Wind instruments
Tulum
Tulum: A wind instrument with an air bag made of goatskin, native to the Black Sea region. The bagpipe of the Eastern Black Sea, especially of the highlands of Rize, Artvin and Trabzon; it is played at horon dances and highland festivals.
In brief
- Family: Single-reed wind instrument with an air bag (bagpipe family)
- Body and materials: Bag of kid, goat or lamb skin; blowpipe and a double-pipe chanter called nav
- Holes: The two reed pipes of the nav lie side by side; the number of holes varies by region (five on each pipe in Hemşin)
- Playing: The bag is filled by blowing and squeezed with the arm to sustain the sound without a break
- Regions: Rize, Artvin (Hemşin, Pazar), Trabzon, Erzurum, Kars, Ardahan, Bayburt, Gümüşhane
- Music: Horon, highland festivals; Laz, Hemshin and Pontic Greek folk music
- Other names: Guda in Laz; tulum zurna, tulum düdük; its Thracian relative is the gayda
- 16th–17th centuries: Evliya Çelebi mentions it as the tulum düdüğü; it is described as a reed instrument with a leather bag, played by Russian shepherds[1, 2, 3]
Listen
History
The bagpipe of the Eastern Black Sea, especially of the highlands of Rize, Artvin and Trabzon; it is played at horon dances and highland festivals.
Construction
A chanter made of two parallel pipes sounding with single reeds is fitted to an air bag made of kid or goat skin; there is also a blowpipe.
How it is played
The player fills the bag by blowing and squeezes it with the arm to keep the sound going without interruption; the two pipes play the melody together.
Its place in makam music
It plays Black Sea melodies with short, lively ornaments; its scales are mostly close to Hüseynî and Uşşak.
Getting started: types, sizes, tuning
Start with this instrument
Masters on recordings
Performers who play this instrument on recordings of works in the score archive (MusicBrainz).
Frequently asked questions about the Tulum
What is the difference between the tulum and the gayda?
Both are bagpipes, but the Black Sea tulum has no separate drone pipe: its chanter, made of two parallel pipes, gives both the melody and the accompanying tone. The gayda of Thrace and the Balkans, by contrast, has a separate drone pipe next to the melody pipe that sounds a single continuous note. Their timbres and playing styles also differ.
What music is the tulum played in?
It is played at the highland festivals, weddings and horons of the eastern Black Sea, especially in Rize, Artvin and Trabzon. Lively, ornamented fast melodies and horon rhythms are the tulum's core repertoire. It also has an important place in Hemshin and Laz music; together with the kemençe, it is considered one of the region's two main instruments.
How does the tulum produce an uninterrupted sound?
The player fills the bag through the blowpipe and sends the air to the chanter by pressing the bag with the arm. While the player breathes in, the air in the bag keeps flowing, so the sound does not stop. This way the melody on the tulum continues without breaks between breaths; the notes are separated from one another by finger strikes and ornaments.
Is the tulum hard to learn?
Keeping steady pressure on the bag and coordinating breath with arm pressure take getting used to. Adjusting the reeds and caring for the leather bag are also part of playing the tulum. The ornaments in fast horon melodies require long practice. Most players learn from regional masters by listening and playing along.