Arabic musical instruments. A short tour of the world of oriental musical instruments and the origin of the duduk Oriental musical instruments
IN Arab countries a fairly large number of various musical instruments are used, each of which has its own individual characteristics and unique sound.
Despite the fact that people in our country are increasingly signing up for courses through the website of the guitar school, some prefer this particular direction of music, as they consider some instruments to be more interesting or beautiful.
In total, there are several main tools used in Arab countries:
tabla
This drum is very similar to the Central Asian dumbek or darbuka, and is made of ceramics with various mother-of-pearl inlays or individual painting. Sizes can vary widely, but on average, the height of such instruments reaches 35 cm, while the diameter is about 25 cm. On expensive models of such drums, fish skin is stretched, while more budget models use goat skin. This instrument is one of the indispensable in the process of performing belly dance.
Sagata
Sagats are used by belly dancers in the process of performing in order to accompany themselves on their own. By themselves, such instruments are small metal plates that are worn on the fingers. They are made in the majority of cases from brass, and their size directly depends on who exactly is performing - the musician or the dancer herself.
Sistr
Specialized percussion instrument
Which, by its nature, resembles castanets and is a kind of temple rattle, used even in times ancient egypt. This tool is a metal plate, on the narrow part of which a handle is fixed. Small metal rods were threaded through the base, on the ends of which bells or cymbals were put on, after which a certain melody was played.
Eve
This musical instrument is quite similar to cymbals. It has 24 built-in strings. The body is made from walnut. Before the game, it is laid horizontally, after which it is played, having previously put specialized wooden or metal tips on the fingers - richet.
ORIENTAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
"ARABS SAY THAT WHEN A WOMAN DANCES A BELY DANCE, PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS LEAD HER HIPS, WIND INSTRUMENTS - HEART, AND STRINGS - HEAD"
Get to know the musical traditional instruments used in the Middle East and if possible, listen to them.
DUMBEK
(also known as tabla or darbuka). The dance is the most great importance It has musical rhythm and the doomback helps keep it going. Initially, doombacks were ceramic and covered with fish or goat skin, but today most of them are metal with a plastic surface.
Dulcimer
(“sagats” in Arabic or “tsilli” in Turkish). Usually, the cymbals are used by the dancers themselves, putting them on their fingers, but sometimes they are also played by musicians in a group. They use larger cymbals that fit male hands and would be too bulky for dancing, but they sound really beautiful.
TAMBOURINE
- This percussion instrument is used to maintain the main rhythm and as an accessory. On brass plates along the circumference of the tambourine, as well as on its circumference, they strike with fingers.
UDD
— stringed instrument egg-shaped, with a large "belly", the forerunner of the modern guitar, resembles the lute played in medieval Europe.
4, 5 thousand years ago, in the excavations of the Ashur culture, they found an instrument that coincides with the type of modern lute. Moreover, they found notes called “nineva”. The Germans opened these notes and for the first time the stories were sounded by a German orchestra. Apparently the Arabs took the lute or udd with them when they discovered Spain. It is no coincidence that the Bible says that David's psalms are played on the lute (udde). Udd (Arabic lute) - an instrument that is the main instrument Arab world. In the excavations of Yemen, the udd has 4 strings, and in the excavations of Syria - 5 strings and for many centuries remained 5 strings. In the 20th century, an Arab composer, Syrian by origin, Farid al Atrash (countryman of Kamal Ballan) added a 6 bass string "to". Farid al Atrash is known as the king of the udd, who skillfully extracts the philosophy of music, the gunpowder of passion, the depth of the lyrics from the silent strings of the Arabic lute. After Farid, there were many experimental musicians, but Farid remained a planet with a posthumous glory for all time. Farid al Atrash - composer famous work"Arabic tango".
Arabic lute lessons (udd)
from a virtuoso of his craft, a unique Arab composer and performer
Kamal Ballan.
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EVE
- this harp-like stringed instrument is laid horizontally and played with metal tips worn on the fingers. It is quite difficult to play it. In order to take full advantage of the whole gamut of sounds of the eve, the dancer under slow music can perform a series of shaking.
ACCORDION
The first European accordions, modeled after one of the oldest Chinese musical instruments, appeared in Australia around 1830. Within a few years this instrument began to be used in Egyptian music, and was slightly modified to allow the fourth notes of the Arabic musical scale to be played on it. Today, the accordion is an indispensable instrument in a group playing oriental music, and the taksims played on it have amazing hypnotic power. . In one type of impromptu song called "rising beledi", the accordion enters slowly and gradually progresses to a series of accents, picking up the tempo, and at the end, when the drums join it, it reaches a fast maximum.
REBAB
Rebab- stringed bowed instrument Arabic origin. The term "rebab" in Arabic means the combination of short sounds into one long one.
It has a wooden flat or convex, trapezoidal or heart-shaped body with small notches on the sides. The shells are made of wood or coconut, the soundboards are made of leather (from the intestines of a buffalo or bladder of other animals). The neck is long, round, pointed; at the top it has 1-2 long transverse pegs, at the bottom it passes through the body and protrudes in the form of a faceted metal leg. Strings (1-2) originally from horsehair, later - metal (copper or brass).
