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. 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 bores, the fingering pattern is somewhat unusual. The baroque rackett had an entirely rationalized simpler fingering due in part to the addition of a number of tetines, which are tubular metal extensions covered by the middle joint of the index fingers as well as the pinkies during playing. It cannot be tuned by altering its length. While some say moisture buildup may become a problem, condensation usually remains in the coil of the removable brass crook, thus being fairly simple to expel during pauses. Despite its idiosyncrasies, the baroque rackett is a versatile instrument with a wide range of notes and tones.