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THE
caval (end-blown flute)
The caval is an aerophone instrument of Balkan farmers, especially shepherds. It can be found throughout in the south east (Wallachia, Oltenia, Moldavia) as well as in the mountains of central Romania. The caval is a big straight flute (approximately 80 cm long) made of ash, cherry or plane wood. It consists of a tube partially closed at the top by a cork (dop) with five finger holes and a rectangular mouth hole (vranã) on the opposite side. Farmers make the caval in a number of sizes. The one in the photo is an average size, about 76 cm in length. Recently, the caval has been tuned to an F-scale to make it easier to play in folk music groups. The caval can produce from two to four or five partial sounds simultaneously. Its hoarse, soft and expressive tone is sometimes imitated by violinists who play "like the caval". Its instrumental effects include changing pitch in the same piece (by blowing harder) and playing in parallel octaves (on the first and second harmonics).
When playing the caval, the musician produces a throaty sound:
"in tune" and stable in relation to the melody (in Oltenia) or
of an undetermined and fluctuating pitch (in Wallachia and Moldavia,
like the recording here). The caval can easily play complex melodies
that are highly ornamented with appogiatura, mordents, trills,
small glissandi and tremolos. Its rich and varied repertoire includes
long songs (doinã), lyric songs in instrumental versions, dance
tunes and the instrumental poem "The shepherd who lost his sheep".
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