The gaida (or gajda) is a bagpipe from south-eastern Europe. While bagpipes are found throughout Europe, Turkey and North Africa, with dozens of regional variations, the gaida is most commonly found in the southern Balkans (Macedonia, southern Bulgaria), and northern Greece and Albania.
The basic bagpipe consists of a chanter (the pipe with fingerholes on which the tunes are played), drones (a set of pipes which play constant drone notes), and a bag which acts as a reservoir for air, so the instrument can produce a constant sound even when the player stops to take a breath. The gaida is distinctive in that it has a bag constructed out of a whole goatskin (or occasionally a sheepskin), made air-tight, and has only one drone. Traditionally gaidas are made with hairs on the inside of the bag, but Linsey Pollack prefers the look of an inside-out gaida.
Another important feature is the 'flea-hole’ covered by the index finger of the left hand. The flea-hole is smaller than the remaining seven fingerholes and traditionally consists of a small tube made from a chicken or duck feather. Uncovering the flea-hole raises any note played by a quarter tone, which provides distinctive ornamentation unique to Balkan music.
The gaida is commonly played at weddings and festivals throughout the Balkans, where it is said: ‘a wedding without a bagpipe is like a funeral.’
Gaida players featured in The Pure Drop:
