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What a pity looks like. Musical instrument: Zhaleika

The word "poor" does not occur in any ancient Russian monument writing. The first mention of a zhaleyka is in the notes of A. Tuchkov dating back to the end of the 18th century. There is reason to believe that the pity was present before this in the form of another instrument.(jcomments on)

In a number of regions, the zhaleika, like the Vladimir horn, is called the "shepherd's horn". As a result, when a written source speaks of a "shepherd's horn", we cannot know exactly what instrument it is.

The origin of the word "poor" has not been established. Some researchers associate it with "jelly" or "stings" - funeral rite, which includes in some areas the game on the zhaleyka. To study the question of the time when the tradition of playing for zhaleyki arose among Russians, an instrument called “pishki”, which is widespread in the southern Russian regions, may be useful.

There are two varieties of zhaleika - single and double (double-barreled). A single zhaleyka is a small tube of willow or elderberry, 10 to 20 cm long, at the upper end of which is inserted a beeper with a single tongue of reeds or goose feathers, and a bell made of cow horn or birch bark is put on the lower end. The tongue is sometimes incised on the tube itself. There are from 3 to 7 playing holes on the barrel, so you can change the pitch of the sound.

The instrument's sound range is diatonic, the range depends on the number of playing holes. The timbre of the pitty is piercing and nasal, sad and compassionate. The instrument was used as a shepherd's instrument, tunes of various genres were played on it alone, in a duet, or in an ensemble.

Double zhaleyka consists of two tubes of the same length with playing holes, folded side by side and inserted into one common socket. The number of playing holes for paired pitfalls is different, as a rule, there are more of them on a melodic pipe than on a second one.

They play on both pipes simultaneously, extracting sound either from both at once, or from each pipe separately in turn. Paired zhaleyki are used for one-voice and two-voice game. Single zhaleyki are distributed mainly in the northern regions of Russia, and paired - in the southern.

In the Tver province, shepherds made zhaleyki from willow, local nonsense, because zhaleyki there began to be called "brelki". The whole body of the keychain consisted of wood, which is why the sound of it turned out to be softer.

In 1900, V. V. Andreev introduced into his orchestra an improved zhaleyka, which he called a keychain. His appearance this pity is similar to folk, it has a double oboe-type tongue. In addition to the usual playing holes, it has additional ones with valves that allow you to get a chromatic scale.

Once zhaleyka was widespread in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Lithuania. Now it can be seen, perhaps, only in orchestras of Russian folk instruments.

Making Zhaleika

The instrument is a hollow wooden or reed tube 130-500 mm long, 8-15 mm in diameter, with playing holes, from 3 to 10. On one side of the tube is inserted a beeper with a tongue that extracts sounds. On the other hand, sometimes a trumpet from a horn is placed.

If there is no reed at hand and it is not possible to drill a through hole in a wooden stick, do not despair. per century modern technologies and materials you can always find a way out. For this tool, a plastic water pipe is suitable, which can be easily found in almost any hardware store. The plastic from which the pipe is made is easy to drill and process and does not require additional impregnation from moisture.

So that your efforts are not in vain, you need to start with making a squeaker, the sound of a pity will largely depend on it. It can also be made from improvised materials, taking, for example, an old felt-tip pen with a diameter of 5-8 mm and removing all the insides from it first. The hole must be cut according to the attached drawing.

Squeaker drawing

Photo of a beeper. Side view.

The tongue is made of a hard, springy material, similar to plastic bottles or something similar. It is attached to the body of the squeaker with synthetic threads or thin fishing line to prevent damage from moisture, ordinary threads are also suitable, but the service life will be shorter.

Before drilling playing holes, it is necessary to mold the bell of the tool, on some mandrel, after preheating it. The number of holes and their diameter will depend on the original size of the tube itself, its diameter and your wishes. Experimentally, by trial and error, spoiling one or two blanks, you will achieve the desired result. The attached drawing (section of the vein) shows the approximate dimensions and diameters of the holes for the initial reference.

