Khomus
Khomus (guimbarde) is an ancient musical instrument which appeared 5000 years
ago. It is considered to be the same age as the Egyptian Pyramids. It is amazing
that it is used till nowadays. What's new? On March 6 and 7, 2011 khomus players
from Yakutia participated in the International Festival in Moscow. Next time
performers will meet in Yakutsk in June at the VII International Congress Festival
of Khomus (trump). They want t0 ac-hieve the Guinness Record о % - to make ?
performance of g w more then 1000 khomus players at the same time.
Khomus is a variety of more popular Jew's-harp. The instrument consists of
a fixed base and a flexible reed, that's why it belongs to the reed instruments.
While playing reed is placed in the performer's mouth as a'resonator. The reed
vibrates freely due to the articulation and breathing in and out. Despite the
seeming simplicity the jew's-harp is able to produce a dozen different sounds.
If combined with the guttural and tongue motions of the performer the Jew's-harp
can create even melodies. Actually there are various types of jew's-harps: their
bodies are even made of larch or bamboo with the metal or bone reed. Totally
there are over 160 varieties of this unusual instrument. Different variants
and names of Jew's-harp appear almost in all peoples' cultures all over the
world. Its exact origin is still unknown, but the researches tell us it could
come from South Asia hundreds years ago, spreading later to Europe, Africa and
even the New World. The jew's-harp was quite popular among Siberian and Far
East peoples since ancient times. In some regions it remained almost the only
musical instrument for a long time. Altai people often used it in wedding ceremonies
-the sounds of the Jew's-harp imitates the dialogue between the beloved ones.
In Buria-tia the Jew's-harp was a common instrument in shamanic rituals. Yakut
people are anyway admitted to be experts in this old instrument. They are able
to feel the magic Jew's-harp vibrations as nobody else. The Yakut khomus is
able to "speak", to produce various melodies and even imitate the
sounds of nature. Khomus in the Olonkho Land
The Yakut khomus differs from any other kind with its size (its reed's length
can be up to 10 cm) and its particular bass sound. The big reed helps to achieve
a long and loud sound. Khomus is traditionally made of metal. The smith craft
was brought to the Olonkho Land (Yakutia was called so in antiquity) by the
Turkic tribes settled there the Middle Ages. They started to use local ore and
smelt ball iron to produce utensils and traditional khomuses. The Yakut khomus
can be justly called a classic shamanic instrument. Yakut people have special
onomatopoeia methods for the rituals, especially shamanic ceremonies. The Yakut
shamans often start their rituals with the horse roaring imitation. They say
that long lasting low khomus reed vibrations lead the performer the way to the
spiritual world. Moreover almost all cultural and spectacular events in the
Republic, including the Ysyakh holiday, start with the charming khomus sounds,
celebrating the beauty of the vast Olonkho Land, the glory of nature and the
triumph of life. The khomus melody reflects the unique national culture of the
Yakuts. The khomus musicians The khomus music broke the limits of the folk art
and became a part and parcel of the world's music culture long ago. The composer
German Komrakov first applied the khomus sound in the professional music in
the 1960th in a small piano concerto. Nowadays there arc solo khomus performances
accompanied by a symphony or folk orchestra.
Today the Republic has over 50 khomus master makers with the craftsman certificate.
There are only ten craftsmen of the international level, six of them are working.
Different variants and names of Jews-harp appear almost in all peoples4 cultures
all over the world. Researches tell us it could come from South Asia hundreds
years ago, spreading later to Europe, Africa and even the New World
From the 1940s the rebirth and spread of the Yakut khomus is connected with
the name of thousands traditional khomuses author -master Semen Gogolev. The
specific feature of the Gogolev khomus is the simplicity of the lines with the
classic details and proportions maintaining which makes the instrument "sing".
One of his khomuses is declared as a
standard of the traditional Yakut khomus. A classic Gogolev's khomus is recognized
by a small metal spiral crossbar placed over the khomus circle. Besides the
visual effect this detail serves as a "stiffening plate" giving a
clear sound to the instrument.
Yakutia has a lot of genuine khomus music professionals. The Republic represents
around 7000 stage performers playing this instrument. Three out of nine world
famotis consummate musicians live in Yakutia. The Yakut khomus has become a
sort of a certain brand appreciated by the experts.
Centre for music culture
Many specialists from Russia and other countries have a long lasting interest
to the oldest music instrument playing culture. USA held the I International
Congress "Jew's-harp (khomus): Tradition and Modernity" in 1984. In
1991 Yakutia opened the II International Congress.
By the recommendation of this congress the Khomus Music International Centre
was founded in 1992. The European, Asian and American khomusists creative and
research community was organized step-by-step. There were opened national centres
in Austtia, France, Germany, Holland, Norway, Japan, the U.S., Hungary, and
Switzerland; in Argentina and Taiwan since 2002. In the former Soviet Union
-Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, in Bashkortostan, the Republic of Tyva, in the Altai
Region there are branches supported by the State Government.
In 1990 in Yakutsk the Museum of Peoples of the World Khomus (Jew's-harp) was
opened - the first museum dedicated to these musical instruments. The basis
of the museum became a collection gathered by Professor Ivan Alekseev, the
Khomus Music Centre President. Among the exhibits there are wooden Jew's-harps
from Thailand, Philippines, India, Mongolia, Tyva and others.
Specialists and performers Spiridon Shishigin and Nicolay Shishigin participated
in the cultural centre foundation together with Professor Alekseev. They brought
a collection of more than 600 various nations' khomuses from USA. Leo Tadagava,
PhD from Japan, Jew's-harp specialist and khomus performer presented the museum
with variety of exhibits as well.
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