Bulgarian kaval by Nikolay Doktorov

NIKOLAY DOKTOROV BULGARIAN KAVAL MENDOZA,ARGENTINA 2009

Bulgarian Kaval

FIRST WORLD FLUTES FESTIVALMENDOZA, ARGENTINA 2009

Presented by Nikolay DoktorovKaval player, conductor and teacherKaval player, conductor and teacher


The Kaval

• Traditional musical instrument in Bulgaria• One of the oldest national folklore instruments• Made of wood and bone



The Republic of Bulgaria

EUROPEBulgaria

• European country• On the Balkans • South-eastern Europe • On the Black sea


• Area

≈ 111,000 km2

• Population

≈ 7.5 million

• Capital

Sofia

The Republic of Bulgaria


History of Kaval

KAVAL(Turkey)

KAVAL(Macedonia)

DZAMARA(Greece)

CAVAL(Romania)

KAVALL(Albania)

BLUR(Armenia)

NEY(Arab countries)

• Exact origins – unknown (scarce data)• Predecessors – probably Egyptian, Syrian, later Greek wind instruments• Etymology - Long wooden shepherd’s wistle (from Turkish). Also called dzamara, blur and ney

• Development – melodies passed on through generations by ear at folklore competitions, gatherings, festivals in Bulgaria and around the world


Structure of Kaval

• Wooden cylindrical tube• Two open ends• Consists of three parts

Upper “first” part without holes

Middle “second” part with 8 holes

Third part with 4 holes. Also known as “dushnitzi” or “devil holes”. Not used by the performer

Thumb hole


Producing sound

• Held with both hands, at an angle of approx. 45o

• Circular open end goes under lower lip and above upper lip on the right side of the mouth (lips are pursed in the form of a circle)• Air flows directly from the throat into the kaval at an angle• Air hits the inside walls of the kaval and thus sound is produced• Change of air pressure produces change of pitch


Finger Positioning


Registers and Timbre

• Registers – kaval has 3 registers which determine its range, 2 octaves and 6 tones:

Low register Middle register High registerSmall octave (+ first octave played simultaneously) II (second) octave 6 tones

• Timbre– kaval has many different timbers; some examples are:

kaba pp clarinet

incomplete low register:from D (I octave) to B (I

octave)

between kaba and timber of the middle

register;very mild, light tone

low register

flute

middle register


Technical Characteristics

•D-kaval – the most widely spread kaval in Bulgaria (length = 64cm)• Playing technique – depending on the difficulty of the musical composition might include

• vibrato, staccato, triller, mordent, forschlag, ligatures, glissando• hlopki, different dynamics

• for longer and more complex phrases:

• tongue technique• circular breathing

• the high number of registers allows jumps in upward and downward direction


Kaval Types and Their Characteristics

Different size and usage:

ABHC#

CD

E

• have beautiful mat tone•used for solo playing or accompaniment of singers• old kaval masters used to play with these kavals

• most widely spread kavals today

• used mainly for education of younger children


Bulgarian Kaval Performers and Teachers

• Nikola Ganchev • Dragan Karapchanski• Matiu Dobrev• Penko Georgiev

• Teodosii Spasov

• Dancho Radulov

• Nedyalko Nedyalkov

• Stoyan Chobanov• Aleksandar Donev

• Tzvyatko Blagoev• Gospodin Stanev

• Ivan Bogoev

• Stoyan Velichkov

• Kostadin Genchev

• Krastyu Dimov

• Stoyan Aleksandrov

• Nikolay Georgiev

• Dosiu Milkov


Anil PayakovyaAnil Payakovya

NN

• Georgi Ivanov • Stanil Payakov

• Ivan Antonov

• prof. Milcho Vasilev

• Neicho Georgiev

• prof. d-r Lyuben Dossev

• Dimo Jelev

• Georgi Georgiev

• Shtiliyan Tihov

• Dimitar Dimitrov• Georgi Penev

• Hristo Stefanov

• Mehmed Saliev

• Tzvyatko Denkov

• Venelin Mutafchiev

• Rumen Mutafchiev

• Stoyan Stoilov

Bulgarian Kaval Performers and Teachers


ff

Makers of Bulgarian folk instruments

• Today, very few people make Bulgarian folk instruments consistent with the requirements for quality and sound correctness

• one of the best materials for kaval is cornel wood; kavals can also be made of plum, boxwood, and other types of wood

Zhecho Marinov

Dimitar Genchev

Slavi Ivanov

Petar Borisov

Tzvyatko Damyanov

Ivan Parushev

Veselin Hasabaliev

Encho Pashov Apostol Apostolov


Place of the Kaval in the Folklore Life of Bulgaria


The Folk Music

Music – one of the universal international languages.

Folk music – the most precious national treasure for every nation.

Let’s love, preserve and develop our national folk music.

Bulgarian kaval by Nikolay Doktorov

Education

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