Pity cut. Drawing. Main dimensions.

The adjustment of the zhaleyka comes down to selecting the length of the tongue by winding additional turns of threads (the tongue is shorter - the tone is higher) and boring the holes (they must first be made slightly smaller than necessary).
Zhaleyka, photograph of a folk instrument (without a mouthpiece).

The price of one meter of a plastic pipe is about 20 rubles, and at least 4 zhaleyki can be made from it. Thus, for only 5 rubles you will receive not only the original folk instrument, but, paraphrasing famous verses, you can play a sonnet on the clarinet of water pipes, since the principle of the clarinet is similar to that of a pity. Plus a lot of fun from the process of working on the instrument.
Get started making tools now!

Clay mugs.

A pit can be made from any suitable tube. By making a pit from clay, you can achieve the desired sound and any decorative finish of the instrument.
Additionally, it should be noted that the optimal length of the tool will be 25-30 centimeters, with an internal diameter of 6-8 millimeters.

The squeaker tongue can also be made from a safety razor blade by cutting it to right size using ordinary scissors and turning the edges on sandpaper. It is convenient to attach the tongue to the squeaker with the help of radio-mounted vinyl chloride tubes (PVC cambric).

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zhaleika- an old Russian folk wind wooden musical instrument - a wooden, reed or cattail tube with a bell made of horn or birch bark.

Zhaleika is also known as zhalomeika. Russian national wind instruments are important integral part national musical culture. Scientists attribute the appearance of the first musical instruments to the XIII century BC. Appeared before everyone percussion instruments. Then wind instruments appeared: pipes, whistles, whistles. Horns, zhaleyka, flutes were widely used among buffoons and shepherds.

In the era Kievan Rus they were used in military formations, on solemn occasions at princely courts. Under the rule of Ivan the Terrible and Patriarch Nikon, instruments and performers were persecuted. Russian national musical culture suffered significant damage. True, the people themselves have always loved their musicians. This love saved both the instruments and the traditions of performing on them from complete oblivion.

At the end of the 19th century, the increased interest of Russian society in its national history and culture contributed to the emergence of the first research work according to the folk instruments of A. Famintsyn, N. Privalov, E. Lineva. In time, this coincided with the activities of V.V. Andreev on the revival and improvement of Russian folk instruments. Along with the work on the reconstruction of balalaikas and domras, Andreev V.V. Attempts were also made to improve wind instruments, such as a keychain, a flute.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a Russian musician-nugget, a Pskov peasant

OU. Smolensky designed zhaleyki different sizes and created a quartet of pityers, who performed for a number of years in St. Petersburg. Then M.E. Pyatnitsky introduced the pity into his choir.

Shepherds - horn players themselves made horns of various sizes, which were played in the so-called "choirs" of horn players. At the beginning of the last century, the "choir" of horn players under the direction of the hereditary shepherd N.V. was widely known. Kondratiev.

Because of the difficulty of mastering playing the horns and because of their diatonic scale, the use of horns in folk instrument orchestras is limited.

Folk wind instruments are distinguished by their design features and the method of sound extraction. According to the classification, folk wind instruments are divided into reed, flute (whistling) and mouthpiece (embouchure).

Origin, history of pity

The word "zhaleyka" is not found in any ancient Russian written monument. The first mention of a zhaleyka is in the notes of A. Tuchkov dating back to the end of the 18th century. There is reason to believe that the zhaleyka was present before that in the form of another instrument.

In a number of regions, zhaleyka, like Vladimirsky horn, is called "shepherd's horn". As a result, when a written source speaks of a "shepherd's horn", we cannot know exactly what instrument it is.

The origin of the word "poor" has not been established. Some researchers associate it with "jelly" or "pity" - a funeral rite, which in some areas includes playing the pity.

The zhaleyka was used as a shepherd's instrument; tunes of various genres were played on it alone, in a duet, or in an ensemble.

