Tanbur
Encyclopedia
The term tanbūr can refer to various long-necked, fret
ted lutes originating in the Middle East
or Central Asia
. According to the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "terminology presents a complicated situation. Nowadays the term tanbur (or tambur) is applied to a variety of distinct and related long-necked lutes used in art and folk traditions. Similar or identical instruments are also known by other terms."
term for long-necked lutes. Lutes have been present in Mesopotamia
since the Akkad
ian era, or the third millennium BCE.
The tanbur was already in use in the Sassanian period (5th-6th CE). In the tenth century CE Al-Farabi
described a Baghdad tunbūr, distributed south and west of Baghdad
, and a Khorasan
tunbūr found in Persia. This distinction may be the source of modern differentiation between Arabic instruments, derived from the Baghdad tunbūr, and those found in northern Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sindh
and Turkey, from the Khorasan tunbūr.
Later the Kurdish tanbur became associated with the music of the Ahl-e Haqq
or "People of the Real", a primarily Kurdish ghulat
religious movement similar to a Sufi order, where it is called the tembûr
. It is currently the only musical instrument used in Ahl-e Haqq rituals, and practitioners venerate tembûrs as sacred objects.
The tembûr measures 80 cm in height and 16 cm in breadth. The resonator
is pear-shaped
and made of either a single piece or multiple carvels
of mulberry
wood. The neck is made of walnut
and has fourteen fret
s, arranged in a semi-tempered
chromatic scale
. It has two steel strings tuned in fifth, fourth, or second intervals
. The higher string may be double-coursed.
The name also came to apply to several other instruments of different classes including
Furthermore, the fretted Tanbur influenced the design of many instruments other than those above, notably;
Fret
A fret is a raised portion on the neck of a stringed instrument, that extends generally across the full width of the neck. On most modern western instruments, frets are metal strips inserted into the fingerboard...
ted lutes originating in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
or Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
. According to the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "terminology presents a complicated situation. Nowadays the term tanbur (or tambur) is applied to a variety of distinct and related long-necked lutes used in art and folk traditions. Similar or identical instruments are also known by other terms."
Origins
One study has identified the name "tanbūr" as being derived from pandur, a SumerianSumerian language
Sumerian is the language of ancient Sumer, which was spoken in southern Mesopotamia since at least the 4th millennium BC. During the 3rd millennium BC, there developed a very intimate cultural symbiosis between the Sumerians and the Akkadians, which included widespread bilingualism...
term for long-necked lutes. Lutes have been present in Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
since the Akkad
Akkad
The Akkadian Empire was an empire centered in the city of Akkad and its surrounding region in Mesopotamia....
ian era, or the third millennium BCE.
The tanbur was already in use in the Sassanian period (5th-6th CE). In the tenth century CE Al-Farabi
Al-Farabi
' known in the West as Alpharabius , was a scientist and philosopher of the Islamic world...
described a Baghdad tunbūr, distributed south and west of Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
, and a Khorasan
Greater Khorasan
Greater Khorasan or Ancient Khorasan is a historical region of Greater Iran mentioned in sources from Sassanid and Islamic eras which "frequently" had a denotation wider than current three provinces of Khorasan in Iran...
tunbūr found in Persia. This distinction may be the source of modern differentiation between Arabic instruments, derived from the Baghdad tunbūr, and those found in northern Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sindh
Sindh
Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...
and Turkey, from the Khorasan tunbūr.
Later the Kurdish tanbur became associated with the music of the Ahl-e Haqq
Ahl-e Haqq
The Ahl-e Haqq or Yârsân , are members of a religion founded by Sultan Sahak in the late 14th century in western Iran. The total number of members is estimated at around 1,000,000, primarily found in western Iran and Iraq, mostly ethnic Kurds and Laks, though there are also smaller groups of Luri,...
or "People of the Real", a primarily Kurdish ghulat
Ghulat
Ghulāt , is a term used in the theology of Shia Islam to describe some minority Muslim groups who either ascribe divine characteristics to a member of Muhammad's family , or hold beliefs deemed deviant by mainstream Shi'i theology...
religious movement similar to a Sufi order, where it is called the tembûr
Tembûr
The tembûr, a fretted string instrument, is a form of tanbūr. It is associated with the Ahl-e Haqq religion in Kurdish areas and in the Lorestān and Sistan va Baluchestan provinces of Iran. It is currently the only musical instrument used in Ahl-e Haqq rituals, and practitioners venerate the...
