Instruments

The musicians of the Vedun (previously Trutamora Slovenica) Ensemble play ORIGINAL Slovene folk instruments from Mirit’s and Tine’s ethnomusicological collection of more than 350 musical instruments and sound makers. They also use reproductions and the instruments of different cultures of the world. Veduns do not use the modern synthesisers employed by many insufficiently watchful ‘musical therapists’, as they in fact destroy auric fields. For therapeutic effect, they bring into the mix modern crystal harps, crystal singing bowls, and contemporary ‘Pythagorean’ monochords and polychords.

Mirit and Igor present mainly old STRINGED INSTRUMENTS of the world. Mira Omerzel – Mirit (classical guitarist), on the stage and during sound therapies, presents cimbaloms from different cultures – ranging from Slovene and European dulcimers and Renaissance cimbaloms to Persian-Arab and Indian santoor; different zithers of the world – Slovene drone, violin, guitar, and harp zithers, Siberian chartan and Chinese guqin, Middle Eastern setar and rubab, Indian (Sikh) taus and esraj, Greek bouzouki, Celtic harp; various tambouras – from the Balkan-Middle Eastern saz, Slavic dambora, Balkan tamboura and dangubica, to Dalmatian mandolin and Russian balalaika; various Slovene, Slavic, and foreign flutes – Slovak fujara, Balkan frula, Celtic flute, Balinese suling, Native American quena and other flutes, along with Slovene panpipes trstenke, clay ocarina, jaw harps, and prehistoric bone flutes; Renaissance bowed psaltery, Himalayan singing bowls, African sansas, Hawaiian ukulele, Hawaiian guitar, South American charango and Mexican mariachi guitar; large and small (shamanic) drums, small tapan drum, various types of percussion and scrapers, bells, aliquot drum udu, small and large Balinese and Chinese gongs, contemporary polychord, etc.

Tine Omerzel Terlep plays musical saw, Indian tanpura and hansa veena, Chinese/Vietnamese flute, Balkan gusle; instruments of the gamelan orchestra – Balinese kompler and komplek, xylophone rindik, and wooden flute suling; Slavic-Balkan frula and duduk, Slovak fujara, shurla and double flutes, Slovene-Italian clay ocarina, Tiben yak bone flute, jaw harp and European pagan harp, comb, flute nunalca, and Hawaiian nose flute, contemporary crystal harp, African hang and aliquot drum udu, various types of drums – from Siberian shamanic drum, Balkan-Middle Eastern tarabuka and tapan, to dafs and percussions of different cultures of the world, etc.

Tine employs different ways of singing and musical styles: ancient Slovene and foreign tender singing in the melos of different cultures, as well as spontaneous singing. He is a specialist for Siberian-Mongolian aliquot throat singing khoomei, Tibetan gyuto monk throat singing, Slavic throat singing, and for old European throat singing joik. In addition, he performs the Middle Eastern-Arab microtonal singing and the ancient Vedic chanting. Tine is also a singer of Slovene and foreign folk songs.

Igor Meglič  presents Middle Eastern kamaycha, Arab-Balkan kemenche, Siberian igil, Indian sarangi and sarod, Balkan-Middle Eastern saz, shargia, Moroccan gimbri, Arab-Balkan lute oud and Renaissance lute, Balkan gusle, Balkan tamboura and dangubica, Dalmatian ljirica; Slovene guitar zither, Greek bouzouki, Russian balalaika, Chinese pipa and erhu, Mexican charango, Hawaiian ukulele and Hawaiian guitar, Mexican mariachi guitar, gamelan kompler, xylophone rindik, and flute suling; jaw harp, aliquot drum udu, different types of percussions and scrapers, etc. He performs tender (spontaneous) singing and throat singing (ancient Slovene and ancient European styles).

