Musicians who purchase these pipes can be expected to play as solo artists, as panpipes are rarely used in orchestral settings. They are usually too quiet to use otherwise.
The physics of panpipes is based on the concept of the closed tube. Imagine blowing into an old rum bottle. We know that blowing into the bottle correctly creates a tone. Old-time bands often used just this sort of instrument to create rhythm for the fiddler to play off of. The same principal applies to the panpipes. Panpipes are merely closed pipes of various lengths bound together and organized by size. According to the website Sound on Sound, a website devoted to music technology, describes the way air creates the notes thus, "At some point in time, the air at the mouth of the pipe...
Soon the air is blown outwards by the continued pressure. This is what makes the noise, the wave of air that comes out of the pipes. The length of the pipes can create different tones for the same reason. The amount of air which is moved creates either a tighter wave or a looser wave. Less air will create shorter waves, and thus a higher pitch.
Poscoiu, Costel. "History of Panflute." Pan-flute.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb 2011. .
Reid, Gordon. "Synthesizing Pan Pipes." Sound on Sound. Sound on Sound, 01-008-2003. Web. 14 Feb 2011. .
