Semantron

[topum]

There are a number of monasteries here around the village. They use semantron to call the monks and the nuns for prayer.

This is how it looks (took this shot on our Spring visit):



This is how it sounds:

http://neuropoetry.tumblr.com/post/10575321089/a-recording-of-a-semantron-calling-monastics-to

Comments

[real-marsel.livejournal.com]

Are that catholic monasteries?

[topum.livejournal.com]

No, they are Orthodox.

[real-marsel.livejournal.com]

I see.

[apel.livejournal.com]

How is the semantron played? I'm not sure but it looks like a wooden hammer in the photo.

[topum.livejournal.com]

Yes, it is a wooden hammer indeed.

[beautesauvage13.livejournal.com]

Interesting instrument.  It would be interesting to pair it with a digeroo.  One of my brother's bought a digeroo here.  It was a drunk purchase ha!  A person here used to make them.  Normally it is found in Australia. 

Athena

[topum.livejournal.com]

They often pair this wooden one with a metal one (it is fixed not handheld, like a metal plate hanging on two chains) and with bells.

[dreamsugar.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen one of those before until now. The photo looks like a scene out of a movie.

[topum.livejournal.com]

The first time saw them was last year in Romania. I then saw them when I visited Mount Athos. And now I hear them almost every day here.

[darkoshi]

I had listened to that sound sample when someone had posted it as a comment on another post. In your photo, I was surprised at how small the semantron looks compared to what I had imagined. But there are also bigger hanging versions played with 2 or more hammers, which is probably what the sample was of. So now I'm curious how the hand-held ones using one hammer sound like in comparison - I didn't find any examples of them on YouTube.

[topum.livejournal.com]

I have seen three types of toaca (this is how they call semantron here): wooden handheld, which you see in the picture, wooden fixed hanging (one block of wood or many) and metal fixed hanging (one metal plate or many each with a slightly different sound). Here is how the handheld sounds:



Sometimes the handheld is played like this:



Here is another example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByUBROQUD1o

School kids visit monasteries for a couple of toaca lessons here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TW7CftG69uk

I better stop, you probably had enough toaca for a lifetime.

[darkoshi]

Thanks! It's a very hypnotic sound. I never imagined that hitting a wooden board could be so melodic.