I SA XIMBOMBA JA NO SONA, NI SONA, NI SONARÀ...

With the arrival of summer, in a few days, the Mallorcan squares will be filled with ball de bot, glosses, castanets and ximbombes. Enjoying Mallorcan popular culture, so threatened by densification and globalization, is a privilege that we must protect and preserve and that The Grandma loves a lot.

The ximbomba is a musical instrument belonging to the family of friction membranophones, or indirectly rubbed drums, with either a single or multiple rod, fixed or movable.

The instrument consists of three main parts: a vessel that acts as a resonating chamber, a membrane, and a rod, which together produce sound when set into vibration. In the present example, the vessel is made of ceramic, the membrane is of animal hide, and the rod is a reed cane. The membrane is stretched and secured by means of cords and fitted over the mouth of the ceramic vessel. A hole in the membrane allows the cane rod to be inserted. The membrane vibrates when the rod is rubbed rhythmically up and down by hand, preferably with a moistened hand. The sound produced by the ximbomba is of indeterminate pitch, low, and monotonous.

The ximbomba originated in Africa, specifically in the region of present-day Congo. It reached the Iberian Peninsula around the fifteenth century, brought by enslaved people from the Congo area. In the sixteenth century, the Spanish Tercios stationed in Flanders introduced the instrument into the Low Countries. It is believed that the ximbomba was played in rituals associated with the winter solstice. For this reason, throughout the Iberian Peninsula and in other parts of Europe, it became associated with the Christmas season.

In the Balearic Islands, particularly in Mallorca, the instrument has traditionally been used by rural communities to accompany cançons de fadrinalla (popular songs sung by young people), especially during Carnival celebrations.

The instrument is known by different names according to the region: simbomba in Catalonia, ximbomba in Mallorca and Menorca, pandorga in the Valencian Country, etza-gor in the Basque Country, and zambomba in Andalusia.

 

I sa ximbomba ja no sona, ni sona, ni sonarà
i perquè té sa pell de ca

i sa canya qui no és bona.

I jo que volia tocar...

 

I en anar a segar es canyar coiràs una canyeta

i per sa meva ximbombeta 

i pes darrers dies sonar.

 

Sa ximbomba ja és passada, 

i jo que volia ballar
i mumare em fa filar
i cada vespre una fusada.

 

And my ximbomba sings no longer, nor today nor yet again
And or its skin is made of doghide
And its reed is weak and thin.

And I wanted to play...

 

And when you cut the reeds tomorrow, bring a little one to me
And for my tiny ximbomba's music

 And through the last days yet to be.

 

Now the ximbomba is worn and silent,

And though I longed to dance and play

And but my mother has me spinning
And every evening of the day.

More information: Mallorca Incognita

I sa ximbomba ja no sona, ni sona, ni sonarà
i perquè té sa pell de ca
i sa canya qui no és bona.

And my ximbomba sings no longer,
Nor today nor yet again,
And for its skin is made of doghide
And its reed is weak and thin.

Maria del Mar Bonet