Sounds are extracted with the help of a bow-shaped bow. Also used as plucked instrument. folk singers (shairas) accompanied themselves on the rebabe when performing folk songs and elegiac poems.
The description of the instrument is contained in Al-Farabi's Great Treatise on Music (1st half of the 10th century).
LIRA
Lyra - a stringed plucked musical instrument in the form of a collar with two curved posts protruding from the resonator body and connected closer to the upper end by a crossbar, to which five or more core strings are stretched from the body.
Originating in prehistoric times in the Middle East, the lyre was one of the main instruments of the Jews, and later the Greeks and Romans. The instrument served to accompany singing, in which case it was played with a large plectrum.
With the decline of the Greco-Roman civilization, the distribution area of the lyre moved to Northern Europe. The northern lyre, as a rule, differed in design from the ancient one: the posts, the crossbar and the resonator body were often carved from one piece of wood.
After 1000 AD e. not plucked, but bowed lyres became widespread, especially among the Welsh and Finns. Nowadays, only the Finns, as well as their Siberian relatives Khanty and Mansi, use the lira.
IN Ancient Greece recitation was accompanied by playing the lyre. On the lyre classical antiquity usually played by plucking the strings with a plectrum, like playing a guitar or zither, rather than by plucking the strings, like playing a harp. The fingers of the free hand muted the strings that were unnecessary for a given chord.
Although the lyre was used by many outstanding musicians, which increased the number of strings on it to 9 (Theophrastus of Pieria) and even up to 12 (Melanippides), in the classical and Hellenistic era it was mainly a “home” instrument, since its sound was not loud. It taught beginners.
The lyre was also played by women, since it was not as heavy as the cithara and did not require a large physical strength. Moreover, unlike wind instrument Avlos, or Avla, playing the lyre was not considered an obscene occupation for a decent woman, as long as some Muses were depicted with a lyre.
MISMAR
Mizmar (mizmar) is an Arabic wind instrument, a kind of zurna.
It has two reeds and two pipes of the same length. Mizmar belongs to the world folk music and is most commonly heard in Eastern folklore, especially in saidi.
A double tongue and a special mouthpiece for resting the lips give the instrument its characteristic performance features and determine the general character of the sound, sharper than that of the oboe. The lack of direct contact with the reed makes the sound of the instrument less flexible. 
In the Arabic orchestra, percussion instruments are responsible for the rhythm, and the melody and additional ornamentation are at the mercy of string, wind and keyboard instruments. Stringed instruments include the udd, qanun, and rebab.
The UDD is a stringed plucked instrument, which is the Arabic version of the lute.
Oud. consists of three parts: a pear-shaped body, usually made of pear, walnut or sandal wood, a fretless neck and a head with pegs for tuning the strings. The material of the strings is silk threads, lamb intestines or a special nylon.
The number of strings can vary from 2 to 6, but the 4-string version is considered a classic. The 6th bass string for udd was added already in the 20th century, and we owe this to the Syrian composer Farid al Atrash. Udd is also characterized by the presence of paired strings.
To play the udd, it is placed horizontally with the body on the right knee. The right hand presses the udd to the chest and plays the strings with the help of the pektr. Left hand at this moment he holds the udd by the neck.
Kanun is a stringed plucked instrument, a relative of the harp. 
Kanun is a trapezoidal box on which the strings are stretched. The material of the box is hardwood. The upper part of the kanun is wooden and the rest is covered with fish skin.
The leather-covered part contains 3 resonator holes and 4 string rests. The strings are attached at one end to the holes on the body of the instrument, pass over the stands, and at their other end are fixed to the shelves. At the shelves under the strings are "lings" (iron levers), with the help of which the pitch changes by half a tone. On the eve there are 26 silk strings or strings from mutton intestine.
To perform kanun horizontally and play the strings with metal tips worn on the fingers
REBAB is an Egyptian stringed bowed instrument with one or two, and a Turkish version with three strings. The body of the rebab is almost completely round and has a round resonant hole on the soundboard. There are also flat cases, heart-shaped or trapezoidal. The tool has a long round and pointed neck with 2 long transverse pegs. At the bottom of the case is a metal leg. In the past, horsehair was used as a material for strings, but later metal strings began to be used.
When playing, the instrument rests on the left knee and the sound is extracted with an arcuate bow, on which a lamb intestine is stretched, but sometimes it was also played with the help of plucks
You may, of course, ask why we should study Arabic musical instruments, if we are not musicians, but dancers, but it's better not to ask :) Because music has the most direct relation to us - after all, we dance to the music, and it is this that we must feel and express with our dance. Theoretical knowledge about the instruments that are used in oriental melodies will help us to perceive what we hear even more deeply, and to beat it with movements more competently and interestingly.
Egypt also has frame drums RIC (tambourine) and DEF.
