“The Chukchi have their own legends, ancient traditions and folk poetry, expressed in games and songs,” he wrote. A.A. Argentov, - At the games, songs are sung with text; Their motives are quite diverse... When singing, the Chukchi make expressive gestures, men beat tambourines, purr monotonously and observe an indispensable tact.
At times they imitate the roar and cry of various animals and birds, which they do with great skill" ( Argentov, 1857. S. 69). "The Chukchi love singing," notes V.G. Bogoraz- especially during the holidays. Every family and even every person has a few tunes of their own. Some of them are hereditary, others of their own composition "( Bogoraz, 1934. S. 23).
The highest organizational form of the existence of folk music as an art has become the song and dance competitions that arose in the distant past and have survived to this day. They were held both between artistically gifted people of the same village, and between residents of different villages.
The winners were awarded with gifts. Sometimes these were specially created songs in honor of the winners. In 1938, for example, in honor of the Chukchi Atyka- the winner of the song and dance competition in the city Nome in Alaska a gift song was created from the Eskimos of Alaska.
In the distant past, reindeer herders developed a peculiar technique of guttural (throat) singing pilyeyn "en. The singer draws in air, compresses the throat ligaments, stretches his lips widely to the sides, and, inhaling the air, makes a kind of rustling sound. Changing the compression of the throat and the stretching of the lips, it changes the pitch.Experienced singers can combine guttural singing with the usual, called tip'ein "em, forming two independent voices-timbres. Pilg'ein "en has peculiar artistic possibilities in depicting various natural phenomena, pictures of everyday life. In some cases, this is a running herd of deer pursued by wolves, riding deer or a spring tundra covered with flowers, flight of birds, in others - various labor processes, moods and human experiences. In some villages of Chukotka, competitions in the performance of guttural songs are still held. They are called ain "arachvyn - sound competition.
Ancient Chukchi melodies still sound today. Their preservation was facilitated by the tradition of transmission from generation to generation of family, community songs with characteristic rhythms and intonations. Already at birth, each Chukchi, along with his name, receives from his parents a nominal song composed in the first days of the birth of a child. It reflects certain features of the newborn, dreams about his future. Growing up, the child learns and memorizes the personal songs of parents, grandfathers, and other relatives; as an adult, he composes songs himself, including a personal name song. In it, he expresses his individuality, emotional mood.
Chukchi folk music developed mainly as a vocal music. She did not have musical instruments with a strictly fixed pitch. Only the tambourine-yarar percussion instrument received widespread recognition and widespread use. A.A. Argentov wrote that "every householder certainly has a tambourine. With a tambourine, the Chukchi complains, and rejoices, and shamanizes." V.G. Bogoraz added: “The tambourine-yarar is an integral element of the home shrine ... Each family should have its own tambourine, the exercise on which during certain holidays is obligatory for all household members, men and women ... On long winter evenings, the Chukchi take up the tambourine just for entertainment" (Bogoraz, 19016, pp. 51-52).
Usually the most experienced musician plays the tambourine, setting the rhythm and dynamics of the performance of the piece to the singers and dancers. At festive celebrations, often several musicians play tambourines at once. There are dances and pantomimes, the musical accompaniment of which is constructed in such a way that at a certain point the singing is interrupted for several measures and the pantomime continues only to the accompaniment of tambourines. In other cases, pantomime is accompanied only by the playing of tambourines. Often the soloist himself accompanies himself on the tambourine during the performance of pantomime. It should be noted that at all reviews and festivals of amateur performances held in the Soviet years, none of the Chukchi amateur ensembles has ever used any musical instrument, except for the yarar.
