The Musical instruments typical of Argentina Are divided into two groups: folk and ethnographic. There are indigenous, pre-Columbian and imported.
With two genres that marked the country's musical history: folk music and tango , Was the one that left a more specific mark on the instruments, since the second one is interpreted with artifacts that are not of own manufacture.
Folklore is the most widespread style throughout the national territory, with a huge variety of subgenres, depending on their composition but also the region to which they belong.
The tango, on the other hand, has a much greater sound homogeneity, albeit with its variations. In addition, there are other genres popularly conveners.
You may also like This list of musical instruments of Venezuelas .
15 Traditional musical instruments from Argentina
1- Water drum
This percussion instrument typical of the Chaco area was used mainly by the Indigenous tribes Of the region as toba, pilaga, wichi, charota and nivakle.
The drum of water or cataquí counts on a hollowed body, in which inside water is poured. Then the mouth is closed with corzuela leather, which is struck with a stick.
2- Bread Flute or Siku
This wind instrument is composed of two sets of tubes: the ark, which has seven tubes, and anger, with six. It originates from the Puna and Quebrada de Humahuaca.
In its beginnings two people were needed for its performance, one for each row, but with the passage of time began to be used by a single musician.
3-Charango
This stringed instrument is similar to many others in this family. With a soundboard and a group of strings.
The soundboard of the charango was originally made with the shell of the capybara or other similar animals, something that eventually became obsolete.
This instrument has five pairs of double strings and there are different pairs of strings. Its origin is in the regions near the Andes mountains .
4- Leggings pump
It is one of the most typical instruments of Argentina and one of the main components of any folk orchestra. He is originally from Santiago del Estero. Its name is because its sound can be heard a league away, almost five kilometers.
This percussion instrument consists of two patches or membranes of sheep leather with hair attached to a box or cylinder of wood, preferably of hollowed trunks. Two sticks are used for interpretation.
5- Erkencho
This wind instrument, also from the Puna and Quebrada de Humahuaca, is known as an idioglottic clarinet, by its tongue.
The erkencho is composed of a tube of cane and a bovine horn, united. The sound is produced in the first artifact, while in the second it is amplified.
In this family of instruments also stands the Erke, which is similar but has a longer reed tube.
6- Tarka
This instrument of the wind family, originally from the north of Argentina, has a tender sound that distinguishes it.
The tarka is a kind of flute composed of a vertical orthopedic wooden body, made in one piece, with six holes in the middle sector.
7- Chiriguano Violin
This instrument of the family of strings, is similar to its European pair with the peculiarity that his body has different forms, according to who makes it. It is native to Chaco Salta.
8- Kultrun, cultrun or cultrum
This percussion instrument is also known as the timpani Mapuche And its origin is in the land of this indigenous people: Patagonia.
The kultrum is similar to a hype, has a bowl-shaped wooden body whose mouth is covered with a leather membrane, tightened with tiento bandages.
Its interpretation can be of two forms: holding it in the hand or supported on the ground, always percutiéndolo with a drumstick.
9- Mbike the pilaga
This particular instrument of rubbed rope originates from the Toba people, which was located mostly in Chaco, northern zone of the Argentine Republic.
The mbike, novike or pilaga is a monochrome musical device, composed of a soundboard, made of pumpkin or carpincho carapace, and with a single string (iket), which is rubbed with a bow.
10- Quena
It is another of the typical instruments of the native Argentine musical scene, whose origin is in the provinces of Salta and Jujuy. Also of the family of winds, the quena is composed of a body of reed or wood, with six orifices front and one back.
11- Trutruka
The Patagonian trumpet is another of the typical instruments of the Mapuche people, used mainly in rituals and folk music.
It belongs to the family of winds and is composed of two parts: the body, made with beef and that serves as a resonator, and the horn, which is a hollowed vegetable tube, covered by a gut of sheep or horse.
12- Box
Originally from north central Argentina, this percussion instrument is similar to any bass drum but of a smaller size.
The box is composed of a completely closed wood or sheet metal ring, with two patches attached to the main body by tilt. It is a lightweight instrument.
The lower patch, called"chirlera", has a few bourbons, which when bounced on the leather when being punctured, give a particular sound.
13- Takuapu
Image recovered from youtube.com.
This instrument of percussion, also known like"stick of rhythm", originates of the Mesopotamian towns of Misiones and in its beginnings was only executed by women.
The takuapu counts a piece of reed, which can be up to two meters long, hollow and with the base closed, which is percussed against the earth and generates a deep sound.
14- Sachaguitarra
The name of this instrument, created by Elpidio Herrera , A musician from Santiago del Estero, means"guitar del monte".
This instrument similar to many of the family of ropes, is made up of a washboard (which the creator took from his mother), a mast and ropes.
Over time, the washboard was replaced by a small box made of pumpkin, so its sound is a mixture of guitar, violin, mandolin and charango.
15- Jaw
The jaw is the jaw of any vertebrate animal. In this case it is used as a musical instrument. It can be a donkey, horse or beef. After being cured, the jaw can be used in different ways.
The jaw belongs to percussion instruments. The most common way to make it sound is to hit it with your hand closed. In this way, the vibration of the denture is achieved. Another type of interpretation is rubbing the teeth with a toothpick.
References
- Les instruments de musique dans les pays andins , Xavier Bellenger, Bulletin de l'Institut Français d'Études Andines. Lima, Peru, 1981.
- Kenas, Pincollos and Tarkas, Antonio González Bravo, Latin American Bulletin of Music, Montevideo, 1937.
- Elpidio Herrera, inventor of the sachaguitarra, Roots of Folklore, 2009.