Defining these ensembles is, without a doubt, a difficult task. My major problem is that the sources do not agree with each other. (Always a bad thing.) In fact, frequently, my sources avoid naming them at all--simply referring to them as 'wind ensembles' or 'musicians'; hardly helpful. There were different names for these ensembles in different countries. As I have said, pifarri appears to be an Italian name. In France they were referred to as hauts menestrels (literally, loud minstrels!), in Spain ministriles altos (also meaning loud minstrels), and in Germany pfeifer. It does seem, however, that there are general groupings of instruments--perhaps not well-enough defined to be considered an ensemble the way that a string trio or brass quintet is, but still significant.
My independent study will focus on roughly four seperate ensembles (unless, of course, I change my mind). These are the:
