The melody of a horn
Belonging, as well, to pastoralist traditions are wind instruments of simple manufacture, used to perform well-known repertoires or to improvise new melodies. The best known is the straight beak flute, also known as cifalo, cifalitto, fiscariéglio or fràulo. This flute is made with cane (Arundo donax) and has between three to seven holes. Less common were the flutes of elderberry (Sambucus nigra) or poplar (Populus spp), which had no holes at all. These were played by plugging or leaving open the lower extremity of the instrument.
Maranola musical tradition, like elsewhere, continues to renew itself, and one of its latest innovations (summer of 2006) is the flute of goat, ram or cow horns. The maker of this new instrument is pastoralist Giuseppe Minchella. Its fiscariéglio (horn-flute) has between three to six holes at the top, one for the nozzle, one at the bottom and a lateral incision (a sort of air outlet). The circular open portion of the horn is closed with a cherry wood-stopper. Traditionally, horn instruments had a sole hole for the mouthpiece and the sound was produced through the lips’ vibrations. These types of instruments, often equipped with a carved wooden nozzle, were used to convey acoustic signals. In the past, on coastal areas, marine shells or tofe (on which a nozzle was made through an incision) were also used as instruments of communication.