Contextual Associations

The tarka is an end-blown duct flute aerophone of the Aymara people of the greater Lake Titicaca region of southern Peru, western Bolivia, and northern Chile. The tarka pictured here were made in La Paz, Bolivia, by the maker Waira Marka (see detail #2). It is played in consorts (ensembles of like-instruments), called tropa in Bolivia and tarkeada in Peru and Chile, primarily for Carnival but also, in some areas, for family celebrations. Turino  reports that in the District of Conimo, Peru, tarkeada groups from various communities gather in the district capital during the opening and closing days of Carnival to compete and play for dancers, and in private homes in their respective communities during the middle days for a ceremonial act of reciprocity with local spiritual forces (mountain divinities, the Earth, and ancestors) called t’inka (Cohen and Turino 1994, p. 11). Only men play this instrument. The tarka seen in gallery #1 and #2 are part of a tropa consisting of fifteen flutes (detail #3) that were made in La Paz, Bolivia, by the maker Waira Marka (detail #4) while the more highly decorated specimens seen in gallery #3 and #4 were made for sale to tourists.

Description

Each of these tarka (gallery #1 and #2) is made from a long rectangular block of hardwood (orange, pomegranate, and mahogany are commonly used) with an approximately 0.5-inch diameter cylindrical bore drilled through its entire length. Detail #1 illustrates the relative size of the two tarka specimens being described here. Each instrument has six equidistantly spaced fingerholes in the lower half of its topside, and some wood has been removed from this section to give it a rounded contour. Tarka do not have thumbholes on their reverse sides. Just below the blowing-end of the instrument a deep gouge is made in the instrument that penetrates into its bore and leaves a sharp edge (detail #2). A small beak is carved at the upper terminus of the flute, and this is partially filled with a tongue-like insert that is situated in such a way that it produces a duct that directs the air passing through it directly against the sharp edge mentioned previously.

Player - Instrument Interface and Sound Production

A performer holds the tarka using both hands, his thumbs against the instrument’s backside and the first three fingers of each hand dedicated to operating the fingerholes on the frontside. With overblowing, a tarka has a range of about two-and-one-half octaves. Tarka, as mentioned above, are played in consorts that can include up to three sizes called (in Peru): tayka (lowest register), ankuta (middle register), and suli (highest register). The tarka pictured and described here are a tayka (gallery #1) and an ankuta (gallery #2) from the same consort consisting of 15 instruments (detail #3). Each produces a heptatonic scale (approximately E4 to B5 for gallery #1 and A3 to E5 for gallery #2) separated by the interval of a P5 (in a consort with a suli, it would be tuned an octave above the tayka). Regardless of their relative size, tarka are blown strongly and produce a reedy timbre (tara) in which the first overtone is nearly as strong as the pitch’s fundamental. A tropa or tarkeada consort will typically include at least a few players of all three sizes or tarka along with a marching-style bass drum and one or a few snare drums. In the performance heard in audio #1, fourteen players of tayka and ankuta tarka are heard (no suli) along with a bass drum and a snare drum (Cohen and Turino 1994, p. 11).

Origins/History/Evolution

Because no end-blown duct flutes dating back to pre-Columbian times have been unearthed in the High Andes, it is speculated that the origin of the tarka was after the arrival of Europeans to this region in the 16^th century (Turino 1998, p. 207).
 

Bibliographic Citations

Cohen, John, and Thomas Turino. 1994. Mountain Music of Peru, volume II. One CD with liner notes. Smithsonian Folkways SF CD 40406.

González, Juan Pablo. 1998. “Chile.” In The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music v. 2: South America, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. Olsen, Dale A., and Daniel E. Sheehy, eds. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., pp. 356-375.

Schechter, John M. 2014. “Tarka.” GDMI v.4: 718.

Stobart, Henry. 1998. “Bolivia.” In The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music v. 2: South America, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. Olsen, Dale A., and Daniel E. Sheehy, eds. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., pp. 282-299.