A ''birbynė'' is a
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
n
aerophone
An aerophone () is a musical instrument that produces sound primarily by causing a body of air to vibrate, without the use of strings or membranes (which are respectively chordophones and membranophones), and without the vibration of the instru ...
that can be either single or double-
reeded
Reeding is a technique wherein a number of narrow ridges called "reeds" are carved or milled into a surface.
__NOTOC__ Numismatics
In numismatics, reeded edges are often referred to as "ridged" or "grooved" (American usage), or "milled" (Britis ...
and may or may not have a
mouthpiece
Mouthpiece may refer to:
* The part of an object which comes near or in contact with one's mouth or nose during use
** Mouthpiece (smoking pipe) or cigarette holder
** Mouthpiece (telephone handset)
** Mouthpiece (woodwind), a component of a woodw ...
. ''Birbynė'' can be made of a variety of materials: wood,
bark
Bark may refer to:
* Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick
* Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog)
Places
* Bark, Germany
* Bark, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland
Arts, ...
, horn, straw, goose feather, etc.
[ The earliest and simplest examples were used by children as playtoys and by shepherds as a tool to control the herd.][ In the 19th century, influenced by classical instruments and especially the ]clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound.
Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...
, the ''birbynė'' evolved into a serious musical instrument used in ensembles.[ Modern ''birbynės'' are made of wood with bells of horn and usually have ten ]tone hole
A tone hole is an opening in the body of a wind instrument which, when alternately closed and opened, changes the pitch of the sound produced. Tone holes may serve specific purposes, such as a trill hole or register hole. A tone hole is, "in w ...
s. They are divided by pitch range into three categories: soprano, tenor, and contrabass.[
]
See also
* Ganurags
* Zhaleika
The ''zhaleika'' (russian: жале́йка), also known as bryolka (''брёлка''), is the Slavic wind instrument, most used in Belarusian, Russian and sometimes Ukrainian ethnic music. Also known as a "folk clarinet" or hornpipe. The zhaleik ...
* Erkencho
The erkencho is a folk clarinet of the northern region of the Gran Chaco of South America, particularly northwestern Argentina. It consists of a tube 10–13 inches (25–33 cm) long, with a single reed and a cow or goat horn attached a ...
* Shofar
A shofar ( ; from he, שׁוֹפָר, ) is an ancient musical horn typically made of a ram's horn, used for Jewish religious purposes. Like the modern bugle, the shofar lacks pitch-altering devices, with all pitch control done by varying the ...
References
Reed aerophones
Lithuanian musical instruments
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