Tiple

Tiple (Sp.: treble) [Lat. triplum, threefold], 1. syn. of guitarillo, on the Canary Islands also called timple; 2. in Cuba a small bandurria with 5 pairs of strings; 3. tenor chirimía of N. Catalonia, prominent in the cobla (band), pitched in F, a 4th above the oboe, treated as a *transposing instr., with a compass d1–g3 written a0–d3. Like the *tenora, the tiple was modernized in the 19th c. and fitted with keywork. Played with a wide double reed recessed in a *pirouette; 56 cm. (22 in.) long…