Fujara.eu

Author: timi

  • About Koncovka

    What is Koncovka?

    The koncovka is a traditional flute played throughout the Carpathian Mountain region of Slovakia. Like the fujara, shepherd pipe, and double shepherd pipe, it is a duct or fipple flute fashioned from a single piece of wood, bored out and plugged at one end. It is end blown, has no finger holes and is two to three feet in length. Its ease of tone production, simple construction, and durability make it a favorite instrument of shepherds.

    Instead of using finger holes, you get the different tones when you vary the blowing pressure while opening and closing the bottom end of the flute. The tones are from the so called natural harmonic scale.

    See our selection of overtone flutes.
    (Audio Sample:  play, download)

    The Slovak word koniec means “a close” and the word koncovka means “termination” or “end.” The player opens and closes the far end of the tube while playing in the upper harmonics to create melodies. The long, narrow dimensions of the air column make the harmonics easily accessible, using changes in the air speed. The player has access to the notes of the open tube harmonic series, as well as the closed tube harmonic series and various shadings of pitch created by partially covering the end.
    Opening and closing, or half closing the end of the flute while playing in the upper harmonics makes it possible to create complete diatonic or chromatic scales. Sections of the Lydian scale are commonly used in koncovka melodies.
    As a shepherd’s flute, the koncovka is capable of intimacy of expression typical of the meditations of a lone shepherd. Players will intersperse instrumental and sung verses in the Slovak tradition. The koncovka also is played in Slovak dance music ensembles. It is very agile and capable of complex ornamentation for Slovak dance tunes.Slovak Name: Koncovka, read [kontsovka], means termination or ending.
    Common Misspellings: konkovka, konsovka, kontsovka, kontschovka, kontschofka.

  • Fujara flute related woodwind instruments:

    If we accept the Fujara flute in the family of tree holes flutes, we have 4 well-marked types of these instruments:

    1. rag and bone whistles,
    2. wooden “one-hand” whistles, made by wood chipping in northwestern Slovakia,
    3. long vatane tree holes whistles /60 – 90 cm long/ spread in the middle and east of Slovakia,
    4. Fujara flutes /originating from Zvolen’s shire – Podpolanie region/.

    Fujara flute is known as an instrument spread in Podpolanie area (middle Slovakia). If we realize that the Fujara flute is a tree hole bass flute, we find out, that it has many related instruments.

    One group are instruments with an assistant side pipe for air supply.

    This device is typical for wooden wind instruments of bass position. In this context Fujara flute ceases to be a standalone instrument from Podpolanie area and can be located within large group of instruments of similar design.

    This group represent artistic bass wind instruments from the renaissance and baroque period and some contemporary folk instruments similar to Fujara flute.
    From the group of folk instruments its worth to mention an instrument similar to Fujara flute made by Huculs in Ukraine. But it is not an alone standing instrument type while it is closely connected with the movement of shepherds from Slovak area.
    Another instrument very close to Fujara flute is a type of bass whistle spread in Poland, which however does not have any fingering holes. It is rather played like koncovka by overblowing.
    Remarkable instrument is a bass whistle made by Indians in Ands in South America. Again it is constructed using the principle of assistant side pipe for an air supply, but with 5 – 6 fingering holes in its main pipe. This instrument is definitely played together with other wind instruments, while the prime of Slovakian Fujara flute remains solo play of intimate meditative character.

