The tamurrë ensembles of the Gran Sasso, instrumental groups composed of bass drum, drum, snare drum, cymbals and six-hole transverse flute (piffero), are characteristic of the Valle Siciliana and the Valle del Fino, in the central-southern area of the province of Teramo. They are historically documented in the mountain hamlets of the municipality of Isola del Gran Sasso (Pretara, San Massimo, Casale San Nicola, Fano a Corno, Forca di Valle, Cerchiara) and in Befaro di Castelli. Ethnomusicological research carried out during the 1980s traced their origins to military formations of probable Spanish derivation, progressively adapted over the following centuries through a complex process of community appropriation that transformed them into the sonic heart of religious processions and patronal festivals in the mountain area.

Roberto Vantini, a piffero player since his youth, approached drum-making through a silent apprenticeship in the workshop of Giovanni Tomolati, the historic drum-maker of Pretara, whom he met during the festival of Santa Maria di Pagliara in the early 1990s. By regularly frequenting the elderly master’s workshop, Vantini learned through direct observation the entire construction cycle of the bass drum and the drum, from the selection of the wood to the bending of the hoop, from fixing the skin to the lacing and tuning. After several years of independent practice, when he showed Tomolati the first drum he had built, the master recognised the quality of its finish and symbolically handed back to him his craft. Since then, Roberto Vantini has become a recognised reference point for the construction of tamurrë well beyond the boundaries of San Massimo, supplying instruments to the numerous youth ensembles that have multiplied over recent decades throughout the Valle Siciliana and the surrounding Gran Sasso area.

The construction cycle of the drum is divided into three principal phases — the hoop, the shell and the skin assembly — and involves materials selected for their acoustic and mechanical response: the hoops (cércënë) are made from strips of ash wood, replacing the manna ash formerly used; the shell (cascë) is made of solid beechwood, while goat skins are used for the bass drum, half-goat skin for the drum, kid skin for the snare drum and for the friction drum (lu vurra vurrë, or rubicone). The hemp cords acting as tensioners are fitted with sliding conical leather regulators (tërantë a campanella), necessary for modulating the tension of the skins and tuning the instrument.

The beater used to strike the bass drum, known locally as the mazzocco, is turned from a small block of beechwood and worked in two successive stages: first, the shaping of the handle, then the head, onto which a sponge pad is applied, modelled into an oval shape with insulating tape, and finally covered with a tightly stretched goat skin. In traditional variants, the head may be double, with a second, smaller beater positioned at the opposite end of the handle, useful for modulating the intensity and variety of the strokes and for supporting the rolling technique.

The shells are then finished, tuned, and, in some cases, decorated upon the customer’s request, according to a custom that has always functioned as an identifying mark of the different workshops of the Valle Siciliana.