Bladder fiddle

Bladder fiddle
"King of the Bladder." Picture of a man on a box, holding a bladder fiddle.
"King of the Bladder." A man stands on a box holding a two-string bladder-fiddle. The mid-1870s image, a caricature, shows a perception that something is wrong with the musician.
String instrument
Other namesdrone, drone-and-string, boomba, bumbass, stamp fiddle, stumpf fiddle, pogo cello, Devil's stick, Devil's violin, boom bass, hum strum, teufel stick, stomp stick, Teufelsgeige (German, devil's fiddle), Bettelgeige (German, beggar's fiddle), saubass (Austrian-German), luk muzycyny (Polish), Diabelskie skrzypce (Polish, Devil's fiddle), rabel (Spanish), basse de Flandre (French, Flanders fiddle).
Classification String, percussion
Hornbostel–Sachs classification
(MIMO puts all bumbasses together, whether percussion or fiddles. Hornbostel-Sachs doesn't consider number of strings. Drums and bladders not considered for resonators (only gourds).
311.22 True stick zithers.

Other options musical bows

311.121.221.71 Mono-heterochord musical bows - The bow has one heterochord string only, with attached resonator and no tuning noose. Played with a bow.
311.122.1 Poly-heterochord musical bows - The bow has several heterochord strings, and no tuning noose.)
Related instruments

The bladder fiddle was a folk instrument used throughout Europe and in the Americas. The instrument was originally a simple large stringed fiddle (a musical bow) made with a long stick, one or more thick gut strings, and a pig's-bladder resonator. It was bowed with either a notched stick or a horsehair bow.[1]

The folk instrument was historically played by "wandering musicians" and beggars up to the early 19th century.[2][3][4] Although it may be used in serious folk music[5] it has also been used for humor.

Changes in the instrument have produced two distinct modern variations. The traditional bowed instrument has been preserved into the 21st century in Lithuania as the pusline[5] (and possibly Estonia and Flanders), producing sustained or rhythmic droning notes.[2] The other variation, a percussion instrument, is used in folk music internationally, including Europe, North America and Australia, in which sound may imitate a drum roll and other percussive sounds.[2][6]

  1. ^ Haigh, Chris (2008). "Baltic Fiddle". Fiddling Around the World. Retrieved 6 December 2020. sounded with a horsehair bow, and the pitch can be changed by pressing down on the string. It has little use as a melody instrument, but can be useful for providing a drone and rhythm accompaniment..."stumpf fiddle" or stomp stick
  2. ^ a b c Baines, Anthony C. (1984). "Bumbass". In Sadie, Stanley (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. p. 285. Volume 1. ...used by wandering musicians up to the early 19th century...
  3. ^ Elschek, Oskar. "Ozembuch". Centrum pre tradičnú ľudovú kultúru. variable and multidimensional folk instrument of diverse sound, shape and character...an accompaniment to dancing, but it was mainly used by beggars and itinerant musicians as entertainment at fairs. Today, it is mainly used in the carnival parade of masks
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference dwdsbumbassdef was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Baltic Folk. "Bladder Fiddle / Bumbass & Samogitian Song | Pūslinė & Žemaitiška Daina "Padarė žvirblelis"". YouTube. Retrieved 16 April 2024. [Video showing Lithuanian folk ensemble, with pusline played as a bass instrument]
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference walters was invoked but never defined (see the help page).