The device and types of zhaleyka

There are two varieties of zhaleika - single and double (double-barreled) steam room.

Single zhaleyka It is a small tube of willow or elderberry, 10 to 20 cm long, at the upper end of which is inserted a beeper with a single tongue of reeds or goose feathers, and at the lower end there is a bell made of cow horn or birch bark. The tongue is sometimes incised on the tube itself. There are from 3 to 7 playing holes on the barrel, so you can change the pitch of the sound.

The sound range of zhaleika is diatonic. The range depends on the number of playing holes. The timbre of the pitty is piercing and nasal, sad and compassionate. The range of the instrument is one octave; the scale is diatonic, but sometimes chromatic.

According to the range of regrets there are:

a) piccolo - from the notes of the II octave "salt", "mi", "do";

b) soprano - from the notes of the I octave "la", "salt";

c) alto - from the notes of the I octave "fa", "mi", "re", "do";

d) bass - from the notes of the small octave "la", "sol", "fa", "mi";

e) paired or double soprano - from the note "la" and the note "salt" of the I octave.

Double (double-barrelled) or paired zhaleyka consists of two tubes of equal length with playing holes, folded side by side and inserted into one common socket. The number of playing holes in paired pits is different. As a rule, there are more playing holes on the melodic pipe than on the repeating pipe.

Zhaleyka is a reed wind instrument, which for centuries existed mainly in the shepherd's environment and was well distributed in Rus', Belarus, Ukraine and Lithuania. It is a small tube ending in a cow horn bell. The sound of the pity is sharp, nasal.

Zhaleika is the most common musical instrument widely used in folk orchestras. The bagpipe is to blame. Paired zhaleikas are very reminiscent of the sound of bagpipes - the lower voice of the zhaleyka performs the function of a bourdon (it sounds at the same height). The origin of the zhaleyka from the bagpipe confirms its similarity with the design of the melodic pipe of the bagpipe and in terms of the nature of the sound. Among Belarusians, the melodic pipe itself from the bagpipe was called zhaleyka. It consists of a small cylindrical tube (wooden or ebonite), a mouthpiece with a single tongue - a reed or plastic squeaker. The reed tongue is soaked before the game, but the use of the plastic tongue does not require soaking. The trumpet - the resonator of the zhaleyka is made from a cow horn, which is put on the lower end of the tube.

Famous bands and performers on zhaleyka

Orchestra of the Choir named after M. Pyatnitsky soloist V. Voronkov (1950-1960s), Orchestra of soloists "Russian Patterns" soloists M. Vakhutinsky, S. Butushin, S. Mishin, K. Buyanov, I. Buyanova, E. Krasovskaya. Ensembles: "Epic" by S. Moldovanov (1980s), "Skomorokhi" by A. Solovyov (Kemerovo), "Skomorokhi" by V. Akulovich (St. Petersburg), "Zabava" conducted by N. Osipov (Ulan-Ude), the ensemble "Zhaleika" conducted by V. Nazarov, the ensemble of folk instruments "Sadko" artistic director M. gray

Pity Makers:

Astakhov Anatoly (Moscow)

Butushin Sergey Ivanovich (Moscow)

Krasnobaev Vyacheslav (Moscow)

Mishin Sergey (Moscow)

Solovyov Alexander (Kemerovo)

Tkachenko Yuri Mikhailovich (Kemerovo)

Sale of tools: where to buy/order?!

You can order a zhaleika from a craftsman who makes old folk wind instruments or buy it in a network of musical instrument stores, as well as in the Production Plant of Musical Instruments of the P.I. Tchaikovsky, in the Muzprom Concern.

Listen to the sound of pity

We invite you to listen to the sound of pity performed by a professional master. Against the background of pity, Vladimir horns, a flute, a nightingale (water toy) sound.

