Of all the sources about ancient Russian musical instruments, the most important are the data from archaeological excavations in Novgorod (V.I. Povetkin).
For a very long time, Russian science did not have a clear idea of what ancient Russian musical instruments looked like, what they were made of, and especially how they sounded. Pictorial sources could not clarify this issue, since it is unclear whether the instruments depicted are local or, for example, Byzantine. It seemed that these questions would remain unanswered, but archeology came to the rescue. In 1951, at the Nerevsky excavation site in Veliky Novgorod, the first finds of fragments of musical instruments were extracted from the cultural layer. The Novgorod land has well preserved for us not only metal, ceramics and bone, but, most importantly, wood!
The outstanding archaeologist Boris Aleksandrovich Kolchin was the first to classify, describe and try to reconstruct these tools. In 1972-1973, under the leadership of B. A. Kolchin, masters V. G. Pogodin and N. L. Krivonos first tried to restore the appearance of the finds. The result of the restoration was ambiguous. Archaeological specimens were augmented with modern wood using permanent adhesives. That is, they are glued forever. Modern inserts are tinted to resemble old wood, so it is difficult to determine where a find ends and where an addition ends. The resulting appearance of the tools and their functionality are questionable. They are not confirmed by subsequent archaeological finds. However, images of these instruments are still widely reproduced in print, and the instruments themselves are exhibited in museums in Veliky Novgorod and Moscow.
A different path of reconstruction was proposed by Vladimir Ivanovich Povetkin. He decided to make musical instruments entirely from modern wood, based on found fragments, taking into account data from history, archeology and ethnography. At the same time, for clarity, only the part corresponding to the find was tinted. The added fragments were not stained. This made it possible not to damage the archaeological samples themselves, preserving them for future researchers, and also to make several reconstruction options at once. But most importantly, it made it possible to hear the sound of ancient musical instruments! Note that it was B.A. Kolchin was the first to recognize the correctness of the approach to the reconstruction of V.I. Povetkina.
I will describe my experience in reconstructing musical instruments. I've always been interested in music. First, I mastered “three chords” with the guitar, then I played drums in a metal band. There was a need to understand notes. At hand was only a flute and a self-instruction manual... for the button accordion. I somehow figured out the notes, and after that I mastered the balalaika. I have always been drawn to folklore. I began to wonder what our ancestors played. It turned out that there was such a musical instrument - the gusli! A long-bearded old man with a multi-stringed instrument on his knees immediately comes to mind. The elder composes epics, accompanying them with the tinkling of ringing strings, and around him the warriors and the prince sit and listen. Just like in Vasnetsov’s painting. But then I came across the recordings of the Rusichi ensemble, which completely broke the prevailing idea about the gusli. It turned out that their harp was not the same, and sounded completely different (later I learned that there are several types of harp, but about them another time). The Rusichs had another interesting bowed instrument. It’s like a violin, only of a different shape, and it’s held differently. And most importantly, the sound is very creaky, even a little nasty. It turned out to be a beep. I liked the tool, and I decided to make myself such a thing! That’s how I started making ancient Russian musical instruments!
So, gudok, an ancient Russian bowed instrument.
A huge contribution to the study of the folk tradition of playing the whistle was made by N. I. Privalov, the creator and director of the Great Russian Orchestra of Folk Instruments. In 1904, he published a historical and ethnographic essay about bowed musical instruments, where he described the whistle. Using the information available at that time, N.I. Privalov assumed that bowed instruments appeared in Rus' no earlier than the 16th century.
The beep does not appear in ancient Russian written sources. But in Nikon's list of the Tale of Bygone Years under 1068 the smyk is mentioned. This is believed to be an archaic name for a horn. The beep was first described by J. Shtelin in 1769 in his work “News about Music in Russia”:
“A whistle used among the mob, especially sailors. It is shaped like a violin, but is made of rough, untreated wood. Its body is clumsy and larger than a violin, and there are three strings stretched across it, along which they move a short bow. Ordinary lovers of this nasal instrument play it either sitting, resting it on their knees, or standing, resting it on their body, and in general not like a violin, pressed to their chest or chin. Common melodies are played on it, and they rarely pluck more than one string with their fingers, while the other two are plucked with the bow in vain and always strongly, so that they sound creaky and intrusive, like on a lyre. To their ears it sounds quite pleasant, and this instrument is widely used in dancing, with singing and independently” (J. Shtelin).
