Igil
Encyclopedia
An igil is a two-stringed Tuva
Tuva
The Tyva Republic , or Tuva , is a federal subject of Russia . It lies in the geographical center of Asia, in southern Siberia. The republic borders with the Altai Republic, the Republic of Khakassia, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Irkutsk Oblast, and the Republic of Buryatia in Russia and with Mongolia to the...

n musical instrument, played by bowing
Bow (music)
In music, a bow is moved across some part of a musical instrument, causing vibration which the instrument emits as sound. The vast majority of bows are used with string instruments, although some bows are used with musical saws and other bowed idiophones....

 the strings. (It is called "ikili" in Western Mongolia.) The neck and lute
Lute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....

-shaped sound box
Sounding board
A sound board, or soundboard, is the surface of a string instrument that the strings vibrate against, usually via some sort of bridge. The resonant properties of the sound board and the interior of the instrument greatly increase loudness over the string alone.The sound board operates by the...

 are usually made of a solid piece of pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...

 or larch
Larch
Larches are conifers in the genus Larix, in the family Pinaceae. Growing from 15 to 50m tall, they are native to much of the cooler temperate northern hemisphere, on lowlands in the north and high on mountains further south...

. The top of the sound box may be covered with skin or a thin wooden plate. The strings, and those of the bow, are traditionally made of hair from a horse's tail (strung parallel), but may also be made of nylon. Like the morin khuur
Morin khuur
The morin khuur is a traditional Mongolian bowed stringed instrument. It is one of the most important musical instruments of the Mongol people, and is considered a symbol of the Mongolian nation. The morin khuur is one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity identified...

 of Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...

, the igil typically features a carved horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...

's head at the top of the neck above the tuning pegs, and both instruments are known as the horsehead fiddle.

The igil is held nearly upright when played, with the sound box of the instrument in the performer's lap, or braced against the top of the performer's boot. Playing technique involves touching the strings with the nails or fingertips, but without pressing them to the neck. The igil has no frets. The bow is held with an underhand grip.

The igil formerly had an entire genre dedicated to it, with a repertoire of songs meant to be performed only on the igil. During the communist period in Tuva
Tuva
The Tyva Republic , or Tuva , is a federal subject of Russia . It lies in the geographical center of Asia, in southern Siberia. The republic borders with the Altai Republic, the Republic of Khakassia, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Irkutsk Oblast, and the Republic of Buryatia in Russia and with Mongolia to the...

 attempts were made to "modernize" the igil. This was nothing more than an attempt to westernize the instrument making it more like the European cello. However the instruments and playing style used by most Tuva
Tuva
The Tyva Republic , or Tuva , is a federal subject of Russia . It lies in the geographical center of Asia, in southern Siberia. The republic borders with the Altai Republic, the Republic of Khakassia, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Irkutsk Oblast, and the Republic of Buryatia in Russia and with Mongolia to the...

n musicians today are largely the same as the original form of the igil.

Famous players of the igil include Ak-ool Kara-sal, Kaigal-ool Khovalyg
Kaigal-ool Khovalyg
Kaigal-ool Khovalyg is a Tuvan throat singer and co-founder of the Tuvan music group Huun-Huur-Tu.A self-taught overtone singer, Khovalyg worked as a shepherd until the age of 21. His musical career began when he was invited to join the Tuvan State Ensemble. He settled in Kyzyl and started teaching...

 and Evgenii Saryglar.

External links


See also

  • Music of Tuva
    Music of Tuva
    Tuva is a part of Russia, inhabited by a Turkic people related to the nearby Mongolians. Tuvans are known abroad for khoomei , a kind of overtone singing....

  • Tuvan throat singing
  • Topshur
    Topshur
    Topshur is a two-stringed plucked or strummed lute played by the Altayans. Related instruments include the Kazakh dombra, the Mongolian tovshuur and the Tuvan doshpuluur. The topshur's strings are tuned to an interval of a fourth...

  • Morin khuur
    Morin khuur
    The morin khuur is a traditional Mongolian bowed stringed instrument. It is one of the most important musical instruments of the Mongol people, and is considered a symbol of the Mongolian nation. The morin khuur is one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity identified...

  • Doshpuluur
    Doshpuluur
    The doshpuluur is a long-necked Tuvan lute made from wood, usually pine or larch. The doshpuluur is played by plucking and strumming....

  • Yaylı tanbur
    Yayli tanbur
    The yaylı tanbur is a bowed lute from Turkey. Derived from the older plucked tanbur, it has a long, fretted neck and a round metal or wooden soundbox which is often covered on the playing end with a skin or acrylic head similar to that of a banjo....

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