Matjaž Doljak plays the historical version of concertina plonarca, Indian bansuri flutes of various sizes, Balkan-Middle Eastern kaval, Balkan-Slavic duduk and gusle, European-Slovene jaw harp, African lute kora, Chinese clay flute xun, Chinese long flute xiao, and Slovak fujara; Balkan tamboura, percussions of different cultures – from large tapan drum to shamanic drum, darbukas and dafs, rattles, scrapers, bells, cymbals, etc. He performs tender singing and throat singing (Tibetan gyuto singing and Balkan throat singing).

Mojka Žagar (pianist and singer) was one of the pillars of the Trutamora Slovenica Ensemble for 35 years. These days she occasionally collaborates with the Vedun Ensemble, joining them on the majority of their audio-video recordings. Using the natural voice technique, she sings Slovene and foreign folk songs (songs and tunes of the Balkans, Vedic mantras, spontaneous sounds based on the melos of different cultures of the world). Her broad vocal range allows her to sing both soprano and alto. Mojka performs solo singing and multi-part singing. In addition, she performs throat singing: Slavic ojkanje and old European joik. She has played on Slovene ocarinas, Slavic fujara, Slovene panpipes, jaw harps, cello/small bass, berda of the tambouritza orchestra, Renaissance cimbalom; Balinese flute suling, Chinese clay flute xun, South American panpipes, different types of percussions, scrapers, rattles, shamanic drums, bells, tin-cu hand bells, etc.

Robert Pečenko contributes to the Ensemble’s performances with different types of percussions, scrapers, and drums: shamanic drums, Balkan darabuka, daf, bells of different cultures, Tibetan tin-cu handbells, small gong, Indian accompanying tanpura, South American panpipes, polychord etc. He also performs Tibetan gyuto throat singing.

Veduns plays THERAPEUTIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS of the world which strengthen listeners’ bodies, such as instruments with a sustained, continuous drone, reverberating with the EARTHLY TONE (the tone of the Earth’s daily and annual rotations); predecessors of European bowed string instruments, such as the igil and Balkan gusle, Slovene drone zither, Indian instruments with drone strings providing continuous sound (tanpura, veena, sitar, sarangi, sarod, the bird-shaped Sikh taus, and the rubab, a predecessor of the contemporary European violin). Also belonging to this category are the Chinese erhu and the indigenous Australian singing tubes didgi, etc.
Instruments used for THE HARMONISATION OF BODILY ENERGY CENTRES are primarily those that are tuned in fourths and fifths: Siberian chartan, Balkan female tambouras, Chinese guqin, Middle Eastern rubab, Turkish-Arab saz, Slavic dambora and dombra, Balinese gamelan orchestra featuring xylophones and gongs; as well as Chinese, Tibetan, and Balinese gongs tuned to cosmic and planetary vibrations, etc.

Veduns also play old INSTRUMENTS USED FOR THE RESTORATION OF HARMONIES, such as Slovene small and big cimbaloms, Middle Eastern santoor, African harp kora, different types of European zithers (from accordion zithers to violin zithers), Renaissance bowed psaltery and lute, Celtic harp, Himalayan singing bowls of different sizes and sounds, the above-mentioned Indian classical instruments, bansuri wooden flutes, Arab kamaycha, Arab-Balkan kemenche, Inkan charango, European and Slovene musical saw, ukulele and Hawaiian guitars, replicas of prehistoric bone and clay flutes (such as the Chinese xun, Tibetan yak bone flutes, prehistoric bone flutes from the Slovene ethnic territory). As well as all kinds of bull roarers, jaw harps, Native American flute quena, the Slovene clay flute kabrca, the Greek bouzouki, the Orpheus (Pythagoras) lyre, etc.

Moreover, they use RHYTHMICAL INSTRUMENTS WHICH SUPPORT THE HEART BEAT, CHANNEL CELLS’ RHYTHMS THROUGH THE BODY, AND DISSOLVE emotional-mental and energy BLOCKAGES in the body. These are various types of large and small drums from different cultures (particularly Siberian shamanic drums), percussion instruments of different shapes, scrapers and rattles which are the world’s oldest instruments.