The earliest pictorial source that gives us an idea of playing the whistle is the 15th century fresco “Ant buffoon”. 
On the fresco, the musical instrument is positioned vertically, and the musician produces sound using a bow.
In Europe there was also an instrument similar to the buzzer. It was called "fidel" or "fidula". 
The Bulgarians also preserved the instrument “gadulka” or “gudulka”, very similar to a whistle. 
Having analyzed written and visual sources, as well as ethnographic data, B. A. Kolchin identified part of the finds from the Nerevsky excavation site in 1954, 1955 and 1960 as the remains of stringed-bowed musical instruments, to which the name “beep” was assigned.
Thanks to its excellent state of preservation, the most interesting finds are the body of a whistle from the late 12th century and an almost completely preserved whistle from the mid-14th century. 
“The total length of the body is 41 cm. The length of the resonator trough itself is 28 cm, the neck is 3 cm and the head is 10 cm. The greatest width of the trough reaches 11.5 cm, the greatest depth is 5.5 cm. The thickness of the instrument walls was on average 0.5 cm. The head had three holes for pegs, each 0.7 cm in diameter. The distance between the centers of the holes, i.e. the distance between the strings, was 1.8 cm. The volume of the resonator trough was 550 cubic meters. see. The instrument is made from one spruce log. The resonator trough is hollowed out” (B. A. Kolchin).
We will need:
Tools: axe, knife, semicircular chisel and flat scraper. 
Material: spruce log. 
We split a spruce log of the required length in half. This can be done simply with an ax or using a staple. 
We break off a plate-plate from one of the resulting halves. This is our future resonating soundboard of the instrument. 
Using an ax, we chop the board down to a thickness of about 10 mm, and level it with a scraper onto the rough. This thickness is enough to prevent the wood from cracking when drying. There is also a small margin left for leveling the future deck if the tree begins to move during drying. In this state we leave it to dry. 
We coat the other half with the same skewer. 
We use an ax to cut out the future body of the whistle. 
Next, the knife comes into action. Using a knife, we level the body, giving it the desired shape. This is also a rough cut. The body should be brought to a smooth state after it has dried. 
Next, use a semicircular chisel to select the internal cavity of the resonator trough. In this state we leave it to dry. 
The entire tool must be very well sharpened. It is much easier to cut yourself with a blunt instrument than with a sharp one. This is surprising, but true. After all, when working with a dull tool, you have to put in more effort, which means it is much more difficult to control it. The chance that the tool will come off and cut your hand increases. Tested from my own experience.
Gudok (musical instrument) · Related articles · Notes · Literature · Official website ·
Horn(Bulgarian gudulka) - an ancient Russian bowed instrument, most common in the 17th-19th centuries among buffoons. It has a hollowed-out wooden body, usually oval or pear-shaped, and, in addition, a flat deck with resonator holes. The neck of the buzzer has a short neck without frets that holds 3-4 strings.
Judging by epics and historical songs, he accompanied crowded folk celebrations; a continuous bass hum was produced by the upper “solo” string, as, for example, when playing the lyre... The clergy branded the whistle a “vessel of the devil”, and buffoon singers called it a “ringing translator”. They performed dance tunes on it, amusing the people.
The buzzer can be played either by placing it vertically or holding it horizontally (similar to a guitar). Moreover, the top string is built higher than the other 2-3 (unlike a guitar), with a difference of a fifth or fourth. During playing, the top string is used for soloing, and the rest are constantly sounded.
The names of the varieties of beeps have been preserved: gudok, gudok, gudilo, gudische. Related instruments existed in the West - fidula (Latin), fidel (German).
