These musicians use planks of wood to make music - and it sounds magnificently hypnotic

27 July 2017, 12:02 | Updated: 27 July 2017, 12:06

These simple-looking planks of wood are in fact called Txalaparta, specialised Basque music device of wood or stone.

Kimu Txalaparta is a music duo from San Sebastián in Spain's Basque country who play a traditional Basque country instrument - the Txalaparta. Txalaparta can be translated as either 'racket' or as 'the trot of the horse'.

Originating from Basque country, an area of the Spanish western Pyrenees that straddles the border between France and Spain on the Atlantic coast, Txalaparta was traditionally used as a communication device for funerals, celebration or even after the making of cider: the same board that pressed the apples was used to summon neighbours to a celebration. 

The developing rhythms, textures, progressive pitches and dynamics of the Basque music played by Kimu Txalaparta are fascinating and almost hypnotic. They offer live shows as well as pedagogical concerts - check out more of their music on their YouTube and Facebook pages.