The txalaparta ( or ) is a specialized Basque music device of wood or stone. In some regions of the Basque Country, (with ) means "racket", while in others (in Navarre) has been attested as meaning the trot of the horse, a sense closely related to the sound of the instrument. Communication During the last 150 years, txalaparta has been attested as a communication device used for funeral (), celebration () or the making of slaked lime (), or cider (). After the making of cider, the same board that pressed the apples was beaten to summon the neighbours. Then, a celebration was held and txalaparta played cheerfully, while cider was drunk. Evidence gathered in this cider-making context reveals that sound-emitting ox horns were sometimes blown alongside txalaparta. Actually, cider and cider houses are the only traditional context for the txalaparta we have got to know first-hand. The same background applies to a related Basque percussion instrument, the kirikoketa, a recreation of the pounding used to grind down the apples. Another instrument classified in the same family and geographical area is the . Some claim that txalaparta has been used this way for millennia, but notwithstanding different assumptions its origins remain shrouded in mystery. It is worth mentioning that the very similar Romanian or Greek are used as a call for prayer, so less epic interpretations link txalaparta with a common Christian practice before the schism between the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. Bells were not used in Christian churches before the 10th century. Instrument and music The txalaparta's musical use evolved out of its original use. Traditional txalaparta was almost extinct in the 1950s with a handful of pairs of peasants maintaining the tradition. It was then revived by folklorists, such as Jesus and Jose Antonio Artze from the group . Innovators started to labour and assemble the boards to achieve some melody. Other materials started to be pressed into service. The txalaparta today is a musical instrument used in Basque music. It is classified as an idiophone (a percussion instrument). In its traditional construction (known as the ), the txalaparta is made of a pair of long wooden boards held up horizontally on two ends and then beaten vertically with special, thick sticks based on the press handle, the , held upright in the hands. On the two ends, between the long board and the supports,