The Bagpipe Society

The Musette à ravalment, restoration and reconstruction

Not your average musette

Gaspard de Gueidan with his favourite instrument, and a
slightly bemused dog

The musette holds a special place in the wonderful world of bagpipes, as the once favourite instrument of the French aristocrats in the 17th and 18th century. In the second half of the 18th century, people gradually lost interest until the musette went completely out of fashion. Of course, the 1789 revolution helped a bit, too. After nearly 200 years of silence, pioneers like Shelly Grushkin, Michael Muskett, JC Maillard and Remy Dubois brought the instrument slowly back to life. Luckily, quite a few historic musettes survived this long period of neglect. In this article, we will take a closer look at the restoration process of an uncommon type of musette, called a musette à ravalement.

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