  • Expansion of Fujara flute in Slovakia

    Today we are able to recognize three specific regions in Slovakia where Fujara flute developed and preserved:
    1. The area of Priechod, Podkonice and surroundings,
    2. the area of Detva, Hrinova, Ocova, Hrochot, Ponik, Zvolenska Slatina and adjacent sorroundings,
    3. the gemersko-malohonska area with the center in Kokava nad Rimavicou /Kokava, Poltar, Tisovec, Klenovec, Turicky/,
    In these separate areas the Fujara flute indenpendently developed into two characteristic types:
    – Priechod’s Fujara flute,
    – Detva’s Fujara flute.
    Fujara flute was tightly connected with a very specific area of middle Slovakia, ethnographicaly charakterized as Podpolanie (about 50 km in diameter with Detva in the middle).The hypothesis about Fujara flute origin in middle Slovakia was stated in 1970 by Dr. Ladislav Leng:
    “It is right to conclude, that the Fujara flute as an unique type of bass 3 hole flute, originated in shepherd’s comunity in the middle Slovakia”.
    This opinion highlights also Fujara flute’s localization in only very specific and limited area of middle Slovakia (Podpolanie – only about 50 km in diameter), from what Dr. Leng deduced, that Fujara flute could not originate from Walachian shepherd’s colonization, that spreaded over much larger territories throughout the whole Slovakia.In the period of years 1975 – 1985 took a place a vast research tracking down and documenting the origin of all Fujara flute makers and performers in Slovakia. The conclusion was, that also Fujara flute makers and performers from the outside of the specified Fujara flute regions had an origin in some of the selected areas.

  • The full story

    “I remember my old conversation with uncle Paciga, respected Fujara craftsmen. I entreated him to show me how to mark out the holes on the Fujara flute. We agreed and one day I brought to him a worked out timber for Fujara flute. First he made a fipple flute sound device and then he started to mark out the holes. I wondered that he marked on the timber even six holes – like on a whistle. So I urged him: “Mister Paciga, but I want to know how to make the holes into the Fujara flute, not whistle”. He smiled and said: “you know my boy, before the Fujara flute a whistle was and that is why I mark out the Fujara flute like a 6 hole shepherd pipe, and then I drill just the three lower holes”. At that time I did not realise that the man had a big truth.”
    Basically, Fujara flute is a gothic three-hole bass whistle. The three hole whistles were in the 12. – 13. century Europe very famous and wide spread. They used to be played in a musical configuration together with a tambour (small hand
    drum):Because these bass whistles were shorter and had only 3 holes, it was possible to play them with just one hand. The musician often accompanied himself playing tambour on his own: playing the three hole whistle in one hand and the other hand beat the tambour.Substantial expansion of these instruments in Slovakia confirm the period papers, for example a picture of a flutist with tambour under the Ostry castle, or two three-holes whistles from the 13.century acquired lately by Phdr. Hanuliak during excavation in the Pusty castle near Zvolen.During the renaissance, flutes and whistles with three tactual holes were retreating. However, later on, following an example of the string instruments family /fiddle – alto position, violin – canto, violoncello – tenor, contrabass – bass position/, also the wind instruments families were formed spontaneously /16.century/. This documents the flutes in a german enviroment, where coexisted alto, tenor and bass flutes with side air flow channel of similar construction as the side air pipe of Fujara flute.Also by the three-holes whistles there was an effort to create a family and renew repertoire. Musical scientist from the 15. – 16. century Michael Pretorius /from Sliezko/, documents an existence of such three hole whistle family in his work “Teatrum instrumentarum” from the year 1619. Though, he remarks that this configuration of three hole flutes had never been played together: because of the limitation of this 3 hole flute’s scale range achieved by overblowing, the harmony inbetween the alto, tenor and bass three-hole flutes just was not reached. Simply, it did not tuned. He states, that there were three basic dimensions of the three holes-whistles: ” a 20 inch “melodic whistle”, a 26 inch “tenor whistle” and a  35 inch “bass whistle”. Similarly, but independently from Praetorius, French musicologist Mersen writes about this issue in his work from the year 1632.The three hole bass whistles from this period were about 91 to 130 cm long, with two lower tactual holes located in the front and the upper one located in the back of the flute’s pipe.
    In Brussel’s music museum collection of very old musical instruments occurs also a three-holes bass whistle approximately 98 cm long, with the side air flow channel and three fingering holes /two in the front part and one in the back part of the flute’s main pipe/. The instrument has a north italian origin and its construction is extremely similar to the Fujara flute in former times occuring in the surroundings of Priechod, Hiadel, Strelniky, Podkonice and likewise, named by Slovak ethnomusicologists “Priechod’s Fujara flute” (“Priechodska Fujara”). Because of the above listed reasons is the so called “Priechod´s Fujara flute” regarded as the most archaic form of the Fujara flute.In this context Dr. Macak tracks the place of a Fujara’s flute origin into the area northerly from Banska Bystrica (middle Slovakia), to the actual Slovenska Lupca environment and to above listed communities. He assumes that the three-hole bass whistle has got to this territory during the turkish wars, where a regiment of soldiers from western Europe and Italy was stationed adjacent to today’s Slovenska Lupca.
    Fujara flute gradually reached and penetrated into the Slovak environment, “conserved” there and persisted until today as a rarity. Fujara’s flute movement into the Detva area and its surroundings is considered as a secondary matter, where also the design reform is evident – the lenghtening of the Fujara main pipe to almost double size achieving much lower, deeper bass possitions and resulting placement of the top fingering hole into the front part of the main Fujara flute’s pipe.
    From the turkish wars period persisted in musical culture of this region a style of melody enhancements by baroque ornamentation. Even nowadays it is still present in ciphers of bandmasters, flutists’ melodies, as well as in some melody ornaments present in traditional interpretation of the fujarists from Podpolanie region.

