Trutruca

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The Trutruka, also Trutruca, is a long straight natural trumpet, which is spread mainly among the Mapuche in Chile and Argentina. Its shape resembles that played in the South American Gran Chaco region Erke and the Alpine Alphorn. The sound it produces is shrill and deep with small tonal variations. The Trutruka is used for signals over greater distances, war cries or musical accompaniment in social and religious activities.

Description

The instrument has two main parts: the body and the mouthpiece. The body of this instrument is out of the tube of colihue bamboo, between two and five meters long and with a diameter of between two and ten centimeters. The bamboo tube is longitudinally cut in half to make it hollow out, and then both halves are joined with a woolen thread or with animal gut again and with animal gut, usually from horses fed, to prevent that the air can escape when blowing the instrument. The mouthpiece has a horn made ​​from the horn of an ox, whose tip is cut off and is connected to the bamboo tube with plant fibers or gut strings. A smaller and more modern version of this instrument is made ​​with a piece of coiled plastic tube.

One can elicit different notes and variations of the Trutruka by changing the pressure in the bubbles and by the lip position. The instruments are deducted for playing on the floor or in a holder. They are used mainly in rituals and social events, as in Guillatún, when Camaruco, when Loncomeo and funeral ceremonies.