THE CHROMATIC TAMBIN

US Patent #: 8,618,395 B2
T
he tambin, (also, Fula flute, With notions of the physical laws of period-
serdu [Pulaar], fle [Malinke], ic sounds, we understand that most flutes
tokoro [Wolof]) the traditional rely on their fundamental and second har-
flute of Guinea, West-Africa, monic levels to achieve playing a diatonic Scale for a A-flat traditional flute

e@
is a transverse flute that features a cham- scale. Typically, a tube is pierced with a
Register 4 f d@ c
bered embouchure and three finger- succession of six or seven finger-holes—
b@ a@
4th
holes. It produces a diatonic scale over using varying distances between them, Register 3 c g

e@ d@
a one-and-a-half octave range. It is cel- representing half- and whole-steps—to 5th
Register 2 f c
ebrated for its rich multiphonic sounds produce the complete scale on the funda-
and the exuberant vocal/flute techniques mental harmonic register. Then, by over- 8ve
used by its players. Its timbral character- blowing to the second register, the same Register 1 f e@ d@ c
istics can be described as “organic” and scale is produced again an octave higher.
are very evocative, sometimes bringing A third iteration of the scale —complete or
Scale for a C-lydian traditional flute
listeners to tears. not—can be further produced using com-
bination fingerings and overblowing, giv- Register 4 f# e d c
Guinea is a multi-ethnic region, largely ing most flutes an effective two-and-a-half 4th
populated by Fulanis, Makinkes and Sus- to three octaves range. Register 3 c# b a g
sus. Although the traditionally nomadic f# e d c
5th
Register 2
Fulanis are widely associated with flute The tambin’s three finger-holes does not
playing they do not have that monopoly allow it to produce a full diatonic scale 8ve
in Guinea. The tambin vine is plentyful on a single register, therefore, the first Register 1 f# e d c
and it is something that children univer- register is discarded as an effective com-
sally play with in the countryside. There ponent. After playing the four notes on
are, therefore, several playing styles but the second register, one can complete Tuning of tradtional instruments is rarely
exact and can shift anywhere between
the Fulani and Malinke styles dominate. the scale on the third register, a perfect the two poles above.
fifth higher, and continue to the fourth
SENEGAL register with the octaves of the notes
THE GAMBIA MALI
from the second register (see diagram).
GUINEA-BISSAU Some higher pitches can be attained
GUINEA BURKINA
FASO with practice to a possible two-and-a-
Conakry half octaves range.
SIERRA LEONE CÔTE

AT L A N T I C
D’IVOIRE
Finally, tambins can be made in various
LIBERIA
OCEAN lengths to play in different scales with bot-
tom notes of as low as G, to as high as D.

Guinea , on the coast of West Africa is one of the

most well endowned countries in the world with Tambin embouchure
abundant rains, rich agriculture, forests, moun-
tains, and a plethora of mineral resources.
THE CHROMATIC TAMBIN
The Chromatic Tambin (CT) improves on Scale for a “C” Chromatic Tambin
the traditional tambin by the addition of
three finger-holes—six altogether—ren- Register 4 f# f e d# d c# c
dering it fully chromatic. 4th
Register 3 c# c b a# a g# g
On the CT, as on the traditional tambin,
5th
the fundamental harmonic register re- Register 2 f# f e d# d c# c
mains isolated from the rest of the in-
strument. The complete chromatic scale 8ve
starts on the the second harmonic reg-
ister with the six finger-holes generating Register 1 f# f e d# d c# c
seven notes spanning a tritone (augment-
ed fourth) which is followed with another
tritone span on the next register. The
w #w
w # w w # w w #w w w # w
fourth register reprises an octave higher
w #w w #w w #w w
all the notes from the second register w #w w #w w
(notice that two pitches are in common & w #w w #w w w #w
between the upper third and lower fourth
registers). Beyond that, as many as six 1st Register 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
or seven notes, or even more, can be at-
tained with combination fingerings and
practice, extending the tambin’s range to The Chromatic Tambin’s range can be extended upwards with practice.
as much as two-and-a-half octaves.
FINGERING TECHNIQUES
A characteristic of the CT is that there
is no need to use alternate fingerings as
each finger-hole represents a chromatic
note, unlike other flutes where they are
reached by covering only part of a fin-
ger-hole (as with the Indian bansuri), or
by forking (ie, fingering holes below the
open one, as with the recorder).
The CT has six finger-holes divided be-
tween first three fingers of the right and Top to bottom: the new Chromatic Tambin,
left hand. It uses an innovative finger- traditional tambins in C-lydian and A-flat.
ing system based on the idea of “posi-
tions.” In this system, some fingers are
 left down on the instrument, closing the
corresponding finger-holes, leaving the
remaining to move up and down as re-
quired by the music. For example, for a
C major scale (on a “C” flute), finger 1 of
the left hand and fingers 1 and 3 of the
Position I II III IV V VI VII right hand are left down on the flute while
right-hand finger 2 and left-hand fingers
2 and 3 open and close in succession to
produce a complete C major scale over
left hand two registers.
Investigating the structure of the CT,
we come to deduce seven fundamental
positions representing the C, B-flat, A-
flat, D-flat, B, A and G major scales. The
right hand
remaining scales of F, E-flat, F-sharp, E
and D can be produced by combining
positions between registers. For exam-
C B flat A-flat C# B A G/D ple: the F major scale combines the C
or or or or or
C dorian C phrygian C# dorian C# phrygian C lydian
and the B-flat positions on the second
(traditional) (traditional) and third registers respectively. *
AN EXPRESSIVE INSTRUMENT

LEGEND
What the tambin lacks in range is more
than made up by its wide tonal palette
hole to play and how it effectively interacts with the
keep hole closed player’s voice. It is an instrument capa-
ble of great expressivity, from passionate
keep hole open
outbursts to sweet and lovely phrases.
The CT retains ALL the sonic character-
istics of its parent, the traditional tam-
bin: multiphonics, voice/flute effects,
“organic” sound, etc., but now this rich
tonal palette can be put to the service of
a wide range of music while retaining its
ability to perform traditional African mu-
sic to a connoisseur’s satisfaction.

* In the fourth register and above, positions cannot be strictly kept because
combination avnd fork fingerings are required for the high notes to sound.
The Chromatic Tambin is well suited to CONCLUSION
jazz, from traditional to avant-guard; to
classical music, from ancient music to The Chromatic Tambin is capable of high
contemporary as well as to a wide variety virtuosic playing as well as giving char-
of World Music. (No instrument can quite acter and dimension so the simplest of
convey the feeling of eons like the tam- melody. It is a world flute that is at home
bin... that is why it was used in the ani- in almost any style of music, a new in-
mated 2005 movie “Teenage Mutant Ninja strument for the new global age.
Turtles” to evoke just that sentiment...)
Another powerful creative advantage
is the ability the tambin has to work in
conjunction with the player’s voice to
powerful effect. A voice is highly per-
sonal and individual and, if we make
words out of the sounds vocalized, we
get a form of minimalist poetry. There
is no limit on what can be done except
the player’s abilities and imagination
and inspiration.
The voice can also help extend down-
ward the range of the tambin to a sur-
prising four octaves and more. To do
so, one can sing the melody down-
wards diatonically below the second
harmonic register but the tube will
resonate with clashing vibrations be-
cause the ratios of those notes to their
respective resonances are large. If one
can tolerate these dissonances, one
will be rewarded with a range limited
only by one’s vocal abilities.