Rackett

The rackett is a Renaissance-era double reed wind instrument. There are several sizes of rackett, in a family ranging from soprano to great bass. Relative to their pitch, racketts are quite small (the tenor rackett is only 4½ inches long, yet its lowest note is F, two octaves below middle C). This is achieved through its ingenious construction. The body consists of a wooden chamber into which nine parallel cylinders are drilled. These are connected alternately at the top and bottom, resulting in a long wind passage within a compact body. However, its unusual construction presents some problems for the player. Because of the unusual arrangement of the pipes, the fingering pattern is somewhat unusual. The baroque rackett (developed by the...