The Chukchi also had other musical instruments. In the works of V.G. Bogoraz, the simplest wind and noise (buzzers, howlers) musical instruments are mentioned. Describing, for example, the "loon holiday", he notes that "the Chukchi imitated the singing of these birds with whistles made of goose feathers or wood with whalebone tongues." Folk songs are performed on various occasions, in various settings. Some resurrect in the memory of performers and listeners vivid pictures of events that once took place. These "memorial songs" are most often family heirlooms and are not meant to be performed in public. New improvisation songs (personal, nominal, memorable) currently being created usually reflect joyful events in a person’s life, but they are created according to the samples of the songs of ancestors, on the basis of their intonations, characteristic rhythms. A new phenomenon in the song and musical creativity of the Chukchi is the creation by original composers of songs based on the verses of professional Chukchi poets - A. Kymytval, V. Keulkut, M. Valgyrgin.
It is quite difficult to recreate the history of Chukchi folk choreography. Pre-revolutionary sources do not contain any significant descriptions of this side of the life of the people. We have only fragmentary, scattered material. Judging by the descriptions of ethnographers and travelers, the traditional dance art of the Chukchi was part of the rituals and holidays that played an important role in their social life.
It should be noted that the term "dance" can be called the plasticity of rituals and holidays only conditionally. These are rather pantomime dances, in which imitative elements occupy a leading place. Almost all the holidays of the annual cycle of the deer Chukchi contain ancient ideas about the role of the wild deer in the life of the people, accompanied by theatrical performances depicting the habits of the deer, various moments of hunting. Some dances are performed to a peculiar accompaniment - throat singing. This kind of dance is called pichgainen (throat shouting). In the rituals and holidays of the settled Chukchi, which also had a fishing and magical character, sea animals often appeared, but general patterns were manifested here as well.
Another type of dance was performed to the accompaniment of tambourines. If pichgainen did not have a stable form, then in dances with tambourines there is already a division into two groups, places for dancers and musicians who accompany on tambourines are determined. Accompanists should stand with their backs to the entrance, opposite them - dancing women. V.G. Bogoraz noted that this way of dancing among the Chukchi was called vetchalyt (standing), as the performers danced almost without leaving their seats.
The third type of dance, characteristic of thanksgiving rites, was called tevlyargyn (shaking). In the religious and cult tradition of the Chukchi, a great place was given to mystical methods of protection from evil spirits. One of them was tevlyargyn.
The most ancient features of pantomime dances were preserved in the festival of "resurrection" of animals, where men portrayed hunters, and women imitated the habits of animals. The dancers portrayed a successful hunt, "assured" the beast that he would be treated with due respect. Judging by the fact that the first researchers of the Chukchi emphasized the obligatory nature of this section of rituals, it can be assumed that earlier these pantomimes were the center of the entire festival. Dances "with grimaces" are peculiar, to which F.P. Wrangel, who noted that the main advantage of the dance of Chukchi women is facial expressions. In some pantomimes, she dominated all elements. Unfortunately, according to the available data, it is difficult to get an idea of the semantic and purposeful orientation of these dances.
In addition to pantomime dances, which were obligatory elements in the plot outline of rituals and holidays, there were also those that were more of an entertaining character. They were performed solo or in pairs to the accompaniment of a tambourine. These improvisations, without losing their traditional form and plot, acquired new shades, which gave them an entertaining rather than a magical character. An indicator of the transition of pantomime dances from ritual to spectacular can be a humorous assessment of the depicted.
Chukchi dances are a bright and original phenomenon, the roots of which are lost in the mists of time. It can only be said with certainty that the plasticity of Chukchi dances is based on imitation, imitation of the behavior of animals that were the main object of hunting. In the depiction of animals and birds, the Chukchi achieved true perfection, being able to convey an accurate idea of the beast with one or two movements. The dances of the Chukchi do not differ in mobility. The upper body is more active. The performers almost never move, swaying from side to side, crouching, stretching, moving their shoulders and arms. There is little movement on the site. If several people are dancing at the same time, their movements are not coordinated. Dances were performed for quite a long time - 12-14 hours. The choreographic part of the rituals and holidays was usually started by their organizers, the owner and mistress of the yaranga.
