Fiddle of Bulgaria; also known as ganilka, kopanka, gjola, tsigulka, kemene in western Bulgaria, and sometimes, erroneously, gusla. It resembles the Greek lira and the Yugoslav lirica. Its oval or pearshaped soundbox is carved from one piece of wood, usually mulberry, manna-ash (Fraxinus ornus) or sycamore. Its short, broad neck ends in a circular, triangular or clover-leaf shaped flat peg-disc or head. The soundboard, made of spruce, is glued to the soundbox and has two round or oval soundholes called ochi (‘eyes’). The strings are generally made of sheep- or cat-gut, although some late 20th-century instruments have metal strings; they are attached to a bone tailpiece and, at the upper end, are wound directly round wooden pegs. They pass over a thin wooden bridge and soundpost, which emerges through one of the soundholes.
The traditional gadulka has three strings; in Thrace there are instruments with one or more metal sympathetic strings. The Thracian tuning is the most popular: a'–e'–a'. Other tunings are the Dobrudzhan tuning (a'–a–e') and the Gabrovo or Balkan tuning (a'–e'–d'). The range on the Thracian tuning is the widest: a to e'', extended to a'' with harmonics. The strings are played with a bow made of cornel, dogwood or willow and strung with horsehair, rubbed with rosin before playing. The first (highest) string is played by sideways pressure of the fingernail, the other strings with pressure from the fingertips. The gadulka is held vertically, with the lower end tucked in the player’s belt when standing, or held on his hip when seated.
The Thracian gadulka is the largest instrument, and has the fullest tone-quality. Dobrudzhan instruments such as the kopanka are smaller. The kemene of western Bulgaria has a shallow soundbox and a correspondingly thinner sound; it is always played with a drone note. Regional variants in pre-socialist Bulgaria included the shallow-bodied Shop kemene and the flat-bodied kasnak found in Trakiya and the Shop area.
The gadulka is used as a solo instrument to accompany songs and dances, in different rituals and in small instrumental groups. The Dobrudzhan gadulka, with the accordion and a gaida (bagpipe) or kaval (flute) forms a typical Dobrudzhan troika (trio).
VERGILIJ ATANASSOV