RIC
- a small frame drum that looks like a tambourine. It can be heard in classical, pop and dance oriental music. Also used as a As a rule, the rik is 17 cm in diameter, and the depth of the rim is 5 cm. The outer side of the rim is inlaid with mother-of-pearl, just like in the classical Egyptian tabla. Five pairs of copper plates are installed in the rim, creating an additional ringing. Therefore, ricks are often quite heavy in weight.
DEF
– a large-diameter frame drum without metal cymbals on the rim, used for bass rhythmic accompaniment.
still exist big drum DOHOL
- a percussion musical instrument consisting of a hollow cylindrical body, about 1 m in diameter and 25-30 cm high. Both ends of the cylinder are covered with highly stretched skin. On dohol
they extract the sound either, or with two sticks, one of which looks like a cane, and the other looks like a thin rod.
Sometimes you can see how belly dancer during the performance, she accompanies herself with small metal cymbals, dressed on her fingers - this SAGATS.
These are two pairs of plates, usually made of brass, worn on the middle and thumb of each hand, for dancers - small, for musicians - more.
Sagata
- this is a very ancient musical instrument that has analogues in many countries (Russia - spoons, Spain - castanets). IN Arabic dances
they were often part of musical accompaniment dancers since the Gavezi. Now in oriental dances sagats
used in folklore and classical performance (rax sharki, beledi).
SISTR
- a musical instrument from the category of percussion (castanets); Ancient Egyptian temple rattle. It consists of a metal plate in the form of an oblong horseshoe or bracket, to the narrower part of which a handle is attached. Through small holes made on the sides of this horseshoe, metal rods of various sizes were threaded, the ends of which were bent with a hook. Plates or bells put on hooks of metal rods tinkled or rattled when shaken.
Well, now after such loud and percussion instruments let's move on to more melodic :)
EVE
- This harp-like stringed musical instrument. It is placed horizontally and played with the help of metal tips put on the fingers. It's pretty hard to play. And when they hear eve in the composition, and as a rule it sounds in a certain part by itself, solo, they use various combinations of shaking in their improvisation.
UDD
It is a fretless plucked lute with a short neck, shaped like half a pear. Super popular in Egyptian and Turkish music for many hundreds of years, oud is also common in North Africa, in the Middle East, in Central Asia and the Sahara.
MISMAR
- wind musical instrument. It has two reeds and two pipes of the same length. Mizmar belongs to the world of folk music and is most often heard in Eastern folklore, especially in Saidi.
NEY
It is a flute that is open on both sides. She happens different sizes and is traditionally made from cane or bamboo. However, nowadays plastic or even metal is used instead of traditional materials. The structure and use of this tool deceives with its simplicity: most often nay
has one finger hole at the bottom and six at the top, and the musician simply blows into the tube. Thanks to a special technique, a musician can play within more than three octaves. Basic tone nay
depends on the length of the tube.
RABABA - a stringed bowed instrument of Arabic origin, with an almost round body and a small round hole for resonance on the soundboard. It usually has one or two strings. Often used in Gulf music.
"RABABA"
Delving into the world of musical instruments of the Persian Gulf countries, it is also impossible not to talk about TAP - the most important instrument of the classical musical tradition Iran. Tar - a stringed instrument played with a metal plectrum, a mezrab, inserted into a ball of wax. In past Iranian tar had five strings, but six strings are currently made. Most often a resonator (deck) container carved from seasoned mulberry wood. The older and drier the wood gets, the better the instrument will sound. The frets are usually made from some type of sheep intestine, and the neck and head container - walnut. The shape of the instrument's resonator is like two hearts put together, with reverse side he looks like a seated person. The stand for strings, called "donkey", is made from the horn of a mountain goat. Camel bone is used on both sides of the front of the neck.
"TAR"
DUTAR (translated from Persian as "two strings") is an Iranian stringed plucked instrument which, as its name suggests, has two strings. When playing this instrument, they usually use not a plectrum, but a fingernail. Dutar It has a pear-shaped body and a rather long neck (about 60 cm). The pear-shaped part of the dutar is made of black mulberry wood, and its neck is made of apricot wood or walnut wood.
"DUTAR"
Similar to the previous tool, SETAR (from Persian “three strings”) is an Iranian stringed plucked instrument, which is usually played not with a plectrum, but with a fingernail. In past setar had three strings, now it has four (the third and fourth strings are close to each other, they are touched simultaneously when playing, as a result of which they are usually “combined”, called the bass string).
"SETAR"
Having named quite a few arabic musical instruments, I want to say that this is not all :) East large, and in almost every country, every region has its own characteristic national instruments. But with the main ones, with whom we often meet, dancing our favorite Eastern dance, we may have introduced you. Also, in addition to true oriental instruments, in songs for belly dance we can often hear sounds that are more familiar to us accordion, synthesizer, violin, trumpet, saxophone, guitar and even organ.
Each musical instrument has its own character, its own personality and its own charm. We wish you a pleasant listening and acquaintance with them, and further fruitful creative collaboration in belly dancing :)
