Ukrainian folk instruments that will surprise you

Folk musical instruments reflect everyday life, crafts and even national character - this is an extremely interesting topic to explore. We offer our top 10 Ukrainian musical instruments that will probably surprise you.

Top 10 Ukrainian folk instruments that will surprise you

1. Cymbals

Vintage String Percussion Musical instrument, its ancestor - the recumbent harp comes from Ancient Greece, where it was called "cymbal", which in Latin turned into "cymbal". Certainly not it is known by which routes the cymbals got to Ukraine, whether from Byzantium or from north through Belarus, but already in the XIII century, historical sources record Similar tool.

Traditional Ukrainian cymbals have a flat in which, in order to achieve a bright and free sound, two holes-vowels. Rows of strings are stretched above the body on the rebels. In ancient times They were made from animal veins, later replaced by metal ones. The sound of cymbals achieve by hitting the strings with a stick.

2. Cuckoo

The cuckoo or ocarina is an unusual clay flute spherical in shape, with 7 to 10 round finger holes. The name comes from from form and sound — the traditional cuckoo schematically resembles a bird and is in addition to musical instrument is also a talisman-talisman. The sound of the cuckoo is similar to Bird chirping.

Similar bird whistles are also known in others European peoples. The historical roots of this instrument are very ancient — its ancestors appeared when people mastered pottery.

3. Goat

A goat or a pipe is archaic and very original An instrument similar to the Scotch bagpipes. It is a solid bellows with goatskin, in which two holes with tubes are made: through one of the tubes, music blows air into the bellows, which escapes through another (which has several pyshchykiv), creating a bizarre, incomparable sound.

The goat can still be heard during the Christmas carolling in the Hutsul or Boykiv regions. Like the character of traditional performances Goat This tool is a kind of tribute to the animal, on which the well-being and survival of the inhabitants of this area.

4. Bugay

A bass instrument with a powerful sound reminiscent of the roar of a bull, hence the name. Like all folk instruments in the old days, it was made by the musicians themselves. The design is simple: a small wooden tub, the holes on both sides are covered with leather, a tuft of horsehair is attached to the upper one in the centre, like a tail.

Playing the bull pulling wet hands for this one tail - this extracts a deep, drawn-out sound from the barrel.

The bull is one of the traditional tools for performing carols and Christmas ritual performances. Interestingly, it was distributed in the Ukrainian territories subordinated to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and later gained popularity in neighbouring countries.

5. Kozobas

Probably the most recent in terms of the time of occurrence tool in our selection. It was first recorded sometime in the 1960s on Ivano-Frankivsk region, where this homemade distant relative of the double bass used music at weddings and during carolling.

The prototype of the goat had a bizarre appearance and consisted of simple household items: a wooden tub or bucket, a rocker, wire instead of strings and an ordinary stick as a bow. Of course, the sound was very sharp and resembled a goat's cry rather than music - this is one of the versions of the origin Names.

Over time, the improvised instrument began to become traditional, the details were transformed into a specially made neck, resonator and strings, although they retained a certain simplicity and roughness. Bow goats are wooden and serrated, and the neck is crowned with a carved goat's head, with with a plate-hat over the horns.