Trutruka
Trutruka (from the Mapudungun , Spanish trutruca ) is a long straight natural trumpet , which is mainly common among the Mapuche in Chile and Argentina . Their shape is similar to the erke played in the South American region of Gran Chaco and the alpine alphorn . The tone it produces is piercing and deep with little tone variation. The trutruka is used for signals over greater distances, war calls or musical accompaniment during social and religious activities.
Design
The instrument consists of a blowpipe and a bell . The blowpipe consists of a two to five meter long tube of Rygi bamboo and has a diameter between two and ten centimeters. The bamboo tube is cut in half lengthways to hollow it out, and then both halves are reconnected with a woolen thread or with animal intestines and wrapped in animal intestines, usually horses, to prevent the air from escaping when the instrument is blown. The bell consists of a cattle horn, the sawn-off tip of which is connected to the bamboo cane by plant fibers or intestinal threads.
A smaller and more modern version of the trutruka is made from a piece of coiled plastic tube.
With the trutruka one can produce several tones of the overtone series by changing the blowing pressure and the position of the lips . The instruments are placed on the floor or in a holder for playing. They are used mainly in rituals and social events, as in the prayer service Gilhatun (in Argentina camaruco called), the Logkomeu -Tanz, and funeral ceremonies.
Among the Mapuche aerophones, the smaller corneta and the nolkin are related to the trutruka . The latter, however, is not blown; its tones are created by sucking air out of the tube.
