Zhaleyka: history, video, interesting facts. Zhaleika - an old Russian folk wind wooden musical instrument Domra zhaleika timpani wind musical instrument

Old Russian folk - a wooden, reed or cattail tube with a bell made of horn or birch bark.

Zhaleika is also known as zhalomeyka.

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, 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.

To study the question of the time when the tradition of playing for zhaleyki arose among Russians, an instrument called “ squeakers“, widespread in the southern Russian regions.

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

The device and types of zhaleyka

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

Single zhaleyka It is a small tube made of willow or elderberry, 10 to 20 cm long, at the upper end of which is inserted a beeper with a single tongue of reed or goose feather, 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.

Scale sorry diatonic. Range depends on the number of slots. Timbre piercing and nasal, sad and compassionate.

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.

Double (double-barrelled) 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 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 south.

In the Tver province, shepherds made zhaleyki from willow, according to the local nonsense, therefore zhaleyki began to be called there. The entire body consisted of wood, which is why the sound of it turned out to be softer.

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

Video: Zhaleyka on video + sound

Thanks to these videos, you can get acquainted with the instrument, watch the real game on it, listen to its sound, feel the specifics of the technique:

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Musical instrument: Zhaleika and the merry shepherd Konstantin Potekhin. The film has such comic episodes that caused uncontrollable laughter from the audience. Kostya's pets: cows, sheep and piglets, having heard the familiar sounds of their shepherd's instrument, who was asked to play some music during a dinner party, burst into the main hall and committed a grandiose pogrom there. Animals, even those related to livestock, are quite intelligent creatures, distinguishing well and always following a familiar sound, so many shepherds used to skillfully play folk wind instruments, as this helped them a lot in their work. The shepherds enjoyed special respect for the flute, horn and zhaleyka - an old Russian folk instrument.

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. HISTORY Today, unfortunately, we cannot trace the history of zhaleyka from the very beginning of its occurrence. Wind instruments have existed on Russian soil since time immemorial. In the era of Kievan Rus, they were necessarily used in military affairs: they warned of danger by making the so-called protective sounds, and also appeased princes at feasts and amused ordinary people at festive festivities. Unfortunately, no one gives us an exact description of the instruments played by our ancestors, and even in the ancient chronicles there is almost no mention of them. We also know very little about zhaleika, only information has come down to us that she was an indispensable participant in funeral rites, called "zhaleniya". Perhaps because of this worldly custom, the instrument has such a strange name. Also, zhaleyka was very loved by the shepherds, who used it not only in their direct work, but also to amuse people at various holidays. In addition, the instrument was in demand among amusing people popular in Russia in the 15-17 centuries - buffoons, whose performances were very fond of the common people. However, the performances of these wandering artists often contained caustic attacks on secular and ecclesiastical authorities, causing them serious discontent. As a result, in the middle of the 17th century, during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov, buffoons were disgraced and persecuted, and their tools were ruthlessly destroyed, as a product of demonic forces. At that time, Russian national musical culture was dealt a severe blow, and it suffered heavy losses. But, nevertheless, the shepherd's pity continued to sound and traditionally meet the first rays of the rising sun with its sound.

The era of the revival of interest in national culture came at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries. Thanks to true patriots, including V. Andreev, N. Privalov, O. Smolensky, G. Lyubimov and other enthusiasts, many Russian folk instruments received a second life. They were not only restored, but significantly improved, and then introduced into the first orchestra of Russian folk instruments under the direction of V. Andreev. Zhaleyka, and to be quite precise, its variety - the keychain has also undergone some changes and has also found its rightful place in the orchestra. The keychain, in contrast to the zhaleyka, had a softer sound, as it was made entirely of nonsense - a variety of willow tree, hence the name of the instrument. The improvement of the zhaleyka continued, in the workshops of musical instruments created in Moscow by G.P. Lyubimov, an ethnographer, musician-performer and conductor, an attempt was made to create an instrument with a chromatic system. In the future, the soloist of the Great Russian Orchestra conducted by V. Andreev O.U. Smolensky, a harpist and a pitiful player, constructed instruments of various sizes: piccolo, soprano, alto and bass, which were later used in the pitiful quartet, and then in the famous "horn choirs". Once zhaleyka was widespread in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Lithuania. To date, the zhaleyka as a solo instrument is used very rarely, mainly its sound is used in orchestras of Russian folk instruments, as well as ensembles performing folk music.

DEVICE AND VARIETY OF ZHALEYKA Zhaleyka is of two varieties - 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 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 zhaleyka was used as a shepherd's instrument; tunes of various genres were played on it alone, in a duet, or in an ensemble. A double (double-barreled) 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 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 keychains. 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. 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.

