The laud is a plucked chordophone.
Description of the instrument
It has a pear-shaped soundboard with a window. The fretted neck comes out of the box. The headstock is at the top end of the neck and is used to tune the instrument. The laud has six double strings stretched the headstock and the bridge.
Way of playing
The player holds the neck with one hand and presses the strings at the frets to give the notes. With the other hand, the strings are plucked so that they vibrate and emit sound, with a pick or plectrum more frequently than with the fingers.
Historical mentions
Today in the Basque Country, string instruments of this type and rondalla or studentina-type string groups are rare. However, they were important in former times. They still exist, among others, in Lekeitio (Estudiantina) and Mundaka (Atorrak), as well as in the Ribera region of Navarra. The use of this type of musical instruments is still alive, with a genuine character and linked to the local culture, accompanying the jotas, for instance.
Father Donostia (1951) offers us some old information on these instruments. He collected the following mentions related to the Navarre Court: "The king bought a lute from Ancho de Echalecu [...] (1424)" (p. 11), and "the Prince of Viana (1421-1461) had a French singer, a Navarrese lute player and an English organist "(p. 12).
On the other hand, and although we have little information, it is clear that groups such as the rondalla and the studentina were known in the 19th Century in many towns in Euskal Herria.
These groups were made up of the following instruments, according to their size:
- Plucked strings:
Bandurria, lute and sometimes mandolin (melody)
Guitar (harmony and rhythm).
- Rubbed string: violin.
- Wind: transverse flute and clarinet.
- Menbranophones-idiophones: tambourine with metal plates (rhythm).
In some old photographs, we can also see a metal aerophone.
SOURCES
Bibliography
BELTRAN ARGIÑENA, Juan Mari. (1996). Soinutresnak euskal herri musikan. Hernani: Orain.
DONOSTIA, Aita (1951): Música y Músicos en el País Vasco. Biblioteca Vascongada de los Amigos del País. San Sebastián. Obras Completas del P. Donostia. T. II. Ed. La Gran Enciclopedia Vasca. Bilbao, 1983.
FELIU CORCUERA, Alfredo. (1987). Gure Herria. Tradiciones y costumbres del País Vasco. Donostia: Kriselu.
Discography
BELTRAN ARGIÑENA, Juan Mari. (2017). Soinu-tresnak Euskal Herri Musikan. 1985-2010. Elkar-Soinuenea Fundazioa. CD DVD-E 968.
LEKEITIOKO ESTUDIANTINA. (1983). Aratuste Alai. IZ-185.
Filmography
BELTRAN ARGIÑENA, Juan Mari. (2017). Soinu-tresnak Euskal Herri Musikan. 1985-2010. Elkar-Soinuenea Fundazioa. CD DVD-E 968.