The drymba is a small metal instrument with a flexible tongue that is plucked with a finger. The player presses the drymba against the teeth, and the oral cavity becomes a resonator: by changing the shape of the mouth and the breath, the musician brings out different overtones, weaving a melody from what seems to be a single note.
In Ukraine the drymba is especially widespread in the Carpathians, among the Hutsuls, where it accompanies dances, kolomyikas, and intimate home music-making. Its hypnotic, “buzzing” voice links the Ukrainian drymba to the jew's harps of dozens of peoples worldwide — from Asia to Scandinavia — yet the Carpathian playing tradition has its own unmistakable rhythmic handwriting. Despite its tiny size, the drymba is capable of astonishing timbral richness in a master's hands.