Interesting facts ➣ Zhaleika is probably the only instrument that has so many names in one country. It is called duda, flat, squeaker, keychain, sipovka, zhalomeyka, squeaker, okladushka or just a horn. ➣ The sound of the pity is so loud that it can be heard at a distance of six kilometers. ➣ In Russia, the shepherd in the village was considered a very important person, whom everyone respected. He got up before everyone else with the first rays of the sun and played the awakening signal on his instrument. Passing by a house, the shepherd performed a certain tune, the hostess, having heard him, knew that it was time for her to drive out the cow. ➣ The best zhaleyka performers in Russia were not professional musicians, but shepherds. ➣ The shepherd, having played his instrument, could easily collect the animals. Even a lost cow found its way into the herd by the sound of a familiar instrument. ➣ A whole generation of fans of the Soviet stage remember well the name of the wonderful singer Valentina Vasilievna Tolkunova. The very diverse repertoire of the artist included two very popular songs in which the old Russian instrument zhaleika was displayed very poetically.

Zhaleika refers to simple musical instruments. Learning to play the zhaleyka is available to everyone, you just need to make some efforts to master the technique of sound production on the instrument.

Sound production on a zhaleyka requires a stronger air pressure than, for example, on a recorder, where the principle of sound production is completely different. In order to understand the necessary air pressure for the harmonious sound of the zhaleyka, you should play notes on the instrument from the bottom up with the button accordion or piano on the “legato” (connected), then two notes on the “legato”. After you have achieved a clear, harmonious sound, you need to play intervals, starting from the bottom note from a second onwards (example: Do-Re, Do-Mi, Do-Fa, etc.). Then you can combine intervals from top to bottom. Also, start the exercise on "legato", then you can move on to "non-legato" and "staccato" (jerky).

Below is the application. The scheme will help you understand the correct position of the hands and fingers when playing the instrument using the example of the C Major pitty.

Please familiarize yourself with the layout of the notes on the instrument using the example of the zhaleyka in C Major. We draw your attention to the fact that the holes must be closed tightly.

It is advisable not to remove the cap from the zhaleyka unless absolutely necessary, so as not to bend the reed and not to disturb the instrument's order. If it is necessary to adjust the instrument, the upper ring (which is located on the beep of the instrument and holds the reed), depending on whether the blade is high or low, must be moved up (if it is low) or down (if it is high) gently by a fraction of a millimeter.

A cone is fixed in the left chuck of the machine, and a rotating cone is fixed in the right headstock and an already drilled workpiece is between them. On the machine, we process the tube to an ideal state of ø 16 mm, first with a cutter, and then with sandpaper of different diameters. The diameter of the tube depends on the outer diameter of the ring!
We make sharpenings for the inner diameter of the ring and horn; the size should be (1/10-2/10) larger than the main size of the ring and horn (see photo 9). The tube should go into the horn very tight, then it will enter more freely. For some time, the tube, horn and cap must be stored separately. This is due to the fact that the material dries out, as it were.

Photo 9. Tubes with rings.

The ring is put on and the horn is not completely (tight). At first, you don't need to customize everything exactly.
In the first, the ring and horn will have to be removed during polishing, and in the second, over time, the tube will decrease in diameter in places where it fits the ring and horn.

Mouthpiece (beep)

This detail, which must be given most attention! From how the squeak will sound, so the pity will work.
An ebonite blank L = 60 mm ø = 12-15 mm is taken, inserted into the machine and processed to the desired size. With a 5 mm drill, we drill a hole in the center not to the end. With a file we make not a large plane 25 mm long and with a slope L ≈ 2.3 away from the horn, but with a file a groove for the tongue. All dimensions in mm (see photos 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16).

Cane (tongue)

It is made by me from textolite, although it is possible to find other material. The blanks are cut with scissors and filed to the desired size, given that the reed is thinner at one end and a little thicker at the other, like a clarinet (see photos 17, 18, 19, 20).

cambric

As mentioned above, this is a hollow piece of wire insulation (mostly polyvinyl chloride) used by electricians and fishermen. The length and diameter depends on the specific application. You need two of them, one to fix the reed on the mouthpiece (beep) and the other to adjust the pitch (see photos 21, 22, 23, 24).

Ready squeaker (see photo 23), squeaker with a straw (see photo 24).

Cap

It can be made from various materials. From a garden hose, a sports hoop, simply from a metal tube or wood. I recommend from a sports plastic hoop. Pieces of hoop 50-60 mm long are cut. Slightly straighten them and process in the machine. The most important thing is that the cap fit snugly into the tube of the pit and be cleanly processed (see photos 25, 26, 27, 28).

