David Hilowitz is a film and video game composer based in Philadelphia. He creates music in several genres such as traditional cinematic, electronic and rock. Recently, David Hilowitz posted a video on his YouTube channel dedicated to our musical instrument çiftelia.
“Çiftelia, the microtonal instrument that changed the way I think about music”, he says. In the video David Hilowitz shows how he bought çiftelia at an antique shop and then played with it by combining it with other musical instruments.
Çiftelia is a two-stringed chordophone musical instrument. It is used by the highlands of Puka, Mirdita, Luma, Gjakova Highlands, Kosova and Southern Montenegro.
It was used to accompany rhapsodies or ballads, sung by folk bards. The sound of çiftelia is obtained by the vibration of the upper string, while the pitch of the sounds is determined by the lower string. It is usually made of walnut or cherry wood.
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