sets inserted in an otherwise simple binary pattern. As regards melody in txalaparta, the issue turns out contentious to some degree, due to the rhythmic nature of the instrument. During the last years, txalaparta has broken new ground by playing along other instruments, interacting with them, following that the txalaparta has sometimes been tuned for melody to fit in the ensemble. On the one hand, not only accompanies it other instruments by contributing to the bassline, but it also provides melody arranged in advance, which entails establishing the playing beforehand. Therefore, some argue that doing so it is taking on a xylophone-like role devoid of its own primary musical features at the expense of adopting a subsidiary and decorating function, e.g. txalaparta in Kepa Junkera's band. On the other hand, txalaparta has kept a higher profile in other musician groupings that have clustered around the instrument, where it has blended in with other percussion instruments alien to the country (djembe, triangle..., e.g. the group ), or rubbing shoulders side by side with autochthonous and foreign melodic instruments, like , , accordion or keyboards, while clinging to its rhythmic nature. To summarize, the rhythm/melody issue remains tricky. Thanks to groups that have sprung up all over the Basque Country, txalaparta has spread out of its original haven in the School of Hernani into all directions, even outside the Basque Country. Besides extending geographically, txalaparta and its performers have soaked up the cultural trends of modern society and mixed with other music coming from different parts of the world, resulting in cultural melange. Additionally, new technologies allow for experimentation and complementarity that used to be simply unfeasible. Multimedia performances with txalaparta that mix images and sound are not unheard of, as well as DJs playing with txalapartaris, featured for one in the Txalaparta Festival of Hernani. Miscellaneous In a pursuit to get the most out of the materials, experimentation has been taken to new levels, like in the cavern of (Navarre), where site-specific txalaparta music recording provides a background for visits (as of March 2008) based on sounds created by playing with elements from the very grotto. Beyond the boundaries of music, the sculptor native from Usurbil (Gipuzkoa) Jose Luis Elexpe «Pelex» has turned txalaparta into the subject of his work. Himself a pupil of the renowned txalaparta player Jexux Artze, the exhibition opened at Usurbil in May 2008 attempts to cross