World Flutes Festival Interviews
Nikolay Doktorov (Kaval / Bulgaria)
1. At what age did you start learning music? Nikolay Doktorov: I was 13 years old when I started to play kaval. 2. Is music a family tradition? N.D. My family likes the folk music, songs and dance very much. My grandgrandfather played a wistle. My grandfather played the kaval and my grandmother was [...]
North America
Native American Flute
The Native American people were a very cultural and spiritual group of people, and music played a big part in their spiritual lives and cultural celebrations. Two of the most prominent instruments in Native American music are the drums and the Native American flutes. These Native American flutes have a lot of mysteries surrounding their [...]
Europe
Ancient flute oldest instrument found
AFP Stone Age humans may have ripped raw meat from the bone, but they also played music, according to a study reporting the discovery of a 35,000-year-old flute, the oldest instrument known. Found in the Ach Valley of southern Germany, the nearly intact five-hole flute was meticulously carved with stone tools from the hollow wing-bone [...]
Asia
Ancient bone flute found in China
Bone flute found in China at 9,000-year-old Neolithic site Upton, NY, 1999 – Researchers in China have uncovered what might be the oldest playable musical instrument. Their work is described in a paper published in the September 23 issue of the scientific journal Nature. Recent excavations at the early Neolithic site of Jiahu, located in [...]
Latin America
Caral Flutes
Music within the ideology of ancient inhabitants of Caral Music is as old as man himself. Throughout history all human groups have developed diverse musical languages and instruments with which they have revealed emotions, feelings and knowledge. Peru, a country of thousand-year-old traditions, shows one of the most important musical heritages of America. Since [...]
Africa
Tambin / Fula Flute
The tambin, traditional Fulani flute of the Fouta Djalon highlands of Guinea. A little-known instrument outside West Africa where it is revered for the profound effect it has on listeners, often bringing them to tears with its haunting sounds and melodies that reach deep inside one’s soul. It can be encountered sometimes as one travels [...]
Oceania
Didgeridoo ‘helps sleep problems’
Daily playing of a didgeridoo can help alleviate sleep problems, a study says. Swiss researchers found using the instrument for 25 minutes a day helped people with sleep apnoea, the British Medical Journal reported. The disorder causes the throat to close and breathing to stop, waking the patient, but the sessions helped by strengthening the [...]
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