    Author: Karol Kocik, all rights reserved ©.

  • How to fix my Fujara flute ?

    Please use these instructions to fix some minor problems of your Fujara flute:

    My Fujara flute doesn’t play well:
    My Fujara flute’s joint does not fit right:

     

    In case your Fujara flute needs a more serious treatment we are ready to repair it for you: Find out more on Fujara flute repairs and voice improvement.

    Feeling your Fujara flute doesn’t play well ?

    Check your Fujara :

    In case you feel your fujara flute does not play the same as on the featured recordings, or the flute’s sound is weak, please check the flute agains air leakage :
    1. It is essential that the small leather plug is inserted tightly in the small notch at top end of the fujara main pipe. In case the leather plug is lost an adjusted strip of leather would do the work.
    2. Check if both ends of smaller air pipe are plugged properly. The only opening through which the air should flow in, is the mouthpiece hole.
    3. Still nothing? Contact us: info@fujara.sk

    After extensive playing:

    If you feel your fujara flute suddenly plays weaker or more noise is present in its voice than usuall you need to clean the fujara fipple’s duct (air channel):

    Sometimes it happens that a dirt from your mouth or tiny spinter stucks in the fujara flute’s fipple (sound device) resulting in worser fujara voice.

    1. Try to “blow out” the dirt by a very, very strong blow ( or scatter in case you want to practice 🙂
    2. If this doesn’t help, pull out the small leather plug out of the small notch at the top end of the fujara main pipe and carefully clean the windway with a thin piece of wood, plastic or stiff paper:
      • Cut a strip of a business card off then fold it over once (to stiffen it up more) or scissor out a suitable piece from yogurt or butter/margarin plastic container
      • Run in and out of the windway to dislodge any foreign matter. Blow sharply through the windway after this to make sure that you get all foreign matter out of the windway (you can place your finger over the windway opening, so that the fujara won’t make any sound .
    3. Still nothing? Contact us: info@fujara.sk

    Does the joint on your collapsible Fujara flute’s NOT fit right ?
    Fujara flute’s joint is too TIGHT

    Tight is good ! It means that your Fujara flute joint doesn’t allow any air to pass through which is very desired !

    You can help yourself to undone the joint more easily when you will grease it regularly (‘Chapstick’ or ski wax can serve well too).

    Due to the Fujara overtone bass flute’s grand dimensions, the properties of its tenon joints can vary greatly according to local weather/humidity. To prevent the tenons becoming too loose later, we have deliberately made the Fujara flute’s joint a bit more tight:

    • In the low humidity area, Fujara flute’s joint tend to get looser. Oiling of your Fujara flute is highly reccomended too !
    • In high humidity (wet) area Fujara flute’s joint gets even more tight.

