Rubiel - Russian musical instrument or mangle

Everyone is probably familiar with the sound made when running drags a baton over a rail fence. This is more or less exactly what a wooden ruble sounds like. In the times in question (but not that long ago, as it was still in the middle of the 20th century) Russian women used the rubiel to smooth out washed linen or towels. The damp linen was wound onto a roller and turned with a thick notched board, or rubiel. (Similar tools were also used in the Polish countryside.)

A rubiel is a thick plank of hard wood with a handle at one end. One side of the board has rounded notches cut into it, while the other side remains flat, decorated with possibly fine carvings. Hardwoods such as oak, beech, rowan, maple, and birch were used to make rubiel.

Someone discovered that the corrugated surface of the board could be a great percussion instrument if one dragged a stick across it. The only difference between a utilitarian rubella and a musical rubella is that the former is made of solid wood, while the latter is hollow inside for sound amplification. However, the resonant space does not go all the way through; one side of the board is full.

In different regions of Russia, the ruble may have looked slightly different, varying in details of form or decoration. For example, in Vladimir Governorate the ruble was decorated with geometric motifs and had a longer length than elsewhere. On the Mezeń River, rubies were made wide, slightly widening towards the end. In Yaroslavl governorate, on the other hand, in addition to geometric, carved patterns, the ruble was often decorated with spatial carving. This decoration, by the way, served as a second handle. It also happened that the handle of the rubiel was made hollow in the center and peas or other small objects were inserted there, which made sounds when shaken.

All music is pure creativity, a way of expressing human emotions. Folk music - is the experience of entire generations and the emotional message of an entire nation.