Construction of the frame drum of Biłgoraj

This procedure for making the drum of Biłgoraj (one-headed frame drum with jingles around the side) was produced by Anna Drymajło, as a result of her participation in the 1st Master School of Folk Instruments Makers, a programme of the Institute of Music and Dance in Warsaw.

Anna Drymajło studied instrument making with Zbigniew Butryn, as part of a one-on-one course conducted by the master between 11 June and 31 October 2012 at the Folk Instruments Workshop affiliated with the Biłgoraj Suka School in Janów Lubelski.

Zbigniew Butryn was born in 1952 in Janów Lubelski. In the early 1990s, encouraged by Marian Domański, an editor with the Polish Radio, Butryn started research on the suka of Biłgoraj, and then set out to recreate the ancient Polish string instrument. The effort earned him the special award at the Festival of Folk Bands and Singers in Kazimierz. Butryn then went on to successfully reconstruct the fiddle of Płock, as well as the tree-string basy, mazanki, and oktawki. He has also set up the Folk Instruments Workshop in Janów Lubelski. Apart from the string instruments mentioned above, he makes one-headed frame drums with jingles around the side. To build his instruments he uses traditional tools only. His creations are part of the collection of the Museum of Folk Instruments in Szydłowiec and the Ethnographical Museum in Warsaw, and are used by contemporary musicians drawing on folk traditions (Drewutnia Band, Warsaw Village Band, Saint Nicholas Orchestra) and traditional folk bands.

Zbigniew Butryn is also an avid educator. Together with his son Krzysztof, he runs the Biłgoraj Suka School. He was a member of the Dudka Band of Zdziłowice playingthe basy, after which he moved on to set up a family band with his son. They perform authentic music of the Janów and Biłgoraj area, which they have learnt directly from local tradition bearers, Bronisław Dudka of Zdziłowice, Leon Widz of Modliborzyce, Stefan Moskal of Biała, Józef Góra of Krzemień, and Stanisław Głaz of Dzwola. In 2008, together with excellent singer Stanisław Fijałkowski, as well as Remigiusz Mazur-Hanaj, Agata Harz, and his son, ZBiegniew Butryn founded InCrudo, which has performed e.g. at the Festival of Old Music at the Royal Castle in Warsaw. He has been collaborating for many years with institutions that support and propagate traditional music. In 2011 he delivered workshops on playing the Biłgoraj suka as part of the Master School of Tradition held by the Institute of Music and Dance in Warsaw.

Anna Drymajło is currently studying interior design at the East European State Higher School in Przemyśl. For a few years now she has been participating in workshops of traditional singing (e.g. “Na ścieżkach głosu” held by the OVO Foundation, or meetings with folk singers hosted by Marta Graban-Butryn). At the same time she is learning how to play folk instruments: the drum of Biłgoraj and the three-string basy. In 2011 she took part in workshops of Biłgoraj suka playing held as part of the “Master School of Tradition” held by the Institute of Music and Dance in Warsaw.

The biographical notes have been developed based on workshop documentation. They have been edited and translated by the Institute of Music and Dance in Warsaw.

Photo by Piotr Baczewski – workshops on the construction of the basy of Radom held as part of the 1st Master School of Folk Instruments Makers in Kuźnica with the participation of Piotr Sikora and Michał Maziarz.