Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS)
Created: | 2014-09-19 16:39 |
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Institution: | Department of Archaeology and Anthropology |
Description: | Many musical instruments traditionally used in Kalmykia are also common among other nomadic peoples in Central Asia. Materials used in the making of musical instruments are various, including animal skin, hair, wood, not to mention stones, shells, and metals.
Kalmyk musical instruments can be divided into religious and folk instruments. The former were used during religious festivals and celebrations, whereas the latter at various social occasions such as weddings, concerts, competitions or simply for private entertainment. Due to dramatic social changes in the past century, many traditional musical instruments along with accompanying melodies have either disappeared or are on the verge of being forgotten. On this page, you can watch videos of various musical instruments and listen to stories, legends, and myths about them. Religious (musical instruments) In the past monastic orchestras usually consisted of about two dozen different musical instruments, but during daily rituals the number of instruments was less. The most frequently used instruments can be divided into the following two categories: Percussion: Khonkh (bell), kenkrg (drum with drumsticks), tsan (small sound plates), denshya (consists of two brass plates, the knobs of which are connected by means of a short leather string), dodrm (wooden frame with copper brasses inside), and damaru (small drum). Wind: Dung (white shell), bishkur (wooden pipe), ganlin (horn made of human thigh bones or wood, covered with silver), burya-bishkur (short pipe), ukr burya (long and heavy clarinet, resembling an elephant’s trunk), and burya (middle-sized clarinet). Folk (musical instruments) It was in the Soviet period that many folk instruments disappeared being either relegated to museum shelves or left only as pictures on the pages of historical documents. As a result, today the number of instruments in everyday use is minimal, with dombra being the most popular. Dombra, a long-necked string instrument, is used as a solo as well as an ensemble instrument. Khur, a fiddle instrument, is used less often. In Kalmykia the revival of musical instruments began in the 1980s. In the Elista School of Arts of Chonkushov, a class was opened to teach traditional instruments, including dombra, yochin (dulcimer), yatkha (zither), khuchir (bowed musical instrument), morn khur (horsehead fiddle), and limbu (flute). Today in Kalmykia there are several orchestras and ensembles, including Tyulpan, the National Orchestra of Kalmykia, Oirat, Jangar, and Erdm, that use traditional instruments in their repertoire. |
Media items
This collection contains 39 media items.
Media items
Alena Lidzhieva, Dombra Melodies
Alena plays Kalmyk melodies on the dombra instrument, including Siberian melodies and those of the songs ‘Okonov Naran’ and ‘Kotush’.
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Fri 12 Jun 2015
Alexandr Nasakaev, Dombra Melodies
Alexandr performs dombra melodies.
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Mon 15 Jun 2015
Andrei Erdniev, About Dombra
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Sun 16 Jun 2019
Arslan Shavgurov, A Dombra Concert
The concert shown in this video is performed by the Kalmyk National Symphonic Orchestra. The soloist is Arslan Shavgurov, an Honored Artist of Kalmykia. The composer and director...
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Fri 22 Jan 2016
Arslan Shavgurov, Dombra
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Wed 1 Jan 2020
Arslan Shavgurov, Dombra Melodies
Arslan plays several melodies on a dombra, including Dargin, Chechen, Adygei, and Kalmyk melodies.
Arslan relays that according to a legend, the Russian balalaika originates from...
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Thu 24 Sep 2015
Baatr Bormandzhiev, About Kalmyk Music
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Fri 20 Oct 2017
Baatr Mandzhiev, Temyanya Bi
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Tue 20 Mar 2018
Bamba Mandzhiev, Religious Musical Instruments
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Wed 31 Jan 2018
Bembya Fedorov, A Legend About the Tsan
Bembya relays a legend about the tsan musical instrument as mentioned in Kim Shovunov’s book The Kalmyks as Part of the Cossacks: The Second Half of the 17-19 Century (1992)....
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Mon 30 Jan 2017
Boris Ochaev, Dombra Melodies
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Tue 28 Nov 2017
Boris Ochaev, The Saratov Harmonica and Melodies
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Wed 1 Jan 2020
Concert with 300 Dombra Players, 2015
This video features a concert held at the Central Temple in Elista in June 2015 with the participation of 300 dombra players.
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Fri 18 May 2018
Concert with 500 Dombra Players, 2016
This video features a concert held at the Central Temple in Elista in April 2016 with the participation of 500 dombra players.
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Thu 17 May 2018
Dmitriy Orusov, Dombra
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Thu 10 Aug 2017
Dmitriy Sharaev, Different Dombra Melodies of the Torghut, the Derbet, the Buzava, and the Khoshud
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Sat 28 May 2016
Dordzhi-Tseren Bagshi, Religious Musical Instruments
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Fri 18 May 2018
Elena Olzeeva, About Playing Dombra
Elena explains the difference between Torghut and Derbet styles of playing the dombra instrument.
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Sat 25 Aug 2018
Elvik Dordzhiev, A Legend About the Yatkha (Zither)
Elvik recounts a legend about a woman, who wishing to stop her husband going away on a long military campaign, lies down on his lap, turning into a musical instrument. Her body...
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Tue 26 Nov 2019
Elvik Dordzhiev, About Musical Instruments
Elvik has been working as a music teacher at the Elista College of Arts since 1990. Born in the village of Artesian in Chernozemelsky rayon in 1962, he went to the musical school...
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Tue 26 Nov 2019