Conch-shell horn (bourou)

The bourou, or conch shell horn, is one of the oldest wind instruments still played in the same way today. It is played all over the world, and there is no seafaring people without it in its tradition. Elsewhere different shells are used; in Greece we know the triton shell.

Since ancient times Greeks have used shells like the bourou to communicate, especially at sea. Greek sailors blew large shells to announce the arrival or departure of ships, and to warn other ships of danger: fog, storms, pirates or other raids.

Instruments in which the sound is made by the player's lips vibrating as he blows into an air chamber are the prehistoric ancestors of today's brass instruments, an idea so good that it hardly needed to change. They are very loud, which is why they were used to communicate over long distances, to sound the alarm, and to frighten and command. It is no coincidence that ships still use the same kind of sound at sea and when entering or leaving port. The sound comes from the air pressure created by tightening the lips, which also sets the pitch; the wide opening or bell in which these instruments always end, and the material itself, wood, shell, horn and later copper, shape the sound waves. Often the player also stores air in the puffed-out cheeks to control its flow through the lips and to breathe in a circle. Typical instruments of this kind are the Jewish shofar of ram's horn (the trumpets that brought down the walls of Jericho), the Celtic carnyx of bronze, the Australian didgeridoo made from a eucalyptus branch, the ancient Greek salpinx of copper, the dungchen of Tibetan monks, and the alphorn of the Alps, which is usually wooden.