Membranophones

If you hear the echo of heavy rhythmic beats as you go on your way, it is because there is a party in a nearby village and the tupan is at work. Since the 15th century, the tupan has been a part of all Bulgarian folk groups. Accomplished musicians are able to draw sounds from it that can inspire a whole range of feelings all the way from exhilaration and liveliness to solemnity and grief. This is why the tupan is a part of every event in people’s lives.

Could we ever image a folk wedding without its cheerful teasing beats? It is always the tupan that calls young people to village dances. What sidelong glances, what brushing of hands, what pounding hearts it arouses!

But the beat of the tupan becomes grave and mysterious during the dances of the nestinar. Their sound is heard in the night air and the dancers, their feet bare, begin to dance around the embers of the fire in time to the music. The glow of the dying fire reflects on their strained faces and the measured movements of their bodies. All the spectators hold their breath and then one of the dancers leaps onto the hot coals with strange shouts. The others follow. Their bare feet are resting on burning coals but their faces betray no pain at all.

How can we explain this phenomenon? By the magic power of the tupan? No one has the answer. But the effect of the performance is quite special.

The tupan is a percussion membranophone with two vibrating bodies. It has a cylindrical wooden body on which two goat or sheep skins are stretched by means of a hoop and lacing. The tupan is held in front of the player, suspended over the shoulder by a long strap attached to the drum.

The drum is hit with two different sized drumsticks. The right hand holds the larger and fatter stick with the padded end called the tokmak. The other stick in the left hand is smaller and thinner. The large drumstick beats out the measure, while the small switch plays quicker rhythms thus allowing the musician to play complex combinations.

The tupan is of foreign origin but is nonetheless deeply rooted in Bulgarian musical life. It is found throughout the south west and in the Standja Mountains region. The rhythmic deep sound of the drum is heard during weddings, village dances, bear folk games, the performances of koukers (traditional Bulgarian masques) and the nestinar (dancers who walk on hot coals).

The tupan is primarily an accompanying instrument that marks the rhythm but it can also be played as a solo instrument. Well-tuned and with good acoustic construction, it has a beautiful tone. An accomplished musician can get sounds from it not only by hitting the different sections of the drum heads but also by hitting the hoops and the body or even by rubbing the skins (friction percussion).

In modern folk groups, the tupan is usually used to mark the beat. On the other hand, it can be played as a solo instrument to emphasize an important moment in a dance.