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Toc de castells

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The toc de castells is the tune to play during a castells performance. Its main purpose is to communicate to those in the tower (who cannot see) what stage the tower is in.

Each colla can have their own interpretation of the tune, which is why you will find different groups playing it slightly differently. However the main theme is instantly recognisable. For now, in the Edinburgh colla, we will adopt the arrangement used by the Castellers del Poble Sec.

Sheet music for Toc de Castells Sheet music for Toc de Castells

Structure of the tune

Here's how you would play the Toc alongside a castell.

  1. No music while the pinya (base) of the tower is formed and the segons climb.
  2. Begin playing the toc when the terços begin climbing up the doces.
  3. Play the A section on loop until l'aleta, when the enxaneta is about to reach the top of the tower.
  4. Play the trill of l'aleta when the enxaneta is climbing onto the final person. When they raise their hand in the air, play the high sol'! This is markes the peak of the tower. The crowd goes wild.
  5. Play through the aleta section. Usually there is lots of time between notes - it is very up to interpretation. Keep an eye on the band leader for timings. The end of l'aleta runs straight into the B section.
  6. Play the B section on loop while the tower dismantles. Note that the B section is identical to the A section, it just starts in a different place.
  7. Play the sortida when the tower is nearly finished, and there are only a few people to climb down to the floor.

Practice tracks

I have produced backing tracks to help you practice at home! They are made for a flaviol in G, and there are a few different versions available. I recommend using YouTube's playback speed settings to slow the video down if you are not confident with the tune yet.

Here the full track with both voices and drum. Below that you can find links to versions that have one of the parts muted, so that you can fill in the missing part, or so you can hear the existing parts clearer.

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