When making a cap from wood, its diameter should be less than the diameter of the tube. The cap must go into the tube very tight. After a while, warm up on a hot stove (you can use an iron), so as not to spoil and the edges are not burned. After that, the cap enters the tube more freely. If this is not done, then after a while the cap begins to slosh and stagger. It is necessary to fit all caps under the tube without a beep, since with a beep the diameter of the tube slightly expands.
The wooden cap and tube are impregnated with linseed or sunflower oil. Oil is poured into the bath and tubes and caps are placed there for a day, then dried for seven days. The pile is removed with a fine sandpaper and wiped inside with varnish, alcohol polish. Then, after drying, the pile is removed again. You can also wipe it with a cloth soaked in oil. This is done so that the pit is not exposed to moisture (see photo below).

Setting up a stinger

Tuning a zhaleyka, like any musical instrument, is very important. It requires a huge experience of the master, knowledge of acoustics, ear for music. A number of locksmith tools are required for adjustment. Files, drills, reamers and of course it is desirable to have a sound frequency generator. I recommend setting up in this order.
. Check the operation of the squeaker without a tube. No matter how hard you blow it should work. The tongue should not quack and stick.
. Together with the pipe, fine-tune the horn (sol or other note). The smaller the horn, the higher the sound.
. Along the tube, we evenly draw a strip with a pencil. Then we mark the points of sound holes (see photo 29). Measurements are taken from the base of the pit without a horn and a beep.

Then drill the measured holes with a thin drill (2 mm). The beeper, after we put it in, should already work on all sound holes.
. Next comes the pre-tuning, starting with the lower sound.
. Smaller finger hole - lower sound. More finger hole - higher sound.
. Fine tuning is done by listening to the beats of the frequency of the sound of the zhaleyka and the generator or other musical instrument. When the beats disappear, the sound is tuned cleanly. If you have lost the moment in which direction the beat frequency between the sound of the pit and the generator decreases (that is, you don’t understand the playing holes to increase or decrease), then we slightly move the cambric, thereby increasing the length of the reed:
1) if the beat frequency increases, then the playing holes for the fingers should be made larger, but first, tune the reed to the main pure tone of the pity;
2) if the beat frequency decreases, then make the playing holes for the fingers smaller (but how to do this?), you can insert plugs into the holes (of course, on glue) and re-drill and adjust. Or, by moving the cane, adjust this hole purely according to the generator. But then the main tone will not build, you can cut a thin ring from the same ebonite to fit the inner diameter, this will lower the main tone (of course, then fine-tune it). But other holes may not be built, so everything needs to be checked and adjusted. To prevent this from happening, you need to set up the instrument slowly and think with your head. If you make it for yourself, you can experiment, but I had a lot of orders for music schools, colleges, music academies, and if this happened, then I just threw out the blank.
. After setting up the next sound, be sure to check all the others.
. It is necessary to let the pity lie down after it has been tuned (at least for two, three days or more), this is necessary so that it dries out, while it will slightly change the system.
. Then check the tuning again and tweak some sounds.
. We increase the sound holes with the help of drills, needle files, reamers and at the end with cutters so that they are perfectly clean and even.

I don’t give exact sizes for each pity, they are always slightly different (even for pity of the same tone). Each master must find his own, adhering to those given in the work; this applies to all instrument parameters.
. If the sound holes were obtained much larger. Then I machined round corks from hardwood on the machine, or you can, for example, use ebonite. And I inserted them very tightly on the glue, but not deep, into the same holes. After drying, the blanks were processed with a file and drilled new holes for sound holes.

A few words about chromatic pity

Chromatism is adjusted in 1, 2, 4, 5 holes. In a pit of any tonality, one hole is drilled from the center of the sound holes to the left and right of the dash. Diameter 2 mm. It is also necessary to take into account the direction of these small holes and the direction of the finger grooves (see photo 30).

Photo 30. The horn is on the right side of the pit.

Each small hole is tuned separately in semitones. I also advise you to check each sound hole at intervals of fifths and fourths. For example, in zhaleyka SOL when setting the fundamental tone, check how the interval of fifth (sol - re) and quart (sol - do) sounds.
And even before setting up the tool, you need to make small indentations for the fingers with a semicircular file. This can be seen in photo 30. If done later, it will affect the system of the pitty!