    In case the joint of your Fujara flute is too tight even after some time and playing, you can brush away a bit of cork by sandpaper. Afterwards, you should grease the cork again with the cork grease or vaseline. Please, just be carefull while tight joint is always better then loose 🙂

  • Oil your fujara regularily

    Note: if you live in a low humidity zone, periodic oiling is highly recommended. Use only pure oils that don’t degrade/spoil over time.

    Suitable oils:

    • any flute oil (ask in music stores)
    • non-drying oils:
      • paraffin oil
      • food grade oil of your choice – Olive, Black Walnut, Sesame (to prevent rancidity add little vitamin E – a natural, non-toxic preservative)
    • To seal the fujara from the inside you can use the drying oils:
      • tung oil
      • raw linenseed (flaxen) oil
      Every oil has a bit different properties, though, one cannot say which is the best. A few frops of tea tree oil will preserve the oil and also prevent decay or fungus…

    Remember, by oiling you are protecting your fujara overtone flute from humidity and you are changing its accoustics as well: Old fujarists used to put a few drops of oil into the sound device (fipple labium) before every performance.

    Organic, vegetable-based oils penetrate the wood fibers, displacing moisture that would like to enter the wood.

    However we do not recommend oiling your Fujara too often – excessive oiling can easily clog the flute’s sound device, so be carefull !

    Fujara flute oiling technique:

    Prepare the oil. The aim is to spread the oil evenly all over the inner wals of your fujara flute.
    How much oil should be used? 0.5 – 1 dcl should be well enough… at the end you will let out the excessive oil from your fujara anyway:

    Advice: put a few drops of tea tree oil into your prepared oil to prevent decay or fungus.

    1/ First, take your fujara upside down and pour some oil into the fujara main pipe through the square window of the fujara flute’s sound device in its upper part.

    This is the best way how to oil fujara while it is essential to oil the upper part of fujara inner walls, where the sound is created and most moisture is collected.

    IMPORTANT: Oil the smaller fujara flute air pipe too.
    See more details in step 5.
    2/ Lean your fujara slightly so that the oil can get into the small notch located in the fujara flute’s sound device.

    3/ Turn your fujara toward vertical position and turn it round and round to spread the oil evenly over the inner walls of the fujara main pipe.

    …upside-down, left-to-right, right-to-left, round and round… to spread the oil throughout the fujara pipe evenly…

    4/ Let out the excessive oil from you flute.
    After one or two hours blow very strong into the fujara flute to push the overdue oil from the sound device notch.
    Allow some more time (1 hour – 1 day) for the oil to soak into the wood of fujara inner walls. Then put your fujara to rest in vertical position and let out the overdue oil from the main pipe.

    5/ Oil the side air pipe of your fujara flute too:

    Don’t forget to protect it with oiling as well, as the most moisture from playing is collected in its bottom end -near the mouthpiece and thusly it is most viable to crack if unprotected.

    Oil your fujara whenever you start to feel it is too dry inside:

    From the beginning you can oil your Fujara more often, lets say once in 3 – 4 months, depending on how much you play and how much oil the wood absorbs. Do it for example 2 times (If the wood can absorb more oil, it should be oiled more…) Then, after some time, as you start to feel your Fujara is oiled enough, oil it regularly but no more than every 8 months and later you can allow even longer and longer pauses…
    Please, keep in mind that too much of anything is simply too much!

    After some oiling with any other non-drying oil you can use the linenseed oil to actually seal your fujara from the inside for extra protection.

    Some notes on flaxen oil:

    Flaxen oil is drying oil and it can seal your fujara from the inside. When applied, it would create a thin layer of dried oil what is very desired. Just be carefull with it. Although it is traditional to use some linenseed oil, don’t overuse it, since heavy use of any oil, and especially linenseed oil, can choke up your fujara and actually clog the flute’s sound device.

