Gaida
The gaida (also spelled "gajda") is a bagpipe from South Eastern Europe (The Balkans). Mainly found in Bulgaria and Macedonia, other forms of the instrument are found in surrounding countries, although not as frequently.
- note: all translations are in Bulgarian. Other cultures (such as Macedonia have different names for the Gaida and its components.
Table of contents |
Instrument Components
Bag
This consists of a large bag made out of tanned goat hide that is air-tight. Its purpose is to supply the chanters with air. When this bag is squeezed under the player's arm, air is forced through the reeds of the chanters creating a sound (and a loud one one might add). The sockets inwhich the chanters and blowpipe fit into are called "Glavini" in Bulgarian. These are usually made out of Cornel wood or some type of animal horn.Blow Pipe
This is a short, conical wooden or bone tube in which the player blows to refill the bag. At the end of the Blow Pipe that is within the leather Bag, there is a small piece of leather or felt that allows air into the bag via the Blow Pipe but not back out.Chanters:
These are the tubes that create and change the sound
Reeds (Lemellas)
Each chanter is fitted with a musical reed made from cane, Elder wood, or the best, bamboo. The fit into the side of the chanter that goes into the bag. The reed its self is a round tube plued at one end with cork or wax. The other end is open and notched creating a membrane that vibrates when air is passed through. The end of the reed is wrapped in string to create an airtight seal when inserted into the chanter. This string, depending on where its wrapped around the reed, changes the chanter's tuning. The wrapping is traditonally lubrecated with suet, although the "cork-grease" used for clarinets also works fine. If the reeds don't sound properally, the notch cut in the open end of the reed can be tightened closer to the tube part of the reed using a rubberband to create a narrower gap.
Melody Chanter (Gaidunitza)
This is a smaller tube (chanter) with a conical bore made from cornel wood, or plum wood. It has 8 holes in it: the first four are covered by the thumb and first three fingers of the left hand, then the four fingers of the right hand cover the remaining four holes farther away from the player's body. The feature that sets the gaida's chanter apart from other bagpipes around the world is the "Flea-Hole" (also known as a mumbler or voicer) which is covered by the index finger of the left hand. The Flea-Hole is smaller than the rest and usually ocnsists of a small tube that is made out of metal or a chickan\duck feather. Uncovering the Flea-Hole raises any note played by a halfstep and is used to create the musical ornementation that sets Balkan music apart.Drone Chanter
This chanter is a long, three-piece tube usally measuring four feet. It has no holes in it like the melody chanter does meaning that it can only play one note, a "drone". This note is much lower than those that can be played by the Melody chanter (because it is longer and its reed is twice as big) and is usally only used in traditonal Bulgarian Village Music. It should be noted that the drone isn't put over the player's shoulder like in bagpipes played in Western Europe.Related Instruments
The Gaida has many cousins. a full list can be found Here Some of these include:
- Bock (Czeck)
- Duda (Hungarian\Polish)
- Koza (Polish
- Diple (Dalmatian Coast)
- Tulum (Turkish)
- Gajda (Macedonian\Alternate Bulgarian Spelling)
- Gajdy (Serbian\Polish)
- Gaita (Spainish)
- Surle (Croatian)
- Mezoued\Zukra (Northern Africa)
Categories: Musical instruments | Bulgarian music | Macedonian music