I offer my drawings of the main working regrets

Internal ø 7, external ø 16
Tube L = 150, Pishchik L = 40 mm

Internal ø 8, external ø 16
Tube L = 180 - 190, Pishchik L = 45 mm

Tube L = 190 - 200, Pishchik L = 45 mm

The first hole is made on the side for the right hand of the little finger 35 millimeters from the base of the pit.
The second in the center for the middle finger is 80 mm from the base of the stinger.

Internal ø 8, external ø 16
Tube L = 260, Pishchik L = 50 mm

The first hole is made on the side for the right hand of the little finger 55 mm from the base of the pit
The second in the center for the middle finger is 8 mm from the base of the stinger.

Tube L = 300, Pishchik L = 55 mm

1, 3, 5 holes are on the right side of the pit, and 2, 4, 6 on the left side.

Internal ø 7, external ø 16
Tube L = 11.5, Pishchik L = 40 mm

Polishing

It is carried out, like with other musical instruments, using a certain technology. Much has been written about this in educational literature and there is information on the Internet. A few words on how I do it.
. If the pit is made of mahogany, then it is better to first cover it with sunflower oil and dry it in the bright sun. You need to do this several times.
. Then covered with polish - dried.
. Rubbed with pumice - dried.
. This can be repeated several times.
. Necessarily zhaleyka is wiped from the inside with polish using a long thin stick with a swab.
. A hardwood pit (maple, apple, beech) is polished in this order (very briefly).
. Lacquer NTs - dry (the longer the better).
. Treat with fine sandpaper.
. Polish - dry (do this one, two, three).
. Treat with a pumice stone as fine as dust with a swab slightly moistened with polish - dry.
. With pumice once - twice - to dry.
. Polish on a swab a drop of oil and polish - dry.
. Repeat many times, then wipe with a dry woolen cloth.

Varnish made from medical alcohol and shellac, you can add other resins, but this is up to you. Polishing should be done with swabs, which you need to make yourself from a stretched white rag (make a square) and add woolen threads, also white.
Instead of threads, you can use cotton wool.
Before polishing, the zhaleyka must be carefully sanded!
The polishing process is considered complex and responsible, so I recommend that you first study the relevant educational literature or information on the Internet.

Additional material (20.02.2017)

1) I’ll say it again and I can repeat it many times that for the good work of the zhaleyka, the main point in the manufacture of a musical instrument is the tuning of the squeaker.
First you need to configure it separately from the pity itself.
The sound frequency should correspond approximately to the tonality of the zhaleyka.
The sound should not be booming, noisy, tight (hard to reproduce). No matter how hard you blow, the beeper should sound and work easily. But it must be borne in mind that a pity cannot sound very loud and very quiet. With strong blowing, the reed (tongue) simply sticks, and with weak blowing, it does not oscillate.
The sound of the squeaker should resemble the sound of a whistle made from an acacia pod. We all remember when in childhood we plucked an acacia pod, broke it in half, removed the seeds and made a whistle.
Further, the adjustment of the squeaker and the pity itself is already assembled. On the playing tube, according to the markings for each tone of the pit, we drill holes Ǿ 2 -2.5 mm.
And when we insert the squeaker into the tube from one end, and the horn from the other, it should immediately work through all the sound holes easily and without stuttering. Especially when they are all open. It is necessary to blow with the same force through all the holes, and very often the squeaker of the pity stops working at the top sounds. It seems to shut up (sorry for such terminology) in this case, you need to rub it with a fine sandpaper from the side of the mouthpiece and reed. But then adjust the pity to the main tone.

See photo

After that, we proceed to setting up the pity itself, with what tools I have already written to do this. I just want to add that for tuning you can use a homemade sound generator tuned by temperament.
Or tuner KORG CA40WD (chromatic).

2) I want to offer one method of drilling sound holes that I have been using lately. I drill them not at a right angle, but I make a slope towards the horn of 110-120 °. What does it give? The air that passes through the squeaker and moves through the tube passes more easily and smoothly into the sound holes of the pit. Well, as if improving the answer of the sound of pity.

See photo

Photos at different stages of production

Is a pity. It is a wind reed musical instrument, which was very popular among the population of the Slavic peoples. There is an opinion that the progenitor of such a reed wind instrument with a single reed, like a clarinet, was the same pity. However, this is attributed to both the Hungarian tarogato and the medieval chalumeau.

general description

Musical instrument zhaleyka is a tube, the material for which is a reed or reed plant, with a bell at the end, made from the upper layers of birch bark or animal horn. Sometimes willow or elderberry was used for the main tube.

There are zhaleyki (the description is presented in the article) according to the configuration, they are bifurcated or single-tube. The length of the instrument ranges from 10-20 cm, while the number of holes on the tube for extracting sound can be from three to seven. In some southern territories of Russia, the local population fastened a bell to a forked pity.