Pity piccolo MI

Soprano Zhaleika in A by master Sergei Ivanovich Butushin

Steam zhaleyka SALT master Butushin Sergey Ivanovich

Zhaleika is an old Russian folk musical instrument belonging to the group of woodwinds. The exact origin is not known, the first mention of zhaleyka is in the records of the late 18th century.

The instrument is a small tube - about ten, twenty centimeters, made of wood or reed. There are several holes in the side walls of the tube, clamping them with your fingers, you can extract sounds of various heights - strong, somewhat harsh.

If we compare pity with related instrument- with a shepherd's horn, then his tube expands and ends with a bell, and in the case of a pit, the lower end of the cylindrical tube is a separate part and is inserted into the bell. The bell for the instrument is usually made of cow horn or birch bark.

There are two types of tool: single and double zhaleyka. The single one was described above, the double one includes two tubes of the same length with playing holes, which are next to each other and are inserted into one common socket.

Previously, zhaleyka was widespread in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Lithuania. Today, this Russian folk instrument can be seen, most likely, only in orchestras of this theme.

Interesting Facts:

Zhaleikas differ in size and pitch: piccolo, soprano, alto and bass. The number of playing holes can also vary, which is why the range of the instrument changes.

Zhaleika has many names, it is called duda, flat, squeaker, keychain, sipovka, stinger, squeaker, okladushy or just a horn.
It is possible that the sound of a zhaleyka is heard at a distance of six kilometers. Previously, with the help of a pity, shepherds easily collected animals, for example, even a lost cow found its way to the herd by the sound of a familiar instrument.
One of the songs of the artist Valentina Tolkunova is named after the instrument - "Zhaleyka". Also, the name of the instrument is present in the lines of another piece of music artistes: "I can't help it."

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Musical dictionary in stories / Comp. L.V. Mikheev. Moscow, 1984.
Internet resources: https://eomi.ru/, http://soundtimes.ru/.

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Zhaleika is a wind reed musical instrument, which is considered, along with the chalumeau and the Hungarian tarogato, a harbinger of the modern clarinet. This unpretentious and easy to manufacture tool has many varieties. They play on the pity tunes of the most diverse genre nature alone, in duet, as well as in an ensemble with other instruments and singing. This musical instrument got its name due to its "compassionate, sometimes ... crying" sound. In some areas, two more names have been assigned to the zhaleyka - a horn and a squeaker. Such names determined, most likely, the design and material from which the craftsmen made this instrument.

Often a pity is made from a wooden pipe with several holes, into which a goose feather-peeper is inserted on one side, and the other side is pushed into a bull horn (hence the name “horn”). Pishchik can also be made not only from goose feather, but also from reed, walnut, hazel. Some craftsmen have adapted to make a beeper out of wood, as the reed one quickly gets wet, breaks the tuning and does not sound at all. The pipe itself can be made from willow, elderberry, maple, reed (sometimes even from tin). The five finger holes on the pipe are called "voices" and are numbered from bottom to top. During the game, all holes are never open. If you close it in turn, then a scale system is formed: do, re, mi, fa, salt, etc. The length, size and diameter of the horn into which the second end of the pipe is inserted affects the pitch, strength and timbre of the sound. The horn is usually taken bovine, as it is ribbed in a cow. It is polished, boiled for a long time, a hole is drilled, and then it is adapted to the pipe, sometimes glued, sometimes not.

In the villages of the Alekseevsky and Krasnogvardeisky districts of the Belgorod region, the double zhaleyka, or pischik, was especially common. The squeaker differs from a simple pity in that it has two pipes, which are inserted again into a bull's horn, well cleaned, so that the walls become thin and glow.

The bell of the horn should be bent more. This affects the strength of the sound. From the stories of folk instrumentalists of the Belgorod region E.M. Saprykin (born in 1905, the village of Afanasievka, Alekseevsky district) and M.V. Sychev (born in 1910, the village of Streletskoye, Krasnogvardeisky district), we can conclude that the manufacture of tools is a delicate and scrupulous business. It requires the creator not only to strictly follow the technology, but also to love music in general. The method of making a squeaker is as follows: tongues are cut on the trunks of peeled reeds; both pipes are fastened together and united by one bell from a bull's horn. Tool barrels are named according to the number of holes there, that is, “tee”, “gear”.

