While reading an article titled "Alone with the drone" in The Reykjavik Grapevine about the langspil, Iceland's "national instrument", I was struck by a quote from Ørn Magnússon.
Magnússonhas been building langspiller after developing and interest in the instrument. In the article, he is quoted talking about the presence of the drone strings. A traditional langspil can have from two to five drone strings, although two is more common these days.
Magnússon says,
“You could say that the drone is always there. What is the true meaning of the drone? The answer is that things never change, be it in life or some kind of eternity.
The drone is a very traditional — and formidable — part of many forms of Nordic music. A number of traditional instruments utilize it such as:
- Mouth harp / Jaw harp
- Norwegian hardingfele (Hardanger fiddle)
- Swedish nyckelharpa
- Norwegian langeleik
- Swedish hummel
- Swedish säckpipa
among others.
That tradition of a drone continues to be present in contemporary Nordic forms. For example, one continues to hear it in contemporary folk music and the metal music coming out of the Nordic countries, particularly Viking metal and folk metal music.
I like Magnússon's thoughts on the eternal nature of the drone in the music. It seems to compliment the idea of the eternal circle found in many forms of traditional Nordic dance.
