History of Primitive and Non-Western Trumpets - Animal-horn Trumpets

Animal-horn Trumpets

Animal-horn trumpets are still employed today, especially in Africa, though they are also found in Israel, Asia and Oceania. With the exception of African varieties, most are end-blown instruments from which the tip has been removed to provide a mouthhole. In the majority of cases the player’s lips are applied directly to the mouthhole; sometimes, however, the instrument has a detachable mouthpiece. Cattle, sheep, goats and antelopes are among the animals whose horns are – or have been – most frequently used to make such trumpets. The following examples may be briefly noted:

• The Sumerian si was the ordinary word for animal horn. Literary references show that as an instrument it was played in the streets by the herald who delivered public announcements.
• The Jewish shofar is perhaps the best-known animal-horn trumpet. It is usually made from a ram’s horn, though the horn of any kosher animal other than a cow or calf may be used. The shofar, which is still employed in Jewish religious ceremonies today, is an ancient instrument; it is mentioned frequently in the Bible and rabbinic literature. It can generally produce only two pitches; theoretically, these should be a fifth apart (being the second and third partials of the instrument’s harmonic series); the irregular bore of the instrument, however, can reduce this to as little as a fourth or increase it to as much as a sixth. These acoustical details apply to most animal-horn trumpets.

• The Indian shringa, or ṣṛnga, (Sanskrit for “horn”) was originally made from the horn of the buffalo, though the term was later applied to almost any kind of horn or trumpet, irrespective of its origin. In the south of the country the general name of the instrument is kombu, a Dravidian term which also means “horn”. The shringa is an end-blown instrument, though one particular variety – the singha of Orissa – is side-blown. The shringa and its close relations are known by various names in different parts of India: singe (the shringa of the Bhils), sakna (a buffalo horn of the Santals), reli'ki (the Angami’s buffalo horn, which has a bamboo mouthpiece), visan (a buffalo horn of Uttar Pradesh), singi (a deer horn of Uttar Pradesh), and kohuk (a horn of the Marias of Madhya Pradesh). India’s national epic, the Mahābhārata, mentions the govishanika, which is thought to have been a cow’s horn. Many species of shringa can still be found in India today.
• The Greek keras (“horn”) and the Etrusco-Roman cornu (Latin for “horn”) were originally simple animal-horn trumpets, though both were superseded by more advanced instruments to which they lent their names.
• The Germanic cowhorn, or Stierhorn, which was generally made from the horn of an aurochs or buffalo.
• The rwa-dun is a Tibetan ram’s-horn trumpet similar to the Jewish shofar. It has been used for centuries in Buddhist ceremonies for the purposes of exorcism.
• The Latvian āžrag was made from a goat’s horn, and was blown by young men in the summertime to announce their intention to take a wife.
• The eng’ombe is a side-blown trumpet found in Uganda; it is usually made from a cow’s horn and is blown by Bugandan huntsmen to ensure a successful hunt.