Kirikoketa: France musical instrument

The kirikoketa is a specialized Basque wooden musical instrument that is related to the ‘txalaparta’. The musical instrument is closely related to the working activities. The musical instrument is said to be an idiophone.

source: herrimusika.org

The musical instrument is named after the sound it produces. The instrument is made up of a single board some 1.5m long and 2 or 3 strikers the height of a person, one person, with a wide base that has the shape of a cone. Hammer may also be used to hit the musical instrument.

Just as many other Basque sound musical instruments and sport activities, the musical instrument roots from and is associated to working activities. This particular musical instrument comes directly from the apple pressing process; in this process, the fruits are ground down for making cider. Men uses to work for about 8 days in the process and on the day, they gathered together in the village market square and celebrated with the instruments employed in their work, performing the kirikoketa while chanting the following tune along; “Kirikoketa, kirikoketa, kirikoketa, koketa, koketa, sagarra jo dela, sagarra jo dela, sagarra jo dela, jo dela, jo dela”.

The inhabitant from the region of the river Bidasoa and Baztan continued the tradition for centuries until it almost died in the 1920s. The Basque culture revival and field research that was carried out by Basque scholars and cultural activist, particularly since the 1960s enhanced the public profile out f the limbo during the last years, like the renaissance of the txalaparta, but to a lesser extent.

The cider-maker of the instruments traditionally beats the strikers intermittently on the cider press so as to crush apples, achieving a playful and rhythmic pattern as a means of enlivening the long process. The style remains analogous; 2 or 3 persons standing in front of the boar beat the instrument with a striker, they may move along the board in search of distinct sounds and try harder or softer and slower or faster beats on the musical instrument. When three people are playing the instrument, the rhythmic pattern is ternary one.

In the contemporary days, the festival Kirikoketa Besta is arranged in Arizkun since about 2011 and is arranged by the society Jo Ala Jo Elkartea, that are both aimed at showcasing old cider practices by showing a re-enactment of the cider making procedure and encouraging the use of the instrument as a musical instrument.