The bladder fiddle was a

folk instrument A folk instrument is a traditional musical instrument that has remained largely restricted to traditional folk music, and is not usually used in the classical music or other elite and formal musical genres of the culture concerned, though relate ...

used throughout Europe and in the Americas. The instrument was originally a simple large stringed fiddle (a

musical bow The musical bow (bowstring or string bow, a subset of bar zithers) is a simple string instrument used by a number of African peoples as well as Indigenous peoples of the Americas. It consists of a flexible, usually wooden, stick 1.5 to 10 feet ...

) made with a long stick, one or more thick gut

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

, and a pig's-bladder resonator. It was bowed with either a notched stick or a horsehair bow. The folk instrument was historically played by "wandering musicians" and beggars up to the early 19th century. Although it may be used in serious folk music it has also been used for humor. Changes in the instrument have produced two distinct modern variations. The traditional bowed instrument has been preserved into the 21st century in Lithuania as the ''pusline'' (and possibly Estonia and Flanders), producing sustained or rhythmic droning notes. The other variation, a percussion instrument, is used in folk music internationally, including Europe, North America and Australia, in which sound may imitate a drum roll and other percussive sounds.

Evolution from fiddle to drum set

The instrument was originally a fiddle. It used a flexible stick, a

, as the instrument's body and neck. The resonator, at first an inflated animal bladder, was held between the stick and the bowstring. Versions in Poland, Lithuania and the Netherlands had as many as three strings, but pictures of the Flanders fiddle and the ''Nocturnal Serenade'' by Jan Steen show monochords (single-stringed instruments). In this configuration, the fiddle is played by drawing the bow over the string or strings; pressing down on the string changes the note. Having multiple strings allows a fiddler to accompany other instruments with simple patterns using one, two or three notes from open strings. Some variants of the instrument show a flexible stick, making the bowed-instrument a musical bow. Others, such as the Estonian and Lithuanian instruments, have rigid sticks, making the instrument a bar or stick zither. The instrument changed in some places. While the pig-bladder instrument can still be found in Lithuania today, in Holland the pig's bladder had been replaced by 1675 by a drum-like circle, wedged between the stick and a single gutstring, which resonated when the string was bowed. That version, the bumbass, was illustrated in the painting ''Nocturnal Serendade'', by Dutch painter Jan Steen. Immigrants to the United States brought the bumbass with them. In America, it used by the Pennsylvania Dutch culture of eastern Pennsylvania, United States, and still exists today, as the boomba, a percussion instrument. It may also be seen in Texas, at events celebrating local German heritage (such as the Tomball German Heritage Festival). On percussion instruments, the drum has been turned sideways on the instrument and the string runs across it like the

sound-table A soundboard (or sounding board) is the surface of a string instrument that the strings vibrate against, usually via some sort of bridge. Depending on the instrument, it is also called a ''top'', ''top plate'', ''resonator'', ''table'', ''soun ...

on a spike lute. The string has been dropped in some cases, the bow stick becoming a drumstick and the instrument now a percussion instrument, called a boomba, stamp fiddle, stumpf fiddle, or pogo cello. Also called Devil's stick, Devil's violin, boom bass, hum strum, teufel stick or stomp stick. In the percussion instrument, the string may still have limited use as a chordophone, if it has been set up with a tuning peg to tighten the string; if used in this manner, the instrument is bowed with a notched stick, producing rough sounds. In some modern instruments, the string has been replaced by a long spring, solely a percussion instrument, and in other instruments the string has been dropped altogether. The Polish (Devil's fiddle) often has no string, but includes the memory of the instrument's past, by placing a violin-shaped piece of wood on the instrument. This percussion version of the instrument is international, being used in Denmark (called the ''Rumsterstang'' or the ''krigsdjaevel'', ) and Germany as well as the United States. ''Boomba'' is highly likely to have come from German ''Bumbaß'' ronounced "BOOM-bahss" ''bum'' possibly coming from an older form of ''brummen'' ("to hum") and ''baß'' ("bass", as in music). During World War I, German soldiers made Stumpf fiddles or ''Teufelsgeiges'' (), replacing the pig's bladder with a tin can for the resonator, and bowing with a notched stick. Other bowed instruments were created using a wooden box for the resonator. Today, there are two types of the instrument, bowed and percussion. The Stumpf fiddle became a percussion instrument, beaten with a stick and stamped on the ground to shake attached wrattles, bells and cymbals. The instrument may have a string, or not. It is also called Devil's stick, pogo cello, boom-ba, boom bass, hum strum, devil's violin, teufel stick.

Other names

It is known under different names; in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

it was called the bumbass, Teufelsgeige (devil's fiddle) or Bettelgeige (beggar's fiddle).> In Germany sometimes a bell or cymbal was added to the top for decoration or additional sound. In Austria it was called the saubass, in Spanish the rabel. In

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

it is the ''basse de Flandre'' (Flanders fiddle), and in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

drone Drone or The Drones may refer to: Science and technology Vehicle * Drone, a type of uncrewed vehicle, a class of robot ** Unmanned aerial vehicle or aerial drone *** Unmanned combat aerial vehicle ** Unmanned ground vehicle or ground drone ** Unma ...