The modern dance art of the Chukchi, while retaining its national characteristics, has been enriched with new forms and content. At the same time, one of the effective forms of displaying modernity is still pantomime dance. The most numerous dances of the trade theme are: " walrus hunting", "fox hunting", "duck hunting"Etc. Observation, excellent knowledge of the animal world, amazing accuracy in the plastic reproduction of the behavior of the beast mark these pantomime dances. New forms of collective dance performance have also appeared - the national amateur dance ensembles "Deer", "Sun", "White Sail" , "Chukotskie Zori", "Rakushka", etc. The creation of folk groups helps to preserve the riches of traditional musical folklore.In 1968, the first professional Chukchi-Eskimo musical and choreographic ensemble "Ergyron" ("Dawn") was created.
Vargan (Khomus, Kubyz)
The world of shamans... It is very mysterious and attractive to modern man. In the age of technological progress and breakneck speeds, the connection between people and Nature is almost completely lost. With our subconscious, we understand that interaction with it is very important, as it gives strength, and life fills with meaning. That is why we are attracted to shamans - mysterious people who cherish this connection, deify and revere Nature, and are able to communicate with it, because they have the gift of immersion in a special state for communicating with spirits. Shamans' arrangement of the world is very figurative and poetic. In their rituals, which are called rituals, vestments and attributes play an important role. Thus, tambourine and jew's harp are indispensable participants in shamanic rituals. The tambourine opens the passage to other worlds for the sorcerer, and the jew's harp serves as a talisman against evil spirits. Vargan is a truly magical instrument not only in the hands of a shaman, but also of an ordinary person. If you are tired of any work, then after playing the jew's harp, you will feel that such music-making helps to relax and even enter into a state of easy controlled trance. This is a great tool for improvising and expressing various feelings.
Sound
Vargan refers to a variety of self-sounding reed musical instruments. It has an unusually velvety, but at the same time “metallic” sound that is pleasant to the ear, which calms and sets you up for reflection. Incredibly beautiful sounds and overtones, and sometimes even in combination with throat singing - this is simply unimaginable magic that acts bewitchingly and leads away from the realities of life.
It is not difficult to extract sounds on the jew's harp, for this you need to press the base of the instrument tightly against your teeth or lips, leaving a small gap between them so that the tongue of the jew's harp can freely enter there, which must be pulled when playing. The function of the resonator is performed by the oral cavity, by changing the contour of which the performer achieves a varied timbre of the instrument's sound. It is impossible to teach the real technique of performing on the jew's harp, it comes by itself during regular training. True professionals in their performance use labial, lingual, pharyngeal and laryngeal methods to extract sound, while using the airways, lungs and even the diaphragm.
A photo:
Interesting Facts
- Vargan is an instrument that has become widespread throughout the world, each region has its own name. There are hundreds of names of the instrument, here are some of them: Abafiv, Agach-kubyz, Akiz tamburashi, Anconch, Bambaro, Berimbau, Binayo, Bivba, Birimbao, Brumle, Vanni Yayai, Vargas, Varkhan, Vurgan, Kubyz, Kunkon, Myny, Panga, Rbiba, Khamys, Khomus, Khuur, Chang-kobus, Pangar and many others.
- Vargan is the Russian name for the instrument, which comes from the Old Slavonic word varga, which means mouth, mouth.
- Women of Altai love to play music on the jew's harp, using a special technique of playing, in which the sound is extracted only with the tongue - without the help of hands. They use this specific method when milking cows, which, listening to the sounds of the harp, give more milk.
- At one time, the jew's harp was actively used by members of the Sicilian mafia to transmit encrypted signals.
- Masters of jew's harp say that before you start playing a new instrument, you need to "merge" with it - to give up your energy. To do this, you need to wear it for some time as a pendant around your neck or put it in your pocket and in no case pass the jew's harp to another person. Only by observing these conditions, the instrument will sound effortlessly, bringing pleasure to the performer.
- The international center, as well as the largest museum of khomus (harp), which is recognized as unique, is located in the capital of the Republic of Sokha, Yakutsk. The main funds of the museum contain about 9 thousand exhibits collected in different countries of the world.
