The modern Cobla normally consists of 11 players with the following instruments: • One
flabiol, a type of
fipple flute played with the left hand while a
tamborí, a small drum attached to the left arm of the player, is played with the other hand. • Four
Catalan shawms – double-reed woodwinds • Two tibles – a
tible is like an oboe, but with a louder sound • Two tenores – a
tenora is a larger version of the tible • Five brass instruments • Two
trumpets • A
trombone – often a valve-trombone • Two
fiscorns – a
fiscorn is a rotary-valved baritone
saxhorn with the bell facing forward, similar in appearance to a large
flugelhorn • A string bass – originally and still often a three-string
double bass There are small variations to this instrumentation in contemporary coblas: for example there is sometimes a third trumpet player. The playing formation has two rows. The front row has (as seen by the audience from left to right) the flabiolist (with pipe and drum), the second and first tibles, and the first and second tenores. The back row, often raised, has the second and first trumpets, the trombone, and the first and second fiscorns. The double bass player, often standing, is on the right of the band. ==History==