, "drone and string" or bladder fiddle. In England it was used by traveling musicians. In Venezuela, the bladder fiddle is known as "marimba, tarimba, guarumba, guasdua, and carangano". The name in Latvian is pūšļa vijole. In Lithuania, the instrument is the Pūslinė. In Poland there is a variant that started as a costume accessory and has become a devil's violin, called the .

Slavic instrument

The

Slavic people The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and N ...

s have a musical bow (Słowiański łuk muzyczny in Polish) which is pictured as having three strings (trzy struny).

Gallery

Hornbostel-Sachs classification are first in captions, then place and date. File:La Bass de la Flanders.jpg, 311.121.221. Flanders, 1600s. La Bass de la Flanders, in which the pig's bladder is attached to a handheld instrument, a

. File:Bladder fiddle.jpg, Bladder fiddle with a deflated bladder. File:Jan Steen - Nocturnal Serenade - WGA21755.jpg, 311.121.221. Netherlands, c. 1675. Man in the foreground playing a "bumbass", from ''Nocturnal Serenade'', by Jan Steen. File:Singing Sam of Derbyshire, image by W. Williams, 1760.png, Circa 1760, Singing Sam of

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, with his instrument, made from a "fully-inflated cow's bladder. File:World War One Germans playing violin, accordion and Teufelsgeige or Devil's violin.jpg, 311.22. Germany, 1917. Teufelsgeige, bowed with notched stick but also had element of percussion, metal plates on top File:Bass made from a box, in boom-ba tradition.jpg, Bass made from a box, in bumbass tradition File:Bumbass, Metropolitan Museum of Art.jpg, 19th century boombass, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The bladder is shriveled up at the bottom.

Modern bowed instrument

The original pig-bladder instrument is still played with a bow in Lithuania as a traditional folk instrument, called a Pūslinė. Estonia has one as well, called the põispill. The instrument has between 1-3 strings and can be tuned with tuning pegs. File:Stamps of Lithuania, 2012-06.jpg, Lithuanian pūslinė.

Modern percussion instrument

The modern boomba focuses heavily on loud percussion, typically consisting of a variety of percussion instruments attached to a wooden pole.> The exact designs of a boomba vary, with much emphasis being put on the personalization of the boomba. Common features typically include a spring-loaded rubber base (much like a pogo stick), with percussion instruments such as bells and wood blocks attached. Boombas often also include a set of cymbals which crash as the boomba is bounced, and a tambourine which can be played with a drumstick or shaken as the boomba is played. The boomba is similar in nature to the "

stumpf fiddle {{Use mdy dates, date=January 2020 The pogo cello is a percussion instrument in the idiophone family. This instrument can be heard in the skiffle bands of England, jug bands from the United States, as well as some blues, bluegrass, folk and rock ...

", though the stumpf fiddle generally lacks the loud crashing cymbal on top. It is this loud crash when bounced that makes the boomba distinct. An older, German variant of the stumpf fiddle and the boomba is the ''Teufelsgeige'' (), which is decorated with a Devil's head at the top of the pole. A modern percussion instrument in Friesland is called the . A similar percussion instrument in Slovakia is the . File:Bumbass advertisment, 1891.png, Advertisement in 1891 in Leipzig, Germany for a bumbass File:Bumbass advertisment, Harbach and Company, New York Clipper, 1894.png, Advertisement in 1894, New York, for bumbass. File:Pogo cello006.jpg, 311.22. Modern

pogo cello {{Use mdy dates, date=January 2020 The pogo cello is a percussion instrument in the idiophone family. This instrument can be heard in the skiffle bands of England, jug bands from the United States, as well as some blues, bluegrass, folk and rock ...

File:Zespół kaszubski „Kartuzy” z Kartuz na V Ogólnopolskim Festiwalu Folklorystycznym - Płock - 000214n.jpg, 311.22. Polish (Devil's Fiddle) File:Diabelskie skrzypce (Devil's Fiddle).jpg, 311.22. Polish percussion instrument called a (Devil's Fiddle) File:Akoestinies op klompen kuttepiel.JPG, 311.22. A Dutch and Frisian . No string but bumbass style tin-can. File:Bumbass - SMV - F264 01.tif, 311.22. Germany, date unknown. Bumbass with cymbals and Turkish crescent hat on top.

References

*Anthony C. Baines. "Bumbass", ''

Grove Music Online ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and t ...

'', ed. L. Macy (accessed August 20, 2006)
grovemusic.com
(subscription access).

External links

Picture of Estonian Poispillids being played, from 1979Music video with two-string bladder fiddle from Eastern Europe, appears to uses inflated bladder or close-looking substitute.
{{Authority control Bass monochords American musical instruments Music of Pennsylvania German musical instruments French musical instruments English musical instruments Belgian musical instruments Estonian musical instruments Lithuanian musical instruments Polish musical instruments