“Koval,” a musical instrument: wind: end-blown open flute

Bulgarians; Gagauz

Bessarabia province, Bendery district, village Komrat

late 19th century

Wood

length 73.5; diameter 1.8

РЭМ 743-136

The oldest woodwind instrument by its origin is the chaban’s (shepherd’s) open flute k’aval (khaval) widely used by the peoples of Asia Minor and Southeastern Europe. The kaval is a hollow wooden pipe whose middle part has eight finger holes (seven on the front side and one on the back side), and whose lower part has up to four resonant holes. The latter always remain open and serve to improve the timbre. Folk performers call the kaval’s resonant holes “devil’s holes.” According to a Bulgarian fairytale, the devil once challenged a chaban to a musical competition, and while the shepherd was asleep, bored additional holes in his kaval to mistune it. Instead, the chaban’s kaval sounded even better, and the devil lost the competition. During the grazing, folk tunes on the kaval alternate with chaban songs. There is a popular belief that the kaval’s sound gathers the flock, and a song calms animals and helps them grow faster.