Shawms/Rauschpfeife

The shawm is a historic wooden wind instrument belonging to the family of double-reed instruments. It is the precursor of the modern oboe and bassoon. This instrument was probably brought to Europe by the Crusaders and quickly became popular, especially in dance music, due to the fact they are much louder than the flutes and fifes that were already in use.

Shawms can be made from different types of wood; I usually use maple, cherry, pear, walnut, and hard exotic woods such as wenge, rosewood, amazaque, and padauk.

I most commonly make them in the keys of G/a and C/d. On request I can also make them in other keys.