Flabiol and tamborino (pipe and tabor)

What is

A pair of instruments played by a single person, the flabioler: a one-handed flute (flabiol) and a small drum (tamborí, tumbarino variant) played with the other. With the xeremies it forms the colla. Trade and builders in traditional instruments .

How is

• Flabiol: one-handed recorder. The DCVB describes it as a 12 to 35 cm reed tube, cut obliquely, with holes along its length. The Great Catalan Encyclopèdia describes a Catalan-Mallorca model with eight holes, cylindrical, in two pieces of 20-25 cm, with the mouthpiece often protected by a plate and brass or bone rings (number of holes in the current Mallorcan flabiol: to be verified; Guillem Horrach's file speaks of three).
• Tamborí: small drum hung on the shoulder or arm, played with a single drumstick (pot) (DCVB). Wooden box and two leather patches stretched with rope (detail to be verified).
• Material: hardwoods turned for flabiol; wood and skin for the drum.

How is fa

• Flabiol: turning and drilling, holes tuned with the xeremies of the colla ( torners ).
• Tamborí: curved wooden hoop, heads, cordage (percussion builder in Sóller mentioned in the job description).
• Flabiol builder: Guillem Horrach (about 100 per year).

Com s'usa

• Gesture: the left hand (usually) fingers the flabiol; the right hits the drum with the flower pot. The drum hangs from the flabiol's arm or shoulder.
• Repertoire: melody in unison with the grall of the xeremies; The drum marks the pace of the dance and the procession.
• Context: parties, ball de bot, cossiers, Sant Antoni.

Vocabulary

• flabiol / fabiol / fobiol: one-handed flute.
• flabioler: who plays flabiol and drumí.
• tamborí / tamborino: tambourine.
• maceta: unique drumstick.
• colla: xeremier + flabioler.
• flabiol de set canons: Pan flute (DCVB).

History

• 1404: "to the drum and to the flaviol" in a royal entry document (DCVB).
• 1449: payment “de sonar lo flouiol et la tembor” (Igualada, DCVB).
• 1974-1994: the colles trobades (Montuïri, Sa Pobla) revitalize the couple.
• Detail in traditional instruments .

On veure'n

• Trobada of Xeremiers and Fira de Lutiers de Sa Pobla .
• Patron saint festivities with a group of xeremiers.

Why is it design

• One person, two instruments: ergonomics distributed between both hands.
• Melody and rhythm in one body: the colla of two musicians sounds like a band.
• Portable: everything can be touched while walking.

For the project

• Open workshop on building a flabiol with Guillem Horrach (if still active).
• Graphic piece: the flabioler gesture (hand drawing) for the atlas.

Sources

• dcvb.iec.cat/results.asp?Word=flabiol
• dcvb.iec.cat/results.asp?Word=tambor%ED
• enciclopedia.cat/gran-enciclopedia-catalana/flabiol-0
• ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeremia

Working text from the Disseny Indígena knowledge base, machine-translated from Spanish.

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