The instrument is tuned so that one beeper continues the scale of another. In general, the squeakers do not have a standard scale. The build of the instrument depends on local traditions, repertoire and the individual characteristics of the performer. Most of the repertoire of the pityers is made up of dance tunes.

From the materials of folklore expeditions to the Alekseevsky and Krasnogvardeisky districts of the Belgorod region, it became known that at the end of the last century there were few masters of playing the unique traditional musical instrument that was widespread here earlier - the double zhaleyka. The most famous among folklorists-researchers were two of them. This is Fedor Grigoryevich Voronkov (born 1914), who lived in the village of Kazatskoye, Krasnogvardeisky district. The names of his tunes have been preserved since the 19th century: “General”, “Steppe”, “Let me go”, “Petrakova”, “Crushed”. Also known leader folklore ensemble"Userd" of the village of Nizhnyaya Pokrovka, Krasnogvardeisky District, Viktor Ivanovich Nechaev (born 1965). He plays the zhaleyka and owns the tradition of making it. He also spoke about the design of the modern zhaleyka.

However, not only folk musicians play and make pity. Professional musicians began to do this with enthusiasm. Here is the story of V.I. Nechaev about the design and features of the modern zhaleyka:

Nowadays, metal or ebonite tubes are often used, in the body of which there can be from three to seven holes for changing the pitch. The zhaleyka with seven holes in the tube has a full diatonic scale within an octave. It is tuned, as a rule, to a major key with a lowered VII degree, which is typical for Russian folk music. musical tradition. Depending on the size of the zhaleyka, there can be different tunings, which is important in ensemble and orchestral playing. Folk wind instruments do not have exact standards, therefore each of them has certain individual qualities (design, tuning, range, timbre).

The most important structural part of the zhaleyka is the mouthpiece with the reed. In order for the instrument to have a well-defined tuning, the mouthpiece with a reed (reed) must, by itself, without a resonator, emit the main tone of this tuning - for example: "D" in D major. On vintage pity the tongue (beep) was cut by the craftsmen directly on the main tube or on a separate small tube, which was inserted into the channel of the main tube. At the same time, the performer had to close the free end of the squeaker tube with his tongue.

In our time, the design of the mouthpiece has been somewhat improved. Its free end is made deaf, a rectangular narrow cut is made along the mouthpiece to its deaf end, which opens the internal cavity. Above the cut, a tongue (beep) is installed, which is attached at the base of the cut with a ring of PVC tube. Such a mount not only makes it possible to securely fasten the tongue to the mouthpiece, but also, which is very important, to change the instrument's pitch, within a quart, by moving the ring in one direction or another. A small tube-cap is put on top of the main tube of the zhaleyka, which protects the tongue from accidental damage, and at the same time, thanks to it, the technical possibilities of execution are expanded. The size and location of the holes on the main tube of the instrument does not have exact dimensions. In popular practice, the distance between the holes is approximately equal to the thickness of the finger (i.e. about 25 mm). The size of the holes (their diameter) is determined when setting up the tool empirically. The larger the hole, the higher the sound. In addition, the diameter of the main tube bore also affects the size of the holes and the distance between them.

Sound extraction on a zhaleyka requires some effort. The greater this effort, the higher its system can rise (within ¼-½ tone), and vice versa. In addition, intermediate chromatic sounds can be played on this instrument by incompletely closing the holes. In principle, it is possible to manufacture instruments in any tuning. The range of the zhaleyka usually covers an octave, but can be wider by another fourth. In addition, an experienced player can expand the range by pressing upper teeth on the base of the tongue and thereby extract 2-3 more additional sounds of the scale. Professor of the Moscow Conservatory A.V. Rudneva notes that in the Kursk villages, a zhaleyka with a small bell made of a cow horn is called a “horn”, and a zhaleyka with a large bull horn and a lower order is called a “buzzer”.

