Ah, at long last ... I've been hoping somebody would finally establish a tribe for the most ancient and noble of all instruments, the kaval! What I propose is open, honest, balanced and appreciative discussion of ALL kaval traditions ... Bulgarian, Macedonian, Serbian, Albanian, Turkish and Romanian.
Blagodarja, gospodin Iliev ...
Blagodarja, gospodin Iliev ...
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Richmond
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Re: FINALLY!!!
Tue, October 2, 2007 - 9:58 PMDear Geoff:
Welcome ! You have summed up the concept of this tribe admirably !
I will try to post something of interest at least once or twice a month...
can you let other interested people know...this tribe is not tied to the
English language only...By the way, what type and pitch of kaval do you
currently play ? (I've recently re-discovered the beauty of a B flat kaval
Slavi Ivanov (Tonev) of the (then village) of Kameno made for me in 1970...
(The street he lived on was called "Honeyed Kaval")
Wishing you all good things, Sasho -
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Re: FINALLY!!!
Wed, October 3, 2007 - 12:15 PMThanks for starting the tribe and your help. I have a standard D kaval, like the C kaval a lot. I'm also interested in kaval from other Balkan countries and from Turkey.
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Re: FINALLY!!!
Wed, October 3, 2007 - 1:03 PMI have spread the word to every Balkan and Turkish music- and culture-related Tribe that I belong to, Sasho.
I was in Sofija and Plovdiv over the summer, looking for a Bb kaval, but was told that there are very few accomplished craftsmen who make this size nowadays.
Unfortunately, my Bulgarian D kaval is not the best, just a better-than-souvenir quality one that I found on eBay a few years ago.I have been complimented by one or two teachers on the tone that I can get out of it.
(Yes, Bai Iliev, I took your sound advice and sought formal lessons from real teachers! It is not easy ... I had to drive 3.5 hours one-way for one teacher ... and I had to go to Bulgaria for the other!)
My Macedonian C kaval is a real beauty, made by Stojance Vinice of the lightest ash with beautiful designs and carvings and a sweet voice.
My Turkish D kaval is $40 trash that I bought from Lark in the Morning. I tried to find a nicer kaval when I was in Turky in 2006, but all I could find were plastic kavals ... and many, many neys.
What a great name for a street ... -
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Re: FINALLY!!!
Wed, October 10, 2007 - 2:37 PMYou could send it to me and I could exchange it..we get so many different kavals from Turkey that some are better than others! -
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Re: FINALLY!!!
Sat, December 15, 2007 - 9:54 AMThanks for the offer, David, but I bought it almost six years ago ... Lark probably has a statute of limitations for this kind of thing, ha ha!
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Re: FINALLY!!!
Wed, October 10, 2007 - 9:38 PMYes, it is true that the B flat and A alto kavals are more demanding to make and design...
Esthetically and artistically the C and B flat kavals represent the tone - timbre that I most closely
associate with the old Thracian kaval music...where, the low octave "Kaba" reigned supreme
with few forays into higher octaves. The peculiar - specific sound of the B flat is due, no doubt
to the usual ratios of length x bore diameter x tone hole diameters ...the B flat is much longer
than a D kaval, yet has the same size toneholes and a bore not dramatically larger than the much
smaller D kaval. Nedyalko Nedyalkov uses this larger instrument very effectively in a recording of a 9/16
Thracian Horo...beautiful.
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