What instruments do they play at monasteries in Eastern Europe? In Romania you will very often hear the toaca being played to call Christians to the evening prayer as part of the Romanian Orthodox liturgy.
Each monastery or church usually has a ‘toaca’ that is played with its own rhythm and way of playing. It usually starts slow and ends at a quicker pace.
For me, the ‘toaca’ makes me think of the spiritual nature of Romania, hidden monasteries in the mountains, a place of peace and quiet, away from the distraction of modern-day society. Just know that not all monasteries are in the mountains, and there are some really nice ones in the steppes. (a couple unique churches)
How did the Toaca appear?
According to Unica, “The toaca has its origins in the East, probably in the worship places of Egypt, where believers were called to prayer using a trumpet. Later, in the monasteries of those times, monks were called to service by another monk knocking on their cell doors with a wooden hammer. It seems that the toaca appeared in the 4th century, replacing the hammer used for knocking on cell doors. Due to its significance, the toaca spread to all Eastern Orthodox churches in Greece, Armenia, Bulgaria, and the Romanian territories. The custom of using the toaca in monasteries and churches also spread throughout the former Byzantine Empire and even to certain Catholic states.”
There are even ways to play it that don’t fit the traditional way of doing it without accompanying instruments:
According to CorpusDraculianum: the toaca became popular because of an Ottoman law prohibiting church bells next to certain Muslim majority areas in the Ottoman Empire, so in order not to ring bells, they used the toaca. Subtitles in English:
The website crstinortodox also mentions that: The toaca, a percussion instrument used by Christians, is documented as early as the 4th century. In the year 638, Saint Sophronius of Jerusalem described two types of toaca: one made of wood and the other of iron. He also attributed symbolic meaning to the instrument, referring to it as the “trumpet of angels.” The practice is further confirmed in the records of the Seventh Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 787, which mention the custom of summoning the faithful to church by striking a wooden plank known as the “Holy Sounding Woods.”
Mastering this instrument requires skill and the chruch even organizes competitions:
Sources English: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantron
Sources Romanian:
https://www.crestinortodox.ro/religie/toaca-cantec-lemnului-96044.html
Dracula's Guide to Romania 
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