DRUM, so called DAOULI

Visual or audio material of objects, buildings and constructions, processes

Description accompanying the visual/audio material

• Chronology



Circa 1950

• Country



GREECE

• Heritage Theme



Handicrafts

• Location



The daouli in the above photo comes from Setia, on the island of Crete.

• History



The daouli dates back to the Byzantine era; indeed, frescoes, wooden engravings and monastic iconography depict religious but also secular festivities, where the dauli figures prominently as a musical instrument. Most importantly, historic accounts testify of its significant role in the battlefield, its sound bringing fear to the enemy and courage to the fighters. Nowadays, the daouli is popular in Macedonian songs, traditionally accompanying two zournas, but also tsambouna or gaida, as well as bigger ensembles, namely violins, clarinets, lutes etc. The daouli, along with the zournas, form the well known ‘zygia’, popular in mainland Greece, Turkey and the Balkan Peninsula in general.
The above item can be found at the exhibition hall of the Museum of Greek Popular Instruments “Phoebos Anoyanakis”, Centre of Ethnomusicology, in Athens.
The photo was granted by the Museum of Greek Popular Instruments, Phoebos Anoyanakis, Centre of Ethnomusicology (photo archives).

 

• Description of function, materials, style, shape



The daouli is a traditional membranophone percussion instrument with emblematic sound. In membranophones, the sound producing part is a vibrating stretched membrane. The daouli consists of a wooden shell, two drumheads and two sticks (daouloxyla), one thick, the other thin. The thick one, called kopanos, is played with the right hand and emits a low full sound, while the thin one, called vitsa, is played with the left hand and gives a high pitch sound.
Drumheads vary in size, from 25cm to 1 meter diameter, as well as in height (the distance between the two leather surfaces) from 20cm to 60cm. The cylindrical wooden shell is made of beech or walnut, while the two circular surfaces are made of goat skin, more rarely of sheepskin.

Description of the daouli in the above photo:
Wooden cylindrical drumhead covered by imprinted fabric. The skins have been mounted on the wooden hoops which in turn have been adapted to the two drumhead bases. It is accompanied by two sticks (daouloxyla), called kopanos and verga or vitsa.
Dimensions:
Cylinder Height: 20cm
Diameter: 38cm
Material: wood, skin, fabric
 

• Bibliography



Phoebos Anoyanakis, “Greek Popular Instruments”, National Bank of Greece, Athens 1976
Takis Kalogeropoulos, “Dictionary of Greek Music”, Gialleli editions, Athens 2001
Stavros Karakasis, “Greek Musical Instruments”, Difros editions, Athens 1970
 

• Keywords



daouli, goat skin, membranophone musical instrument