Maślanka, Józef

Born in Hala Boracza (a shepherd’s hall, 860 m above sea level [SSE of Żabnica]), he lived in Żabnica [SSW of Żywiec]; Originally a violinist, he is said to have attempted to buy Wojciech Maciejowski’s Gajdy, but the family refused to sell it; Apparently, Maślanka was allowed, however, to examine the Gajdy, measure and draw it, in order to build a new instrument on the same pattern; To this day [i.e. 2014; ws] he still has that instrument, that differs from the Gajdy of the Silesian Beskids, because its gajdzica [chanter] is provided with a thumbhole; He also collected information about gajdziorze and their instruments, which he assembled in his typescript „Spis instrumentów i skład kapel występujących w Żabnicy od 1846 r.” [List of instruments and composition of bands performing in Żabnica since 1846]; At the folklore festival in Zakopane his musical talent was noticed by Elwira Kamińska, choreographer of the ensemble "Śląsk", in which he performed, during almost thirty years, as a violinist, acted as an instructor of playing folk instruments, and dealt with the conservation of instruments, as well; Because of his work in the "Śląsk" ensemble in Koszęcin [SW of Częstochowa], he moved to nearby Bytom, where he lived with his wife Krystyna; They had two children: Magda, who plays the violin in the band of the Regional ensemble "Haśnik" of Żabnica, and Tomasz, who inherited his father’s talent for playing the Gajdy; When he wanted to make a Gajdy for the band of the ensemble, the management decided that it should be a Dudy; In search of a master dudziarz, Maślanka wandered through the villages of the Żywiec region, and met piper Jan Kupczak "Peperowiec" in Sopotnia, from whom he bought an instrument; Contracted to come to Koszęcin, Kupczak spent there two weeks, during which he taught Maślanka to play the Dudy; Maślanka built his first Dudy, but his father told him that "they used to play the Gajdy in Hala Boracza, not Dudy"; When Maślanka met another master, Wojciech Majerz of Jeleśnia, he continued his studies with him, playing together; Having bought a motorbike, in the 1970s, he went to Jan Kawulok "uod Wojtosza" in Istebna, with whom he played together, and from whom he learned a lot, watching him making Gajdy; In the 1980s and 1990s he was already a qualified builder of folk instruments, who made 10-20 copies of Dudy, about 5 pieces of Gajdy, a violin, a Złóbcoki [mountaineers’ fiddle], piszczałki, fujarki, pastoral trumpets, horns, and even a wakat [the dialect name for a Diabelskie skrzypce [Devil’s fiddle]; ws]; He learned to play on all these instruments, which he made for himself, because, as he claimed, he did not have the money to buy them; He also created a type of "one-man orchestra", combining a percussion set with his heligonka [a kind of accordion; ws] to which he had screwed a small horn and trumpet; One of the last instruments he made, is a "Turbodudy", which is a Dudy with two drones. NB¹: ➺ "Gajdziorz z zogronia"; NB²: ➺ Family tree.