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cha·lu·meau | \ ¦shalə¦mō \
plural chalumeaux\ -ōz \
Definition of chalumeau
1a : a medieval wind instrument consisting of an upright tube surmounted by a small tube in which was fixed a double reed : shawm
b : an obsolete single-reed wind instrument of varying size that after progressive modifications became the clarinet
2 : chanter sense 3
3 : the lowest register of the clarinet
—often used as a direction to play a passage an octave lower
4 : a reed organ pipe usually of 8-foot pitch and of clarinetlike tone
— called also schalmei
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