- Previously, in Altai and Siberia, jew's harps were made only by those blacksmiths who were relatives of shamans.
- Yakut khomus in December 2011 was sent into space orbit, where, together with the crew of the Soyuz spacecraft, he stayed for more than 190 days.
- The first International Harp Music Festival was organized in the American city of Iowa City in 1984.
- The Seventh International Festival of the Vargan (Khomus), held in Yakutsk in 2011, was noted in the Guinness Book of Records, as it was attended by a record number of participants - 1344 performers on the Vargan.
- In the USSR, during the reign of I. Stalin, the jew's harp (khomus) was banned as an instrument of shamans - sorcerers, who during this period were subjected to severe repressions.
- In the USA, the jew's harp was called the "Jewish harp", but why the instrument has such a strange name, the Americans cannot really explain.
- The electronic jew's harp was created by the world famous jew's harp performer R. Zagretdinov in 1991.
Story
When and where the history of the jew's harp, the most ancient instrument, which in many countries is considered to be folk, begins, is not known for certain. According to the assumptions of some historians - art historians, the time of its appearance can date back to approximately the third millennium BC. However, there is an opinion that the birth of the instrument falls on a much earlier period, at the time when man invented the bow - a throwing weapon that served him not only for food, but also for entertainment. Inserting one end of the bow into the ground, or clamping it between the toes, and the other, resting on his teeth or on the palate, he made sounds with the help of sticks and fingers (this method of playing music is still common among the tribes of Central America). However, there is a version that a simple chip could be the progenitor of the jew's harp. Similar instruments made from this material are still found in our Siberia (Republic of Tyva).
The exact place of origin of the jew's harp is now impossible to establish with certainty. The geography of its distribution, as well as archaeological finds of the ancient instrument, is very extensive. There is a hypothesis that the harp appeared in different regions independently of each other, since the instrument of each nation has a set of unique characteristics inherent only to it, and also differs in material, shape and manufacturing technology. Initially, wood, bones, and in eastern countries also bamboo served as a material for making a jew's harp, but such tools were very brittle and therefore, a person began to make jew's harps from metal as soon as he learned and learned how to process it. Initially, the first metal jew's harps looked a bit like modern lamellar instruments and were a narrow, thin plate 10 to 15 cm long and 1-2 cm wide. Over time, its shape was changed for greater expressiveness and loudness of sound. The tool acquired a metal frame in the shape of an arc.
Already in ancient times, the jew's harp was considered a sacred instrument and was used in religious rituals, as well as for healing purposes. In Europe, the jew's harp became especially popular in the Middle Ages, for example, young people attracted the attention of pretty girls with the voice of the instrument. Somewhat later, the jew's harp conquered secular salons with its exotic sound. Playing music on it was considered a fashionable occupation among representatives of the upper classes.
The European state, where the production of jew's harps was most actively engaged, was Austria. In the 19th century, in the small town of Molne, about forty families were engaged in the manufacture of tools, which made two and a half million tools a year. In the same 19th century, musical instrument makers and performers were constantly experimenting with the jew's harp. So the German musical inventor Johann Scheibler installed ten jew's harps tuned according to chromatism on a supporting disk, the new instrument was called "aura". And a little later, the organ master Friedrich Buschmann, based on the reed design of the jew's harp, invented everyone's favorite harmonica.
The oral folk art of the Chukchi is a variety of legends, myths, tales on both everyday and mythical topics, historical legends. The main character of most stories and fairy tales is mainly the raven Kurkyl, who is credited with many skills and magical talents. He helps people, instructs them how to live and act correctly, teaches them various crafts, introduces norms and rules into life and everyday life. Raven Kurkyl is a kind of creator of the world, along with a deity. In some fairy tales, there is a story about the marriage of a person with animals, such as a polar bear, walrus, whale, seal.