. It is currently the only musical instrument used in Ahl-e Haqq rituals, and practitioners venerate tembûrs as sacred objects.
The tembûr measures 80 cm in height and 16 cm in breadth. The resonator
Acoustic resonance
Acoustic resonance is the tendency of an acoustic system to absorb more energy when it is forced or driven at a frequency that matches one of its own natural frequencies of vibration than it does at other frequencies....
is pear-shaped
Pear
The pear is any of several tree species of genus Pyrus and also the name of the pomaceous fruit of these trees. Several species of pear are valued by humans for their edible fruit, but the fruit of other species is small, hard, and astringent....
and made of either a single piece or multiple carvels
Carvel (boat building)
In boat building, carvel built or carvel planking is a method of constructing wooden boats and tall ships by fixing planks to a frame so that the planks butt up against each other, edge to edge, gaining support from the frame and forming a smooth hull...
of mulberry
Mulberry
Morus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae. The 10–16 species of deciduous trees it contains are commonly known as Mulberries....
wood. The neck is made of walnut
Walnut
Juglans is a plant genus of the family Juglandaceae, the seeds of which are known as walnuts. They are deciduous trees, 10–40 meters tall , with pinnate leaves 200–900 millimetres long , with 5–25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered pith, a character shared with the wingnuts , but not the hickories...
and has fourteen fret
Fret
A fret is a raised portion on the neck of a stringed instrument, that extends generally across the full width of the neck. On most modern western instruments, frets are metal strips inserted into the fingerboard...
s, arranged in a semi-tempered
Musical tuning
In music, there are two common meanings for tuning:* Tuning practice, the act of tuning an instrument or voice.* Tuning systems, the various systems of pitches used to tune an instrument, and their theoretical bases.-Tuning practice:...
chromatic scale
Chromatic scale
The chromatic scale is a musical scale with twelve pitches, each a semitone apart. On a modern piano or other equal-tempered instrument, all the half steps are the same size...
. It has two steel strings tuned in fifth, fourth, or second intervals
Interval (music)
In music theory, an interval is a combination of two notes, or the ratio between their frequencies. Two-note combinations are also called dyads...
. The higher string may be double-coursed.
Types
The Persian name spread widely, eventually taking in- Long-necked lutes used in Central Asian music such as the Dombura and the classical Turkish tambur as well as the Kurdish tembûrTembûrThe tembûr, a fretted string instrument, is a form of tanbūr. It is associated with the Ahl-e Haqq religion in Kurdish areas and in the Lorestān and Sistan va Baluchestan provinces of Iran. It is currently the only musical instrument used in Ahl-e Haqq rituals, and practitioners venerate the...
. Until the early twentieth century, the names chambar and jumbush were applied to instruments in northern Iraq. In India the name was applied to the tamburaTamburaThe tambura, tanpura, or tambora is a long-necked plucked lute . The body shape of the tambura somewhat resembles that of the sitar, but it has no frets – only the open strings are played to accompany other musicians...
, a fretless drone lute.
- Similar instruments of East European music including the tambourTamburitzaTamburica or Tamboura refers to any member of a family of long-necked lutes popular in Eastern and Southern Europe, particularly Croatia , Serbia and Hungary. It is also known in southern Slovenia and Burgenland...
and the domraDomraThe domra is a long-necked Russian string instrument of the lute family with a round body and three or four metal strings.-History:In 1896, a student of Vasily Vasilievich Andreyev found a broken instrument in a stable in rural Russia...
.
