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LANGUEDOC..
POPULAR OBOE.
or AUTBÒI
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This is the king of the instruments for folk
festivals in the eastern Languedoc region. Its use originally covered the area
from the east half of the Herault department in France, to the neighbouring
Petit Camargue. As with many traditional instruments, it has suffered from a
marked decline but was saved by the Languedoc Jousts, practised in particular
in Sète. Today, this folk oboe has regained it's original territory in cattle
rearing areas where it has again found its place in Carmargue bull
competitions. It is traditionally played to take maximum
advantage of its lyrical possibilities.
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BODEGA or CRABA
(pronounced : boudégo cràbo)
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The
first name is from French Aude department and the second, meaning goat in the
South of France language, 'Occitan', from the Tarn department. The use of this
bagpipe instrument is halfway between four French departments: principally the
north of the Aude department, the south of the Tarn department, slightly
spilling over into the Hérault department in the east, and the Haute Garonne
department in the west; an area centred on the Black Mountain massive and the
Sidobre plateau. For tens of years no players of the instrument were left and
thus a long period of silence occurred. It again saw the light of day thanks to
the initiative of Charles Alexandre and
luthiers such as Claude Romero from Toulouse or Bruno Salensson from
Nîmes. The pouch containing the air is made from a whole goat, of which at
least three feet are retained. This pouch is called oire or embaissa in
the 'Occitan' language (pronounced ooyré or émbàysso respectively). The long cylindric back piece
produces a continuous note, called the drone, tuned to the melody's dominant
note, or sometimes to the fundamental note. Its main use was largely
individual, rarely accompanied by another instrument. The craba, or bodega,
was above all the instrument of the rural social classes of non land owners, day
labourers, shepherds and farm workers; this social restriction corresponds to
the artisanal nature of its workmanship.
This instrument is, along with the zampogna of Southern
Italy, the largest of the bagpipes.
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Truly diatonic accordion, very popular in North
America, especially amongst Acadians, or Cajuns (the transformation of
'Acadien', in French, with an English accent). It is thus much used in
francophone areas of south Louisiana, where it acquired a unique style,
accompanied by the violin and the folk guitar (steel strings). In Quebec, it is
also very popular, often accompanied by the piano. Thanks to its light weight
and its ease of handling, virtuoso musicians such as Philippe Bruneau have
stretched its bisonoric (press-draw) musical potential to a maximum. Our group
makes use of this cheery-sounded instrument for Quebec contra dances (see the
page on 'Concerts, Dances'), which have some rhythms in common with the Irish
and Scottish repertoires (reels, hornpipes, etc.), but with a very different
spirit.
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...JOUSTS DRUM...
or TAMBORINET
(pronounced : tamburinet)
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Traditionally, an inseparable partner to the
oboe. It is smaller than the clique drum; its sound is well-adapted to that of
the oboe. It was therefore also saved by the practise of musical jousts, which
has retained this traditional pair of instruments. Its playing of course uses
Napoleonic techniques (diane, rigadoon, etc.), but also has great
rhythmical flexibility (hitting of the drum sometimes offset from the beat). Originally, the upper and lower skins of the drum were made from baby
goat and still-born calf skin, respectively.
Here, Daniel Tournebize plays an instrument
he made.
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CABRETA
(pronounced cabreto)
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Contrary
to the bodega, practise of the cabrette (kid goat) has never been
interrupted. Its use is centred on the region of Aubrac, covering the Aveyron
department, the south of the Cantal department and the area of Gévaudan, i.e.
north of the Lozère department. The emigration of the peoples of the Rouergue
region (the ' Rouergats') and the Auvergne region (the 'Auvergnats') to Paris
at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th
century, lead to the instrument enjoying a golden age in the capital, where it
was equipped with bellows to feed the pouch (we find the same system of bellows
bagpipe in the Béchonnet musette from central France, the Irish Uilleann
pipes, as well as the baroque musette). To the left of the 'leg' which plays
the melody, and parallel to it, another leg serves as a drone (continuous note
which plays throughout the melody), but it is generally muffled. However we
come across examples of cabrette playing with a continuous note. This
continuous note is given the name 'drone' when it is produced by a single reed,
and the name 'chanterelle' when it is produced by a double reed. In Parisian
ball rooms, the cabrette was mixed with the accordion which was
introduced by Italian immigrants to make the peoples of the Massif Central dance,
along with Parisians. From this was born the style 'musette' – the Parisian
name it was given – and had the success we know today, even if the accordion
has since had greater success as a sole instrument.
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.DIATONIC ACCORDION.
(fabrication : Bruno Priez)
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It would be more accurate to talk about the '
bisonoric' accordion, meaning that each button, in contrary to the chromatic
accordion, can produce two notes according to whether we press or draw the
instrument. The bellows therefore have a major role since they produce a
rhythmical effect that the chromatic accordion cannot produce. The name
'diatonic' accordion is explained by the fact that the first instruments of
this type did not have halftones (like the
melodeon, truly diatonic accordion, see below). These days, many
bisonoric accordions possess a variable number of halftones, sometimes a whole
row, as is the case here, making the playing of chords possible. However the
bisonoric principle results in the comfortable melodic playing favouring the
natural notes of the instrument (G-C, A-D accordions, etc.).
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VIOLIN (for the Quebec dances)
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