Chukchi folk tales have the following directions: mythological, household and animal tales. Along with fairy tales, there were legends and narratives on everyday and historical topics that mention wars and clashes between the Chukchi and the Eskimos, Koryaks and Russians.
The musical direction is very close in character to the music of the Koryaks, Eskimos and Yukaghirs. Each Chukchi had to compose at least three melodies throughout his life, at different periods of his life: in childhood, in adulthood and in old age. Children's melodies were often given to their children by their parents. Also, a person could compose melodies for one or another important event in his life, for example, marriage, the birth of a child, parting, etc. Each melody or song had a characteristic manner of performance, for example, lullabies were performed in a special “curling” manner, which made the song similar to the singing of a crane.
Shamans had special songs. They were always performed extremely emotionally, as if conveying the messages of patron spirits. They sang their chants, accompanied by blows to the tambourine, which was beaten with a special shaman's stick, thick and soft.
Of the musical instruments among the Chukchi, tambourines were especially common. Their design was different for different Chukchi peoples. Among the coastal Chukchi, the handle of the tambourine was attached to the rim, while among the tundra, the cruciform handle was located on the bottom of the tambourine. Tambourines were divided into men's, women's and children's. He was very cherished in the family, and was considered a shrine. On holidays, while singing songs, the tambourine was struck with a special whalebone stick.
In addition to the tambourine, the traditional folk musical instruments of the Chukchi include a lamellar jew's harp, which was made from a birch, bone or metal plate. In other words, a jew's harp is a mouth tambourine.
The stringed musical instruments of the Chukchi are lutes. They were made tubular, box-shaped or hollowed out from a solid piece of wood. The material of the bow was whalebone, willow splinters, and for the manufacture of strings, veins or intestines were used, and only in later times - metal.
YARAR - CHUKOTKA DRAMA, THE OLD AND MOST COMMON MUSICAL INSTRUMENT OF CHUKOTKA RESIDENTS. THE DEER SKIN IS STRETCHED ON THE WOODEN RIM, ALDER, LARCH, BIRCH ARE USED FOR THE RIM. THE MALLER WAS MADE FROM WHALE BALE OR A WOODEN STICK. yarar - tambourine
VANNYARAR - "DENTAL TAMMER". VANNYYARAR IS MADE FROM BIRCH, BAMBOO (FLAVON), WHALE BALE, BONE OR METAL PLATE. LATER A BILINGUAL HARVAR APPEARED. A LABEL IS CUT OUT INSIDE THE PLATE, GRADUALLY NOWERING TOWARDS THE END. AT THE BASE OF THE TONGUE THERE IS A HOLE WITH A THREAD IN IT. BY CHANGING THE VOLUME OF THE MOUTH CAVITY, THEY GET THE NECESSARY HEIGHT AND PERFORM THE TRADITIONAL PLAYS. vanyarar - oral tambourine
JUV'S JAW - BROWN JAW'S JUF. IS A METAL FORK WITH A ROUND LOOP AND EXTENDED ENDS. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LOOP, A STEEL TANK WITH A HOOK-LIKE BENT FREE END IS REINFORCED. THERE ARE JAWS WITH TWO OR THREE TONGUES. JUV GAWS ARE USED FOR THROAT SINGING, IMITATION OF THE VOICES OF BIRDS AND ANIMALS. jew's harp
TELITEL IS A TWO-BLADE TURNING TURN - A VORTEX FREE AIRPHONE. BY ROTATING BOTH HANDS THE LACES ARE TWISTED. BY ALTERNATELY STRENGTHENING AND WEAKENING THE TENSION OF THE SHORES, TELITEL ROTATES QUICKLY IN ONE DIRECTION, THEN IN THE OTHER SIDE, MAKE A BUZZING SOUND. IN THE TRADITIONAL CULTURE OF THE CHUKCHIAS, TELITEL HAD A RITUAL SIGNIFICANCE, WHILE NOW IT IS USED AS A CHILDREN'S TOY. telitel
