Gulf region: a clay pot played with both hands.
Commonly used by Gnawa performers, particularly on festive occasions. Morocco: metal clackers resembling double castanets. Levant and Iraq: a hand-drum, usually conical or vase-shaped.
#Middle eastern stringed instruments skin
In Morocco, the instrument is a wooden-framed drum, entirely covered with stretched skin and played from both sides. In Egypt it is one of the instruments traditionally used in the ensemble known as a takht, ("platform"). In Lebanon, the daff is used typically by the performers of sung folk-poetry (zajal). Morocco: goatskin-covered wooden drum, with two strings stretched across the underside, producing a distinctive distorted percussive sound. Tunisia: a double-reed instrument similar to the Moroccan ghaytah.
Levant and Iraq: double-reed oboe-type instrument used to accompany dances. Palestine: similar in principle to the mijwiz, but only one of its tubes has holes the other, which is longer, is used to produce an accompanying drone. Southern Algeria, Tunisia: an end-blown reed flute used to accompany songs.Įgypt: an open-ended reed-flute associated with Sufism. In Egypt, it is one of the instruments traditionally used in the ensemble known as a takht, ("platform"). The development and use of the nay has been attributed to shepherds, but it is, in fact, an urban instrument. and capable of producing dynamic and tonal inflections. With a wide range and breathy tone, it is highly expressive. Used in ceremonial music and to awaken the faithful during Ramadan.Īn open-ended reed flute, blown obliquely. Morocco: a three-metre long single-note horn made of copper. Libya, Tunisia, Algeria: basically a maqrunah with a bag attached, giving a bagpipe sound. Normally three are played together, accompanied by a large double-sided drum ( tabl). Iraq: a twin-tube instrument similar to the mijwiz. Associated with weddings and dances, but also played by shepherds. It has a limited range and a breathy sound, which the player sometimes accomanpies by humming. Levant and Iraq: a reed flute, open-ended and end-blown. It is played using a circular breathing technique which produces a continuous sound, unlike a flute. Each tube has five or six holes and a smaller tube inside which vibrates to produce the sound. Lebanon: this instrument has two identical reed tubes (the name means "paired" or "married"). North Africa (especially Libya and Tunisia): a single-reed instrument with two horn bells. Thought to be one of the oldest wind instruments, and still played in the Tihama area of Yemen. Morocco: a wooden double-reed instrument, similar to the Tunisian zukrah.Ī metre-long flute with two playing holes at the far end. One of the instruments traditionally used to accompany maqam singing. Iraq: a hammer dulcimer with metal strings. In Egypt, the sound box is made from a coconut shell. The Moroccan variant has a boat-shaped sound box and the string may be positioned to the side of the neck. The Bedouin version has a quadrilateral sound box covered with skin and a single horsehair string.
#Middle eastern stringed instruments series
The strings are tuned to the basic notes of a given scale and the pitch is raised or lowered by stopping the strings with a series of metal levers.Ī spike fiddle, traditionally used to accompany poetry. "Al-'ud" is the origin of the English word, "lute".Ī flat zither-type instrument with 26 strings which are played by plucking. The instrument has a warm timbre, low tessatura, and microtonal flexibility - which makes it extremely popular. It is played by plucking, either solo or in ensemble. Typically pear-shaped, short-necked and fretless, with five or six strings.
It is also a name sometimes given to the rababah.Ī Berber lute, with three or four strings and a round body. Previously it referred to an Iranian violin, played vertically, which had been adopted by the Arabs. Nowadays this is the term for a western-style violin (though tuned to Arab musical requirements). Sound box is part of a coconut shell covered with skin. In Morocco, often used by Gnawa musicians. Fretless, with a long cylindrical neck and a sound box covered with skin. A deep three-stringed wooden bass instrument, sometimes with an added wooden resonator. A long-necked fretted lute with metal strings and a carved sound-box. This guide is divided into three sections: string instruments, wind instruments and percussion instruments. Readers should bear in mind that construction of instruments varies according to musical tastes and local materials, and that similar instruments often have different names in different areas.
0 kommentar(er)