Zhaleika has an octave diatonic scale in the system "la-", "mi-", "fa-", G-major. Other tonalities are also used. Decreasing the tuning down at the same time increases the size of the blade and, at the same time, the distance between the finger holes (scale), and vice versa, which creates additional difficulties when playing.

In notes, zhaleika is written in treble clef, in the first octave. Zhaleika is a primitive instrument. Its endless improvement would eventually lead to the creation of a clarinet, and then its main amazing originality would be lost.

Zhaleika consists of a tube with six holes on top and one (for the thumb of the left hand) at the bottom, a specially processed cow horn, a squeaker with a cane and a mouthpiece. All these five elements “work” in unity, so the thoughtless replacement of one component with another, even if in appearance the same - is unlikely to bring the desired result.

Zhaleyka is held with both hands in front of him at chest level, almost horizontally. Nameless, middle and index fingers the right hand is covered with three holes closest to the horn. The thumb of the right hand supports the tube at the bottom. It is necessary to strictly ensure that the thumb of the left hand covers the seventh, lower hole. Otherwise, the column of air inside the tube breaks, and the pity makes one uncontrollable sound. It is very important to develop a sense of the necessary force of air blowing. When extracting higher sounds, more breathing is required and vice versa. When sound is produced, the metal mouthpiece is not removed from the zhaleyka. It is best to get used to zhaleyka with the extraction of middle notes, and not extreme notes. In this case, the right feeling of the force of air blowing comes. On a pity, playing the piano is impossible. Excessive sound power is unacceptable. Controlling by ear, it is necessary to determine this limit for yourself. In the case of a clear overestimation of the force of air blowing, the pit will “stick”. It should be remembered that the top two notes do not have fine tuning and, in part, depend on the skill of the performer. Each sound corresponds to a certain number of open and closed holes. Each note has its own fingering. No "amateur activity" in this case is unacceptable. If the performer has experience playing the flute, recorder, etc., then getting to know the zhaleyka will not be more difficult for him. The predominant technique of playing the zhaleika is legato, in which sounds of different pitches are performed in one breath, with the help of clear and smooth fingering. Sounds good and "staccato". In this case, the tongue, touching the mouthpiece, cuts off the air supply after each note.

When mastering the zhaleyka, you may encounter such a problem: condensate and saliva naturally accompany the playing of this instrument and interfere with sound production. For trumpeters and other musicians, this problem is solved by the presence of a special valve, with which excess moisture is removed. There is no such device on the blade, so after a long game you need to carefully remove the aluminum mouthpiece and dry the ebonite squeaker and reed with a piece of newsprint. This should be done if the abundance of moisture clearly interferes with the game. Without this need, there is no need to disturb the cane once again. At the same time, one must vigilantly ensure that no crumbs of wet paper remain under the cane. Otherwise, the system of pity will be broken.

The sound is produced by a technique that can be conditionally called "dry spitting". With continued practice, the drying method will be used less and less and, over time, this will no longer be necessary. The mouthpiece, squeaker and reed must be kept especially clean. In addition to purely hygienic requirements, you need to know that a crumb of tobacco, for example, or a piece of thread, etc. caught in a cane, they can nullify all the work. Therefore, it would be good to wrap each zhaleyka in a separate plastic bag when moving. Folded together, they perfectly cushion when transported in a balalaika case along with a balalaika.

Setting up a zhaleika is a very delicate process. The cane is attached with two or three plastic rings, with two rings holding the cane, and the third is used for tuning. Moving the tuning ring a fraction of a millimeter away from the horn raises the pitch and vice versa.

