gems.

over the years, the needs of individuals have changed and developed and the structure of pibau pencader has changed from ad hoc meetings to more formalised individual as well as group tuition in specific aspects of piping as well as broadening the instrumentation and concentration on local vernacular repertoir.

between 2001 and 2005 a pipe festival was held in pencader and the neighbouring village of llanfihangel-ar-arth, using buildings available such as the fourteenth century church and eighteenth century chapel to offer world class concerts of foreign pipers alongside local pipers. related activities included workshops, a dance, song sesions, local food produce, traditional sports and a coracle regatta.

another development is that individuals have begun to perform in duos, trios or as solo pipers. these groups fulfil various demands locally such as playing at dances, weddings, fairs, carnivals, funerals and so on. one of these groups was pibe bach. others include pibau preseli and the mordekkers

the most recent development is a twenty five year self funding poject in dolgellau, called prosiect ioan rhagfyr. the project is in its fourth year. primary school children and adults are being taught to make and play the flute and the pibgorn. this spring an orchard was planted at coed y brenin, in co-operation the forestry commission, to grow the wood for the instruments. the long term aim is to reintroduce the tradition of flute and pibgorn playing to the area as well as to encourage nascient woodwind making activity.