NIKOLA GEORGIEV - STRANDZHANSKA GAIDA -BULGARIA

One of the first peoples to adopt this instrument were the Thracians. They replaced the horns with wood, and made other innovations, such as the trumpet and the bellows. In ancient Egypt, bagpipes were also used - with and without a pipe.
At the beginning of the first millennium BC, the proto-Bulgarians adopted this instrument, and it became one of the main musical instruments in the lands of Old (Volga) Bulgaria. Peoples such as: Celts, Druids, Russians, and others also took this instrument from them. In more recent times, the bagpipe was brought to the territory of today's Bulgaria. The modern Bulgarian bagpipe is an instrument At the moment, 2 main schools of juries are advocated - bagpipes, - Thracian (Asia Minor) and Strandzha. There are also juries - couplets, based on the chorus, similar to the couplet. The Kaba bagpipe is unique in its sound, an autarchic instrument, used mainly in the Rhodope Mountains, as an accompaniment to the famous Rhodope songs, based on the pentatonic scale. But it also fits in successfully when combined with other instruments, as a support for dance motifs, etc. It is characterized by a powerful and dense sound, low in range, but otherwise soft and caressing the ear.with many possibilities, both in an orchestra and independently, in ritual rituals, etc. Currently, two main types are imposed - kaba and dzura. The dzura bagpipe is mainly a solo instrument, characteristic of almost the whole of Bulgaria, and it is most prevalent in Strandzha. It has a high timbre of sound, loud, at times shrill, with possibilities for various curves and ornaments (melisms). Like the kaba - the bagpipe, the jura can be successfully included in instrumental motifs, symphonic poems, jazz, rock and roll, etc.