Folk Instruments

Tradicional musical instruments of Međimurje

TAMBURA (tamburitza) – a group of tradicional Croatian string instruments, especially popular in certain parts of Croatia like Slavonija, Podravina and Međimurje

Kinds of tamburitza:

• bisernica

• brač

• bugarija

• čelo (cello)

• čelavić

• berda (bass)

bisernica: prim or prima, the smallest instrument in tamburitza orchestra, it has 3 strings

brač: it is bigger than bisernica so it has a deeper sound

čelavić i čelo (cello): they are similar to bugarija in size. They are responsible for the dinamic of a musical number. In a way they emphasize interpretation. Every year there is a New Year's Concert by tamburitza ochestra of HRT, held in Croatian National theatre and it is broadcasted through national TV station and radio

Tradicional musical instruments of Međimurje

• berda (bass): it is the biggest instrument of tamburitza orchestra. It is also the main instrument in constructing the orchestra

• bugarija: it is similar to a guitar. It has 3 or 4 strings. Chords are played on bugarija. It has a higher sound than the guitar

• cimbal: it is an instrument that consists of a wooden resonance box in a shape of trapeze. It has many strings which are played with wooden sticks. It can be played solo or with a singer. It is played laying on a table or on a special stand. A person who plays the instrument when walking, has it tied around the neck

The “marranzanu" or "scacciapensieri" is an old aerophone musical instrument, with a particular kind of sound. It consists in a metallic support in a horseshoe shaped, in it is fixed a steel thin plate. The "marranzanu" is played putting the support into the mouth and making the thin plate vibrating with a finger, meanwhile you let the air go out from your diaphragm. The sound that you can hear is very particular and unique. According to the mouth movements that works like a sound board the sound can be acute or deep. This instrument has Arabian origin and was used in agro- pastoral zones.

MARRANZANU

It is made up of a kind of clay pot, for water or wine used as an aerophone musical instrument. In this empty clay pot some breath is blown with strenght to reproduce a deep booming sound. The etymology of the word comes from the Greek “bombylios” or “bombyle”, it is an onomatopoeic word that repeats rumbling sound of the water poured.

BUMMULU

It is a percussion, membranophone instrument made up of a wood circle with harness bells all around and a donkey skin or a sheepskin braced on it. In the ancient times it was used in magic and ritual ceremonies, in the west of Sicily. It is the old "cymbal" of Greek-Roman orgiastic ritual culture.

TAMMUREDDU

FRISCALETTU It is a wind instrument from Hellenic origin, made in Mediterranean cane. It is like a shepherd's flageolet with a beak shape mouthpiece called "shim" and some holes to finger it. It belongs to the agro-pastoral culture.

THE BALTIC PSALTERY (kanklės)

Is a traditional folk music string instrument. The body of the Baltic psaltery is made of the wood of leafy tree. The lid

is usually made of spruce. Usually there are 5-12 strings.

BIRBYNĖ

Is made of the skin of the tree, horn, straw and the feather of the goose.

THE SKUDUČIAI

Is made of reed, ash-tree, linden or oak. This musical instrument consists of 5-8 pipes of different lengths.

Folk Instruments Gallery is the only in Poland and Europe collection of

over one thousand instruments, old toy instruments and instruments created contemporary – that is the name ‘folk’.

ADUFE OR PANDEIRO

CLASS:

Membranophone

REGION:

Beira Baixa, Trás-os-montes

CARACTERISTICS:

The ADUFE or PANDEIRO is a square double skinned frame drum. The skins are

sewn together, often with seeds between them. It is held with the thumbs of both

hands and the pointer of the right hand, leaving the other fingers free to hit the

instrument. This instrument was introduced in Portugal when Moors invaded the

Iberian Peninsula in the 8th century.

SARRONCA

CLASS:

Membranophone

REGION:

Alto Alentejo

CARACTERISTICS:

The SARRONCA is a friction membranophone

composed of a stretched skin over a jug that will

serve as a resonance box.

GAITA DE FOLES

CLASS:

Aerophone

REGION:

Minho, Trás-os-montes (Miranda do Douro)

CARACTERISTICS:

The GAITA DE FOLES is popular in the north of

Portugal and it´s document from the 13th century in

the “Cantigas de Santa Maria” (Canticles of Holy

Mary).

GUITARRA PORTUGUESA

CLASS: String instrument

REGION:

Beira Litoral (Coimbra), Estremadura (Lisbon)

CARACTERISTICS:

The GUITARRA PORTUGUESA is a 12 string

instrument popular in the accompaniment of the

traditional Portuguese song FADO.

- (MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS)

BANDURRIA:

In Europe this instrument can only be found in Spain. It taken part in Andalusian floklore. The bandurria is a plucked chordophone from Spain, similar to the mandolin, primarily used in Spanish folk music, but also found in countries that were once colonies of Spain. The modern bandurria has 12 strings (6 pairs).

GUITAR:

The guitar is a musical string instrument. It’s an icon of our cultura. Is a popular musical instrument classified as a string instrument with anywhere from 4 to 18 strings, usually having 6. The sound is projected either acoustically or through electrical amplification (for an acoustic guitar or anelectric guitar, respectively). It is typically played by strumming or plucking the strings with the right hand while fretting (or pressing against the frets) the strings with the fingers of the left hand. The guitar is a type of chordophone, traditionally constructed from wood and strung with either gut, nylon or steel strings and distinguished from other chordophones by its construction and tuning.

CASTANETS:

They are percussion musical instrument made from Wood. Due to comercial exchange, they were spread all over the Mediterranean countries, such as Croatia or Italy: althought Spain is one of the countries with a good tradition of castanets. They are one of the national instruments, as well as the spanish classic or flamenco guitar.

