Latmash Gatbi

In the Hruzk Mountains, south of Andaperna, live a few tribes called Lukashka. They are goat herders moving about with their tents and their goats. In the summer they often move up the mountains to make use of the lush meadows found there in some places and to collect food and materials not available in the lower mountain regions. To direct their herds, their most important tool is a flute called Latmash Gatbi. It is made from a goat's curved horn and a typical musical instrument of the herders. The sound it produces draws goats to it as well, making it an indispensible asset for those taking care of the herds.

The flute is made of a goats horn and as the Lukashka's goats resemble bighorn sheep, this makes for a very sturdy and gnarly instrument. The base of the horn is very thick and gets closed off with resin, except one hole, which is the mouth piece. The flute is held horizontally and enables the herder to keep an eye on the goats. Latmash Gatbi have five holes and produce droning, slightly oscillating sounds. The base tone and continuous closing off of the five hole produce low, only slightly rising tones with only the last hole being considerably higher. The only accepted tones are these five tones and the tone produced when keeping the first and last hole open. This makes for a six note system. Lukashka music is based on the number six in accordance to the tonality of their language, which also has six tones.

The sounds of the Latmash Gatbi tend to have a soothing effect on people and animals alike. Goats are drawn to its sound, especially when the melody is flat and slow. So it is essential to the Lukashka's lifestyle and enables communities to keep their lifestock and thus their source of meat, milk, wool, bone, fat and fuel under control. Apart from this economic use, the flute is one of the Lukashka's classical instruments besides the gibgansa, a string instrument and the two drums mug and salsalsu. The combination of latmash gambi and mug is especially popular when sitting around the fireplace in the evening.