This the official story of
the Tambura. For a personal story,
click here.
Tambura is a traditional
musical instrument used in Macedonian folklore music.
Tambura is broth in Macedonia from Turkey in XIV and XV
century. The oldest written document about Tambura is from
year 1551 in the writings of N.Nikolaj attaché of the French
consul in Turkey.
In the traditional
practice in Macedonia Tambura is known by several names: "litarka"
or "ikitelia" (for the 2 stringed Tambura), "cetvorka", "karaduzen"
or "chiftelia" (for 4 stringed Tambura), "bozuk" (for 6
stringed Tambura), and "sharkia" (from 3 to 12 stringed
Tambura).
They are made in two ways:
from a singe piece of hard wood and from a two pieces of
wood glued together.
In the first case the corpus ( the body) and the head are
handmade from a single piece of wood using simple tools
until a shallow , shell like shape of the corpus (body) of
the Tambura, 3 mm thick is created.
In the other variant the
head and the neck are made from different pieces of wood
than the corpus and they are glued together.
The "krtuna" (body) of the Tambura is manufactured in two
ways: in a form of a cone and in a form of a light bolt. The
first shape is created from a single piece of wood, and the
second from a thin pieces of wood glued together. The "krtuna"
(the body) is closed by a thin wooden plate made from "smreka"(tipe
of wood) in a form of ellipse - called "kapak". The "kapak"
is than perforated using hot iron with many holes arranged
in a form of ring or triangle - called "glasnici".
The neck of the Tambura is
long and thin. Its length may wary between 360 - 500 mm. The
height of the Tambura is between 750 - 900 mm. The length of
the "corpus" is between 250 - 300 mm. The widest part of the
"corpus" is between 120 - 150 mm. The biggest dept of the
corpus is between 120 and 150 mm. The head of the Tambura is
in a form of parallelepiped. The holders for the strings ("chivii",
"chivija") are attached on the head.
Tambura is played in
horizontal position, on a left side. The neck is hold with
the left hand, the thumb is over the upper edge of the neck,
and other fingers are over the lower edge of the neck.
Playing of Tambura is called "svirenje na Tambura" or "drnkanje
na tambura".
The Tambura is
predominantly solo instrument, and in the last decades of
the previous century in an ensembles (assembly). The
repertoire of all types of Tambura is support for Macedonian
folklore songs in solo or in ensemble. Because of the week
sound the Tambura is not often used in Macedonian folklore
dances.
The "sharkia" is similar with Arabian stringed instrument
called "tunbur" or "tanbur". The Arabs call this instrument
"sharki".
Tambura is most often used in east Macedonia where is called
"litarka" or "chetvorka".
Tambura