The reed should only be replaced if it breaks, although it can last for years under normal use. Changing a cane is a rather tricky process. It is impossible to make two exactly the same canes, so the new cane will be different from the old one and will need to be “customized”. This operation must be started good mood, considering that success cannot be achieved in one minute. Having strengthened the new reed with cambric rings, it is necessary to carefully tune it. Good result also gives the reed movement along the slot of the ebonite beeper. In this case, the rings do not move, only the cane moves.

If the sound turns out to be “flimsy” and the reed sticks on the “tops”, it is necessary to free the reed from the rings and carefully cut its working end with a sharp knife by a fraction of a millimeter. This thickens the vibrating part of the reed and thickens the sound. In the event that the sound turns out to be clearly rough, it is necessary to remove the cane, press it firmly against a piece of glass (a mirror, for example) and scrape working part with her razor blade, bringing it to nothing. Thus, the vibrating part of the reed becomes thinner. good recommendations clarinetists can give you instructions on how to make a plastic cane for a pity.

When did the regret appear? Where did the word "poor" come from?

Why is the zhaleyka considered a Russian folk instrument?

The history of the creation of the tool "pity" (accessible to children).

Description of the musical instrument "pity".

Zhaleika is an old Russian folk wind wooden musical instrument - a wooden, reed or cattail tube with a bell made of horn or birch bark.

On a green meadow, a shepherd
From birch bark he made himself a horn,
And plays from dawn to dusk,
Nightingales sing along even at night.

A song is pouring about how the river
The girls sat down to weave wreaths for themselves.
And one is so unspeakably good,
What went into the shepherd's soul.

And now he can neither sleep nor eat,
And only songs flow sad chime.
Thoughts in my head, and only everything about her,
No one in the world is dearer to him.

Dark blue girls eyes,
With a bright bow, her blond braid,
You hear, hear, beauty, horn,
The shepherd boy is playing a song for you.

Zhaleyka is the name of a folk wind musical instrument belonging to the reed group. This is a traditional shepherd's instrument. Zhaleika was used mainly by residents of Smolensk, Voronezh, Kursk, Pskov, Tver, Novgorod, as well as Moscow, Ryazan and Tula region. According to its design, the zhaleyka is divided into single and double (paired). This tool is called differently in the regions of Russia; single - "horn" (Kursk region); "ladusha" (Gorky region); , pishchik "(Belgorod region); , sipovka" (Penza region); double - "double" (Vladimir region); "zhalanki" (Ryazan region); , canes" (Penza region)

Two-piece zhaleyka

The principle of extracting sound is the same for all pitfalls: it is the vibration of the squeaker's tongue.
The word "zhaleika" is not found in any ancient Russian written monument. The first mention of zhaleika dates back to the end of the 18th century. There is reason to believe that zhaleika was present before that in the guise of another instrument. The origin of the word "zhaleika" has not been established. The instrument's sound range is diatonic, the range depends on the number of playing holes. The timbre of the zhaleika is piercing and nasal, sad and pitiful. They play tunes of different genres on the zhaleyka alone, in a duet, or in an ensemble.

In 1900, V. V. Andreev introduced into his orchestra an improved zhaleyka, which he called a keychain. In its appearance, this zhaleyka is similar to the folk one, it has a double tongue of the oboe type. In addition to the usual playing holes, it has additional ones with valves that allow you to get a chromatic scale.

Once zhaleyka was widespread in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Lithuania. Now it can be seen, perhaps, only in orchestras of Russian folk instruments.

Making a cane jar

First, we need material, that is, reeds. Do not confuse it with cattail, we absolutely do not need it!

The word "reed" means many plants, including cattail, and reed, and the so-called "nurse". We also need an ordinary reed - a perennial cereal, from 1 to 4 meters in height, with panicle inflorescences. It has a hollow cranked stem. Reed grows along the marshy shores of lakes and rivers, in swamps.

