Bandura development

Bandura technology and development

With the growing appreciation of bandurist capellas as an art form came the accelerated development of technology related to the performance on the bandura.

At the beginning of the 20th century the instrument was thought to have gone into total disuse. At that time it had some 20 strings with wooden pegs (4 basses and 16 prystrunky). The volume obtained from the instrument was not loud enough for the concert stage.

Initial developments were made in making the range of the instrument greater and improving the sonority of the instrument. By 1911 instruments with 32 diatonically tuned strings had become common, almost replacing the traditional instruments played by the traditional kobzars.

Metal tuning pegs made an appearance around 1914. This allowed the performer to accurately tune his instrument. This was crucial particularly when playing in an ensemble.

By the mid-1920s, chromatic strings were also added to the instrument which allowed the performer to play accidentals and allowed the performer to modulate into close related keys. The construction of the instrument was modified to allow for the additional tension of these strings. The number of strings rose to about 56.

In 1931 the first mechanisms were developed, which allowed the bandurist to quickly retune his instrument in a variety of more distinct keys.

In Germany in 1948, the Honcharenko brothers in the workshops of the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus continued to refine the mechanism to make it more reliable for the concert stage and also even out the tone of the instrument.

Similar developments were also undertaken by Ivan Skliar in Ukraine who in 1956 developed the concert Kiev bandura - an instrument which has become the workhorse of most professional bandurists in Ukraine. A slightly more refined instrument was also developed later by Professor Vasyl Herasymenko in Lviv.

In the late 1970s these concert instruments began to be manufactured serially by the Chernihiv factory, and later the Lviv factory.

In the mid-1970s artificial fingernails were also developed which allowed the bandurist to perform more professionally. In the 1960s the foundation of the modern professional bandura technique and repertoire were laid by professor Serhiy Bashtan based on work he had done with students from the Kiev Conservatory.

References

Diakowsky, M. - A Note on the History of the Bandura. The Annals of the Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences in the U.S. - 4, 3-4 №1419, N.Y. 1958 - С.21-22
Diakowsky, M. J. - The Bandura. The Ukrainian Trend, 1958, №I, - С.18-36
Diakowsky, M. – Anyone can make a bandura – I did. The Ukrainian Trend, Volume 6
Haydamaka, L. – Kobza-bandura – National Ukrainian Musical Instrument. "Guitar Review" №33, Summer 1970 (С.13-18)
Hornjatkevyč, A. – The book of Kodnia and the three Bandurists. Bandura, #11-12, 1985
Hornjatkevyč A. J., Nichols T. R. - The Bandura. Canada crafts, April–May, 1979 p. 28-29
Mishalow, V. - A Brief Description of the Zinkiv Method of Bandura Playing. Bandura, 1982, №2/6, - С.23-26
Mishalow, V. - The Kharkiv style #1. Bandura 1982, №6, - С.15-22 #2 – Bandura 1985, №13-14, - С.20-23 #3 – Bandura 1988, №23-24, - С.31-34 #4 – Bandura 1987, №19-20, - С.31-34 #5 – Bandura 1987, №21-22, - С.34-35
Mishalow, V. - A Short History of the Bandura. East European Meetings in Ethnomusicology 1999, Romanian Society for Ethnomusicology, Volume 6, - С.69-86
Mizynec, V. - Folk Instruments of Ukraine. Bayda Books, Melbourne, Australia, 1987 - 48с.
Cherkasky, L. - Ukrainski narodni muzychni instrumenty. Tekhnika, Kiev, Ukraine, 2003 - 262 pages. ISBN 966-575-111-5