VYOPCHANAN HAS EIGHT VARIETIES. IT IS MADE FROM A BARK OF A TREE, A HORGEN SPRING OR BONE, A WARLUS BUBBLE, FROM A SWAN BONE, A WALALALUS TUSK OR A BEAR TOOTH, FROM PIECES OF BIRCH BARS, A SHRUBS. WHEN THE WHISTLE IS PRODUCED A SCREECHING SOUND. IT HAS BEEN USED FOR LONG OLD WHEN HERGING DEER AND DURING BIRD HUNTING AS A CALL. vyepchanan
MEMBRAMOPHONE - A RATCH IS MADE FROM THE DRIED PARTOWAGE STOMACH. THE CLEANED STOMACH IS INFLATED AND DRY, THEN SMALL RIVER OR SEA PELLETS (PELLETS) ARE POURED INTO IT. MODERN TOOL. TAKE EMPTY TIN. RIVER REEDS ARE POURED INTO IT AND TIGHTLY CLOSE WITH A LID. A COVER FROM MATERIAL OR LEATHER, DECORATED WITH NATIONAL ORNAMENT AND COLOR PENDANTS, IS PUT ON THE JAR. membranophone
THE RESONATOR IS A TIN CAN. A WOODEN NECK PASSES THROUGH THE ENTIRE LENGTH. TIGHTEN TWO TIGHT THREADS. THE BOW WAS MADE FROM WHAHALE WHALES OR BAMBOO. TO EXTRACT THE SOUND, THE STICK IS LIGHTLY DAMPENED IN WATER AND DRIVED ON THE STRING. Ein en - bowed picolute
What is the name of the musical instrument that the Chukchi play, they bring it to their mouths?
- jew's harp
- Vargan, and there is also exactly the same instrument, only the Kazakh one is called shankobyz, it is considered a shamanic instrument, so not everyone can afford to play the nm. here =)
- A traditional musical instrument is a lamellar harp (vannyyarar) "mouth tambourine" made of birch, bamboo (floating water), bone or metal plate. Later, an arc bilingual jew's harp appeared.
Vargan is the most ancient self-sounding reed musical instrument. In one form or another, the harp is found in the ancient cultures of most peoples of the world.
Vargan has more than forty different names. The most common names for the jew's harp are: komuz (in Altai), khomus (in Yakutia), drymba (in Ukraine, Belarus), kubyz (in Bashkiria), zubanka (in Russia), shon-kobyz (in Kazakhstan), temir-komuz ( in Kyrgyzstan, where the word "temir", which means iron, distinguishes the jew's harp from the string instrument komuz).
In America, the jew's harp is called the "Jewish lyre" - Jews harp (Jew harp, Jews harp, Juice harp). In fact, the Americans themselves cannot explain why a jew's harp - and suddenly a Jewish one. This tool has no connection with the Jews. Most musicologists regard the word as an error in a 19th century dictionary. Most likely, the name meant Jaws harp - jaw lyre. The earliest mention of the harp is found in ancient Roman frescoes - the image of the ancient orchestra includes a man who clearly plays the harp. In Russia, jew's harps are especially common in Yakutia, Tuva, Altai. The harp is very popular in Western Ukraine, in Belarus, Moldova. Read more
- I have one, but I don't know how to play on it))))
- jew's harp
here is a link to the jew's harp music
http://torrents.ru/forum/viewtopic.php?t=524990 - Vargan
Outwardly, the jew's harp looks like a small device that the player applies to his lips with one hand in order to extract a stretched vibrating sound with the help of the thumb of the second hand. In appearance, it looks like a musical instrument and is even officially called a musical instrument.
For many uninitiated, the sounds made by the jew's harp have long been considered a necessary arrangement in the musical and pseudo-musical compositions of the indigenous peoples of the north, from the Eskimos of Greenland to the inhabitants of Chukotka and Yakutia. Meanwhile, playing the harp is by no means a musical exercise, and the very concept of music in relation to this device is nothing more than the name of a side effect of its use. Vargan is a mechanical substitute for drugs.
- Vargan.