The name “beep” has been found in written sources since the beginning of the 17th century. In sources from the 11th to 17th centuries, the musical instrument was called " close» .
During archaeological excavations on the territory of Novgorod, fragments of instruments from the 11th-14th centuries were found, considered the oldest versions of beeps. The earliest intact specimen found dates back to the mid-14th century.
The whistle was widespread as a tool for buffoons and served to entertain the common people. They performed dances and songs on it, and accompanied singing. In the 17th century, gudoshniks were kept in the Amusement Chamber.
At the end of the 19th century, the whistle completely fell out of use. Not a single copy of the instrument has survived (except for those found during excavations). In the 1900s, composer N.P. Fomin, based on old drawings and descriptions, attempted to reconstruct the whistle. He created a family of instruments (similar to a string quartet) - beep, beep, buzzed And buzzing. However, it was not possible to revive ensemble playing on the gudok.
In the 1970s, N. L. Krivonos reconstructed the instruments based on archaeological finds (see photographs).
Description
The horn has a hollowed out or glued wooden body, usually oval or pear-shaped, as well as a flat soundboard with resonator holes. The neck of the buzzer has a short neck without frets that holds 3 strings (sometimes 4). The head is straight or slightly bent back. Tool length - 300-800 mm.
Gudok in the history of Belarusian music
see alsoNotesLiterature
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One of the most interesting musical instruments of ancient Novgorod, but in addition to this, I cannot keep silent about another interesting instrument that is directly related to our large production of Askold’s Grave. It contains the character Toropka (who sings the most, by the way), and the main character Vseslav does not have a single aria at all), who is indicated in the libretto as a “horner”. Do you even know who this is? But now you will find out.
The gusli is certainly a popular ancient Russian musical instrument, but it is far from the only one. Among Novgorod antiquities, the so-called gudok, a three-stringed bowed instrument, is no less common. Its history is interesting not only for people trying to figure out what the ancient Russian musical ensemble looked like, but also for musicologists who want to understand what served as the origins of modern violin art. It is well known that bowed instruments occupy a special place in a modern orchestra. The ancestors of these instruments appeared at the end of the first millennium AD. Scientists believe that the world's first bowed instruments, which produced a continuous sliding sound with all the richness of semitones, were born in Central Asia. In the 11th century, bowed instruments came to Europe and instantly spread throughout the continent. At that time they were already known in Spain, Italy, France, and England. Of course, after the appearance of these instruments, major changes occurred in music. The music of the Middle Ages, limited to individual tones and sounds, managed to become more melodious and melodic thanks to bowed instruments. By the end of the Renaissance, a homophonic (melodic) style was established in music. In the 11th century, bowed instruments successfully reached Rus'.
All gudki discovered in Novgorod were three-stringed bowed instruments. At first, scientists could not decide what type of instruments they belonged to: plucked or bowed. To do this, they decided to compare archaeological finds with a large number of iconographic monuments, including images of musical instruments in medieval miniatures of Western Europe.
Analogues of the Novgorod finds were found in numerous images found by N.I. Privalov is a great specialist in Russian folk instruments. In these images, the musician holds the buzzer by the neck with one hand, resting it on his leg, and the bow with the other. Closer analogies can also be seen in miniatures and frescoes of Western Europe. Such three-string fidels were found on a miniature of an English psalter dating from the second quarter of the 12th century, by specialists in Cambridge, as well as on a miniature of the Strasbourg calendar of 1154, and even on a miniature from the Bible in the National Paris Library. In Dahl's dictionary, the meaning of the word “beep” is interpreted as a kind of violin without grooves on the sides with a flat bottom and a cover, with three strings. Unlike the same gusli, the gusli is not mentioned in ancient Russian writings until the middle of the 17th century. Instead, in various chronicles of the 16th century, the instrument “smyk” is mentioned. Most likely, this is what the beep was called earlier.