1. STRING INSTRUMENT

Bağlama is the most commonly used string folk instrument in Turkey. It takes different names according to the regions

and according to its size such as Bağlama, Divan Sazi, Bozuk, Çögür, Kopuz Irizva, Cura, Tambura, etc.

Cura is the smallest member of the bağlama family with the highest pitched sound. The member one size bigger than

cura which gives a sound that is one octave lower than cura is the tambura. And the one with the deepest sound is the

Divan sazi whose sound is one octave lower compared to tambura.

Bağlama has three main parts called Tekne, Gögüs and Sap. Tekne part is generally made from mulberry trees as well as

from woods of juniper, beech, spruce or walnut. The gögüs part is made from spruce and the sap section from homespun or

juniper.

There are pieces called burgu (screw) at the end of the sap which is opposite to tekne part to which the strings are

tied. These screws are used for tuning. There are pitches on the sap tied with fish line. Baglama is played with a Mizrap or

Tezene made from cherry wood bark or plastic and fingers are used in some regions. The later technique is called Selpe. There are three string groups on Bağlama in groups of two or three. These string groups can be tuned in a variety of ways. For example in the tuning style called bağlama Düzeni, the strings in the lower group give ‘la’, middle group strings and upper group strings give ‘mi’ notes. Besides this type of tuning there are Kara Düzen, Misket Düzeni Müstezat, Abdal Düzeni, Rast Düzeni etc. styles.

BAĞLAMA

2.BOW INSTRUMENT

KARADENİZ KEMENÇESİ

Karadeniz Kemençesi is a bowed Turkish folk instrument. As can be surmised from its name it is an instrument widely used in the Black Sea Region. Its body is made from mulberry, plum and juniper woods. The wooden part of the bow generally rose wood or box wood. Horse hair is tied to the ends of the bow. Kemençe is a three-string instrument. While kiris strings from gut used be put on kemençes, these days mostly metal strings are used. Kemençe is an instrument without pitches and and it is possible to get from it all types of chromatic sounds easily. It is generally played by pressing two strings at the same time and getting parallel quarter notes. It is furthermore played with a special technique which is achieved with wrist movements.

3.WIND INSTRUMENT

ZURNA

Zurna is a Turkish folk instrument of the wind type. Because of its strong sound it is generally played in the

open air, on occasions such as village weddings, sending off the boys to military service,sport encounters, folk dances

and similar ceremonial events. It was the first melody instrument of the Mehter teams (Janissaries Band) in the

Ottoman Period. It was also used in some traditional theater (orta oyunu) performances. It is generally accompanied

with a drum. Because of the difficulty of its intonation and its high sound level, it is not used in musical groups.

However, in the recent years it started to be used by some folk music groups.

Zurna has a sound range of nearly two octaves and has eight melody keys with seven of them on the front and

one on the back. The key at the back is so located as to come between the first two notes towards the reed section at

the front. The keys are generally round with 6-8mm diameters. The length of the instrument changes between 30 – 60

cm and widens out like a funnel starting from the part the melody holes end. This section is called the kalak. At the

blowing end there is a thin pipe like rod over which the reed goes. This rod is called Metem. A separate circular piece

with a hole in the middle is put over the Metem to help the breathing technique. This piece is called Avurtluk. The most

common zurna playing technique is the continuous playing technique where while the air collected in the cave of the

mouth is blown out from the reed, inhaling through nostrils occurs simultaneously.

There are seven holes besides the melody keys on the kalak section which are smaller in diameter. They are

called şeytan deliği (devil’s hole) or cin deliği (genie’s hole). They can be closed with wax or a similar material according

to the sound hunting of the player.

The instrument which changes between 60 and 30 cm. in length as we have already mentioned is divided into

three types according to its sound :

Kaba Zurna, Orta Kaba Zurna and Cura Zurna (Zil Zurna). They are generally made from wood of trees such as plums,

apricots, walnut, saber etc.

4.WIND INSTRUMENT

THE TURKISH ‘’ NEY ’’ The Turkish ney is an end-blown reed flute, an Ottoman variation on the ancient ney. Together with the Turkish tanbur lute and Turkish kemençe fiddle are considered the most typical instruments of Classical Turkish music. The ney also plays a primary role in the music of the Mevlevi Sufi rites (semâ). A rim-blown, oblique flute made of giant reed (Arundo donax), the Turkish ney has six finger-holes on the front and a high-set thumb-hole on the back. The thumb hole is not centered, but rather is angled to the left or right depending on whether the instrument was intended to be played with the left or right hand on top. A feature that distinguishes it from similar instruments of other cultures is the flared mouthpiece or lip-rest, called a bashpare, traditionally made of water buffalo horn, ivory, or ebony, but in modern times many are plastic or similar durable material. The Turkish ney is played by pressing the bashpare against nearly-closed lips and angling the flute so that a narrow air-stream can be blown from the center of the lips against the interior edge to the left or right, depending on whether the flute is left- or right-handed in construction. This technique gives a lower volume, but a better controlled sound compared to the technique used with the Persian ney or the Mongolian tsuur, which are played by tucking the mouthpiece under the upper lip and making contact with the teeth. Besides the finger holes, the pitch is altered by adjusting the embouchure, angle and force of the breath, with more forceful producing the higher pitches. Compared to most fipple flutes and reed instruments, the ney is very difficult to play at first, often taking several weeks of practice to produce a proper sound at all, and even more to produce the full range of pitches. A skilled ney player can sound around 100 identifiable different tones in a two-and-a-half octave range or more.