    IMPORTANT >>

    Even I didn’t first realize how important this is, but after I cracked in this manner my first Fujara overtone flute, I try never to forget about pulling out the mouthpiece and letting out the condensation after playing.

    IMPORTANT >>

    After playing ALWAYS pull out the MOUTHPIECE and let out the CONDANSATION! Due to the collected moisture the mouthpiece can swell up and crack the smaller fujara flute’s air pipe.

    Never play fujara or any wooden/bamboo flute that hasn’t been oiled or played over years! It is dried out and due to sudden changes of moisture after extensive playing it can crack easily.

    The most liable to crack is the smaller fujara air pipe, where the condensation is collected. Thus, protect the small air pipe from condensation by regular oiling as well!

  • New fujara flute

    – after arrival –

    1. Check your music instrument condition against damage in shipment immediately after delivery.
    2. Read How to care? section first!
    3. Prepare your Fujara flute for playing.
    4. Play, enjoy and have a look at:
      How to play section too.

    Please, check your music instrument condition IMMEDIATELY after delivery:
    If FedEx, EMS or another carrier has damaged your shipment, please save all wrappings and contact your local carrier. You MUST file a claim with your local carrier! Please DO NOT send the damaged package back to us, since the claim must be made by the receiver.
    AFTER that we will discuss the details and REPLACE the flute – please see Folkart Slovakia Terms of Service.

    All music instruments are sent insured against damage in shipment.

    Prepare your Fujara flute for playing:

    Your Fujara should arrive safely and is ready to be played from the first moment.

    In case you have received FS collapsible FuYara, you should assemble the pieces together. Push and turn the particular pieces together, to assemble/disassemble your FS Fujara safely! Avoid pushing the parts straight together, instead try to assemble/disassemble them by screwing movement !
    Please, read the instructions on how to care for collapsible fujara here.

    In case you have received fujara made of one piece of wood, the only thing you need to do is to install the mouthpiece:
    Tied at the fujara flute leather string or in-between leather string and Fujara flute main pipe, you should find at least two small mouthpieces attached. Take one mouthpiece and plug it into the side hole at the bottom end of the smaller Fujara flute pipe. For Overtone Rich and Folkart Slovakia Fujara flutes, plug the mouthpiece with the longer side toward the bottom (beveled side pointing up) so that air could flow up without any obstacles.

    Now, your Fujara should be prepared for playing. Your fujara flute is already oiled, so you don’t need to do anything else but to play and enjoy … Still after some time, when you start to feel the fujara voice is a bit more harsh or the wood of its inner walls became too dry, then it is probably a good time to oil your Fujara flute again.

    Do not play your brand new fujara too extensively:

    While being blown the instrument is warmed up by the current of air and vapor moisturizes the inner surface. The moisture saturates the fibres and the wood expands and then contracts when getting dry again. The blowing raises vibrations in the wood that have never occurred before. The wood should be adapted to these effects in order to achieve good sound and prevent later cracking. Therefore in the beginning, the instrument shouldn’t be used over an hour daily in the first month while from then on the daily amount of blowing time can be increased gradually. After approximately two months can the new fujara be used in the usual manner without exposing it to extreme temperature changes even then.

    Do you feel your Fujara flute does not play the as good as on the featured recordings ?

    In case you feel your fujara flute does not play the same as on the featured recordings, or the flute’s sound is weak, please check the Fujara flute against air leakage :

    1. It is essential that the small leather plug is inserted tightly in the small notch at top end of the fujara main pipe. In case
    1. the leather plug is lost an adjusted strip of leather would do the work.
    2. Check if both ends of smaller air pipe are plugged properly. The only opening through which the air should flow in, is the mouthpiece hole.
    3. Check your fujara flute for cracks in the main and the smaller fujara pipe. In case your Fujara flute was damaged in shipment, please save all wrappings and file a claim with your local carrier IMMEDIATELY! After that contact us for free repair/replacement.
    4. Still nothing? Contact us: info@fujara.sk

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