The name also came to apply to several other instruments of different classes including
- The tanburaTanburaFor other uses, see Tanbur .The tanbūra is a bowl lyre of the Middle East and East Africa. It takes its name from the Persian Tanbur via the Arabic tunbur , though this term refers to long-necked lutes. The instrument plays an important role in Zār rituals...
, a bowl lyre found in Iraq, Egypt, and the Sudan. - Drums such as the taborTabor (instrument)Tabor, or tabret, refers to a portable snare drum played with one hand. The word "tabor" is simply an English variant of a Latin-derived word meaning "drum" - cf. tambour , tamburo...
and tambourineTambourineThe tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
.
Furthermore, the fretted Tanbur influenced the design of many instruments other than those above, notably;
- The sazBaglamathumb|180px|Cura and bağlamaThe bağlama is a stringed musical instrument shared by various cultures in the Eastern Mediterranean, Near East, and Central Asia....
(PersianPersian languagePersian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
: "instrument") is found in the CaucasusCaucasusThe Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
, IranIranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, TurkeyTurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, northern SyriaSyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, western IraqIraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, and Southeast EuropeSoutheast EuropeSoutheast Europe or Southeastern Europe is a relatively recent political designation for the states of the Balkans. Writers such as Maria Todorova and Vesna Goldsworthy have suggested the use of the term Southeastern Europe to replace the word Balkans for the region, to minimize potential...
. In Turkey, the terms bağlamaBaglamathumb|180px|Cura and bağlamaThe bağlama is a stringed musical instrument shared by various cultures in the Eastern Mediterranean, Near East, and Central Asia....
and saz both refer to a long-necked lute used in folk musicFolk musicFolk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
. Closely related are the Greek bouzoukiBouzoukiThe bouzouki , is a musical instrument with Greek origin in the lute family. A mainstay of modern Greek music, the front of the body is flat and is usually heavily inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The instrument is played with a plectrum and has a sharp metallic sound, reminiscent of a mandolin but...
and the buzuqBuzuqThe buzuq is a long-necked fretted lute related to the Greek bouzouki and Turkish saz. It is an essential instrument in the Rahbani repertoire, but it is not classified among the classical instruments of Arab or Turkish music...
, an instrument found in urban areas such as Baghdad, DamascusDamascusDamascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
, and BeirutBeirutBeirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
.- The dutarDutarThe dutar is a traditional long-necked two-stringed lute found in Iran, Central Asia and South Asia...
and setarSetar (lute)Setar is a Persian musical instrument. It is a member of the lute family. Two and a half centuries ago, a fourth string was added to the setar, which has 25 - 27 moveable frets...
, found in IranIranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
and Central Asia, are derived from the Khorosanian tunbūr.
- The dutar
- The Shirvan tanbur has a pear-shaped form and belongs to the same family of instruments as the saz. The total length of the tanbur is 940 mm. The length of the body is 385 mm, the width is 200 mm and the height is 135 mm. The length of the neck is 340 mm, and the length of the head is 120 mm. The Shirvan tanbur ranges from the "do" of the first octave to the "mi" of the second octave.
- The Pamiri tanbur is considered to be a more solemn instrument. Its tone is deeper and its tuning more complex than that of the rubab. The tanbur is 80–85 cm in length, and is carved from the trunk of a mulberry or apricot tree. Its sounding board is made of goat or sheep skin. Its unfretted fingerboard has a hollow to create a more powerful voice, and its top is shaped like a half moon. It has seven nylon strings and an eight-string, which duplicates the highest note.
- The tambourasTambourasThe tambouras , is a traditional Greek string instrument. It has existed since at least the 10th century, when it was known in Assyria and Egypt. At that time, it might have between two and six strings, but Arabs adopted it, and called it a toubour...
is a long-neck fretted instrument of the lute family, similar to the Turkish sazSazSaz can be a nickname for the given name Sarah, or may refer to:* Saz , a family of Iranian and Turkish stringed musical instruments* Sameh Zakout, rap artist* saz, the ISO 639-3 code for the Saurashtra language...
and the Persian tanbur.