So, we take a backpack, a knife, put on waterproof shoes and go for a reed (for a dry (!) Reed). Get ready for the fact that your crazy hands can turn into crazy legs, as you have to walk for a long time. Once in the thickets of this plant, it is necessary, as Kozma Prutkov bequeathed, to see into the root, since it is at the bottom, near the soil, that the thickest knees are located. We are interested in knees with a diameter of 7 mm and a length of 15 cm. If you are planning to make a pity, you will also need birch bark from a fallen birch (it is easier to remove the bark from it, and in general you need to protect nature!). Now that you have collected a lot of suitable material and warmed up your chilled limbs, let's start processing it and making a pipe. We need the following tools - a sharp knife, a round or semicircular needle file (if there is, if not, it does not matter), a long stick (you can take a rod from a pen, etc.) and a match.

First, you need to clean the reed from the leaves. Then we separate the knees strictly at the point of articulation!

Since impatience eats us up, we make the simplest option. We take a suitable knee (diameter 7 mm, length 15 cm).

We saw off at the break point (you can use a jigsaw).

We take a needle file or a sharpened match and pierce the membrane.

Inside the reed stalk is covered with a thin film that must be removed. To do this, we take a long stick and clean it inside with reciprocating movements, and then blow through the barrel. Using a sharp knife, remove a thin layer from the edge where the membrane is.

Here you will understand for the first time why you need a whole bag of cane. A tongue will be cut in the cleared place. The thicker it is, the more effort will have to be applied in order to make it vibrate. The thinner, the more likely it is to stick. The height of the sound depends on the length, thickness and width of the tongue. The tongue is the main part of the pipe! The tongue is made approximately 2.5 cm long and 4 mm wide. Like this.

Now you can try to extract the first sounds. Does not work? You may have misplaced the pipe in your mouth. The tube should go quite deep into the mouth in order to allow the tongue (not yours, but the pipes) to fluctuate. With your own tongue, you must close the hole in the membrane. Let's try again. If it worked out, then you are great! If the pipe does not sound and even the air does not pass, then the tongue is stuck. We take a linen thread and put it under it like this.

After this procedure, the sound will definitely appear. Now how to make play holes. We take a knife and cut it out according to the following scheme: 1st 3 cm from the edge, 2nd 3 cm from the first, 3rd 1.5 cm from the second, 4th 3 cm from the third. Hole diameter approx. 5 mm. Four holes is more than enough. In our century, there was hardly a larger system than tone-tone-semitone-tone. Now you can play and enjoy! For those who want to get confused a little more, there is birch bark left. We cut it into strips, coat the edges with glue (what your conscience will allow) and twist the horn. We make a blank of a pipe with a tongue, but without holes, and fit the horn to it, but not yet on glue. It turns out to be a pity!

If you're going to build a pity for a certain key, then you have unlimited possibilities - a whole bag of reeds! The pitch of the instrument will depend on this case from:

tool length with horn
tongue
the force with which you blow

We have already written about the tongue above. Length: The longer the instrument, the lower the sound and vice versa. The tuning is carried out with a dressed horn. If the sound is lower, cut the reed; if it is higher, wind the birch bark on the horn. Having caught the desired note (and it is very difficult to do this, because the tongue gets wet and starts to lower, and sometimes stick), we begin to cut holes. They are made in the same way as in a simple pipe. We cut through the first and adjust. If it is low, we cut it closer to the tongue, if it is high, to the horn. Having set up the first game hole, we do the rest in the same way. Holes can be sawn through with a semicircular file, or even better, burned. It’s quite difficult to achieve fine tuning, so you have to “finish” with your breath. The harder you blow, the faster the tongue vibrates, i.e. the sound is higher, but the degree of sticking increases. But you can not rack your brains, but tell others that you have an untempered system on your pity, which is quite historical! True, if you intend to play in tandem with the harp, they will have to be adjusted for you.

The existence of this type of instrument has been proven ethnographically, and its existence in the 9th-11th centuries. seems very likely, because the simplicity of manufacturing a hornless version allows you to make a pipe even for a child.

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