The mezoued or mezwed is a traditional Instrument wind of Tunisia and, by Métonymie, a form of the Tunisian popular music.
It is about a type of Cornemuse, an overall length of 64 cm, widespread in Tunisia but also used in Algérie and Libya. Of origin Bedouin, this instrument would have diffused wandering campings towards the campaigns then the cities. He is generally played accompanied by the Bendir, the Tbal and the Darbouka.
The mezoued is ignored a long time by the official cultural authorities which develop the forms of Arab Musique traditional with the detriment of the popular music.
This musical form, where the instrumental one dominates, is accompanied by the expressed words of a Tunisian singer in (and not in Arab as in the traditional forms of music) and often accompanied by a male or female chorus.
The mezoued diffuses in the urban culture of the layers underprivileged and uprooted by the Rural migration. It can be seen like the expression of a badly-food and a distrust with respect to the dominant culture. It is registered readily against the codes of the propriety by adopting a ic language Argot and by treating provocative topics even grivois. Its more severe criticisms associate the mezoued with the zendali (famous like the song of the convicts).
Even if it is almost absent from media - television and radio -, the mezoued nevertheless is diffused by cassettes, which makes known it general public. Moreover, it has a festive character and incarnates the mass culture vis-a-vis a élitiste culture. At the beginning of the Years 1990, the musical and choreographic fresco Ennouba put in scene by Fadhel Jaziri and Samir Aghrebi undertakes to rehabilitate it by including it in the Tunisian musical inheritance. In same time, the mezoued is more and more incorporated in the repertory of the largest singers such Hédi Jouini. Lastly, it is perhaps by appearing as a specifically Tunisian musical form that it regains a true place in the city.
I grew up in a working class neighbourhood so I heard the mezoued from the time I was very young. I found myself playing this instrument without even thinking about it. This helps to explain the influence of this instrument on Tunisian people. The sound of the instrument brought back to me the folk music traditions that rocked me to sleep when I was little.
No wedding or family celebration went by without the strident, carrying sound that was certain to keep our near, and even sometimes distant, neighbours from getting any sleep on those long and hot summer nights that we merrymakers could not pass up to give rhythm to the evening. In actual fact, the instrument produces very rich sounds that can conjure up feelings in audiences other than just the rhythm. It can also play soft musical phrases
At the time, the mezoued was played by musicians who were not able to cater to all musical tastes. Thus it could not be considered a real instrument in its own right. It was just used for dances and sacred music and perhaps on social occasions, because most players generally did not have any musical training. Fortunately, today's professional musicians are starting to play the mezoued.
The mezoued is a wind instrument. It is a sort of cornemuse or bagpipe used to play folk music. It is usually accompanied by the following membranophones: the bendré or bendir, the tabl and the darbuka. The mezoued is made in two parts: a double chanter made of reed attached to two calf horn bells with two single reeds. Each chanter or tube has five finger holes and these three pieces comprise the kaffa which produces the sound. The kaffa is attached to an air bag made of kid skin. The air bag stores the air, making it easier to play various notes. The musician presses the bag with his arm, permitting him to breath and still produce a continuous sound.
The length of the chekoua varies from one instrument to another. The one that I have chosen is 40 cm long. Its total length is 64 cm. Varying the quantity of air changes the notes the instrument plays. This is how musicians can play different musical modes by using only five finger holes.
The music played by the mezoued is improvised. I would very much like it if the mezoued were played throughout the world
The Zukra is perhaps the most archtypical bagpipe in this collection, and hails from a region - North Africa - which some feel was where bagpipes first appeared. Its hornpipe ancestry is obvious - it is in fact nothing more than a double hornpipe tied into a bag.
The scales and key signatures given may be regarded as approximations; bagpipes may deviate from conventional standards in absolute and relative pitch.
The Tunisian Zukra being played by Sean Folsom.
The cane chanters end in a pair of cowhorns in typical hornpipe fashion.
This rear view shows the simple but effective means of keeping the cow horns secure on the delicate cane - a cord connecting them to the stock.
Detail showing the blowpipe.
Here the blowpipe is made of a length of cane, but sometimes the Zukra is fitted with a blowpipe made from the wingbone of a bird.
The reeds are not one piece with the chanters but are set in with wax, though some of this pipe's obvious ancestors are made that way - with the chanter being nothing more than a reed with a long body pierced by fingerholes. The disk-like stock, grooved on its edge, is tied into the neck of the goatskin bag. If the reeds need attention, the entire unit must be untied and removed from the bag.
