Tambourine is a string instrument with a long neck, that belong to the family of lyriform instruments. The persian-arabic variant generally used in our region was probably introduced by the South Slavic peoples in the 16-17th centuries.
The instrument representing the bourdon sonoroty, together with the Hungarian polyphonic „gipsy band”-style, produced a unique family of instruments ranging from the primtambourine to the bass tambourine through a careful designing process by mainly Hungarian craftsmen of the age. The birth of these instruments is a perfect example of how different cultures mutually enrich each other; they have also found their way to Serbian and Croatian musical culture in Hungary. Thanks to the „táncház” movement tambourine music experienced a revival; bands have been reorganised and are active in Serbian, Croatian minority areas as well as in Hungarian majority communities throughout the country.
The responsible institution for the professional coordinating of the UNESCO Convention in Hungary:
Directorate of Intangible Cultural Heritage, Hungarian Open Air Museum