By the way, the horn was actually not particularly encouraged by the church. For example, in the lists of the “Helmsman’s Book” - a code of laws of the Orthodox Church - it is said that it is impossible to “hum with a beam.” I note that these church documents were based on Byzantine originals and translated into Church Slavonic. This did not prevent gud from being actively used in secular life. In Novgorod, this instrument was discovered on the territory of an estate that belonged to the boyar family of the Mishinichs. At the time when the whistle was in use, the mayor (the head of the city appointed by the prince) Ontsifor Lukich and his children Yuri, Maxim and Afanasy could live there (later Yuri Ontsiforovich also became a famous mayor - you can read about him separately).
Thanks to the discovery of several blanks of beeps from the 14th-15th centuries, scientists also established what the strings for these instruments were made of. It is assumed that intestines were used for this. They were attached on one side to a bone tailpiece with three holes. The tailpiece itself was attached to the bottom of the body with a wooden pin. On the other hand, the strings were inserted into the slots of the pegs and tightened. Bows for beeps came in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, judging by Western European images. They could be strongly curved, semicircular, reminiscent of a bow, flat, steeply curved at one end, etc. There are countless options and they all existed at the same time. There was no standard. Usually the length of the bow ranged from 30 to 70 cm. Horsehair was pulled onto it, just like modern bows, however, if in Ancient Rus' they made do with 3-10 hairs, today 100 are needed.
Horn
Gudok is an ancient Russian bowed string instrument. It was played by horn players, buffoons - traveling artists, “Russian minstrels”, to whom the church had an extremely negative attitude. And there are corresponding sayings: “God gave the priest, the devil is a buffoon,” “buffoon’s fun is a joy for Satan,” etc. (The Russian gudk was unlucky, unlike and, who were allowed into the holy of holies - into heaven to the Lord God and onto the frescoes of temples!)
Could have come to us from Central Asia or Byzantium (1).
Here is a video from the Museum of Forgotten Music - Sergey Plotnikov talks about the beep:
An article about the horn from the Music Encyclopedia:
old Russian bowed string instrument. The wooden body is hollowed out or glued, oval or pear-shaped, often with an interception (waist) in the middle, the soundboard is flat with resonator holes, the neck is short without frets, with a straight or slightly bent back head. G. length - 300-800 mm. Three strings, sometimes four; according to some sources, the 2nd and 3rd strings were tuned to a fourth to the 1st, according to others - to a fifth (perhaps both tunings were used). A short bow-shaped bow was drawn along the strings; the primitive design of the instrument suggests that they sounded creaky and nasal. The performer held the instrument vertically, resting the body on the knee or pressing it between the knees (when playing while sitting), as well as pressing it to the chest (when playing while standing). The melody was performed on the first string, the open second and third were used as a bourdon.
G. is one of the oldest Russian instruments. people. During the archaeological excavations in Novgorod among the monuments of material culture of the 12-13th centuries. bowed instruments close to the Bulgarian gadulka were found, which are an ancient form of G. The earliest lit. information about G. and his images go back to the middle. 17th century It was primarily the instrument of buffoons (“buffoon” and “buffoon” were often synonymous). In G. they performed dances and songs and accompanied the singing.
The G. was often played in an ensemble with other instruments (for example, a helmet-shaped gusli and a domra). There were G. diff. sizes - gudok (small), gudok (large), gudishche (G.-bass). At the end of the 19th century. G. has completely fallen out of use and not a single copy of it, except those found during archaeological research. tools of this type were not preserved during excavations. In the 1900s on the initiative and instructions of I.P. Fomin, G. was reconstructed; A G. quartet (bow type) was created - a buzzer, a buzzer, a buzzer and a buzzer, but these instruments did not receive practical use. Subsequent experiments to revive G. did not yield positive results.
Literature: Privalov N.I., Gudok, an ancient Russian musical instrument in connection with bowed instruments of other countries. Historical and ethnographic research, St. Petersburg, 1904; Yampolsky I.M., Russian violin art. Essays and materials, part 1, M.-L., 1951, p. 15-22; Ginzburg L.S., Russian folk bow instrument gudok, in his book: Research, articles, essays, Moscow, 1971; Kvitka K., Selected works, vol. 2, M., 1973, p. 206-17.