The musical instrument zhaleika is quite easy to use. Anyone can handle it, as it does not require trained breathing or any other special musical skills.

This wind musical instrument can be used in a solo program, play melodies in a duet or be part of an ensemble.

Etymology of the instrument

Initially, the tool was positioned as a shepherd's pity, as it was used to attract attention and collect livestock and sheep by the shepherd himself. Zhaleika was widely used in the territorial regions of modern Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania. To date, it can be seen only at concerts held by folklore folk ensembles.

Russian zhalomeyka is also known as zhalomeyka. The writer and publicist Vladimir Mikhnevich draws the attention of the public to the similarity of the root in the words "sorry" and "sorry". The Novgorod people called the ancient pagan burial mound type a pity. Another meaning of the word was associated with an old cemetery or churchyard. In this regard, V. Mikhnevich suggested that the instrument was used during rituals that were held in memory of the deceased after burial or at certain times of commemoration.

Historical digression

Wind musical instruments were the most important component of Russian folk music and an integral part of the national culture. The first musical instruments were reliably noticed by scientists as early as the thirteenth century BC. Percussion instruments appeared first, and then wind instruments, various pipes and whistles. In ancient Russia, musical instruments were widely used among shepherds and court buffoons: pity, pipes and horns.

Also, these musical devices were used in the military squads of Kievan Rus. At the princely courts, the sound of pity could be heard during various solemn meetings and fun.

Some Russian tsars tried to destroy the culture of these musical instruments, persecuted musicians and imposed bans on the use of music. At that time, national Russian folk music suffered great losses in musical culture. But the nationwide love for musicians and their creations did not allow the beloved traditions and instruments to disappear.

folk instrument

At the end of the nineteenth century, Russian society grew interested in its own history and national culture. This happened thanks to some researchers in the field of various folk instruments. At the same time, the Russian musician, composer and virtuoso balalaika player V. V. Andreev, the organizer and leader of the first folk instrument orchestra in the history of Russia, carried out successful work on the revival of Russian instruments and their modernization. Simultaneously with these works, attempts were made to improve the zhaleyka, flute and key chains.

By the way, a keychain is one of the names of a zhaleyka used in the Tver region. There, the instrument was made of willow, or, as the locals called it, delusions. This is where the name of the keychain comes from. Unlike the zhaleyka, which was used by the shepherds, the keychain has a more gentle and delicate melodic movement. This is due to the fact that the musical object is made entirely of wood.

In different regions of vast Russia, zhaleyka and its derivatives are known under various names. So, in the Kursk region it is called a horn, in the Gorky region - ladusha, in Belgorod region - a squeaker, in Penza region - sipovka. A forked zhaleyka in the Vladimir region is called a double, and in the Ryazan region it is called a zhalanka, in the Penza region it is called a cane.

Varieties of pity

The musical instrument zhaleyka is subdivided by design into two types:

• Single pity.
• Two-part.

The sound from the zhaleyka of different types is extracted according to the same principle. It consists in vibrating the tongue of the beeper. The instrument has a seven-sound sound system, there is a reproduction of the notes "re", "sol", "la", less often - "do", "fa", "mi". The sound range is similar to a high singing voice. To the ear, the sound of the pity seems sad and very pitiful, the melodies come out dreary, but with proper skill they can be quite cheerful.

The zhaleika is widely used in folk orchestras and is a very common musical instrument. The double-barreled zhaleyka is still very similar in sound to the bagpipe. Its lower tones sound at the same height, performing the function of a bourdon. Some minds believe that the pity came from the bagpipe. There is a noticeable similarity between the pipe of the bagpipe and the tube of the miserable one in a constructive way. There is also a sound similarity of the nature of the sound.

Single zhaleyka

This musical object looks like a small tube up to 20 cm long, made of willow, elder or reed cane. On one side of the tube is a squeaker, which has a goose feather (or reed) tongue in its design. At the other, lower end, a bell made of birch bark is attached. Often the material for such an element is the horn of a large animal, such as a cow. It happens that the tongue on the tube itself is cut.

To receive a melody, holes are located on the zhaleyka tube. Their number varies from 3 to 7 pieces. Single zhaleyka range can be soprano, alto or bass.

Two-piece or paired zhaleyka

It is paired tubes of the same size, each with its own playing holes, the number of which can differ dramatically from each other. One tube can be leading, the other - secondary, and the first, respectively, will have more holes. Tubes are inserted into one common socket.

You can extract the melody of their two-part zhaleyka both in turn from each pipe, and simultaneously from two.

Such a musical instrument is intended mainly for two-voice melodic playing.