Owner: HWMC
Catalog#: LA-AEWF-58

Edge-blown Flutes

Bolivia ‘Tarka’ Flute

Bolivia
Bolivian 

Wood, pigment
ca. 1940s
Length: 23 in, Width: 2 in
Aerophones – Wind Instruments Proper – Edge-blown (Duct) Flutes

The tarka is an indigenous hand carved square flute of the Andes.  This 1940s painted tarka is from Bolivia, featuring the carving of a man playing panpipes and an alpaca at the bottom.  It has an end-blown duct flute (whistle) mouthpiece, a cylindrical bore, and six equidistant finger holes on the top side.  Tarkas have three variants:  Large (seen here); Medium (tuned by a fifth above); and Small (tuned by an octave above).  These three size tarkas are played together in an ensemble accompanied by the tinya (found in this collection) and the wankara, a large double-headed cylindrical membranophone of the Quescha- and Aymara-speaking people of the Bolivian Andes.

These ensembles (consorts) are called tropa in Bolivia and can be seen at Carnivals and family celebrations.

Resource: https://omeka-s.grinnell.edu/s/MusicalInstruments/item/3448

 

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