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بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
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Traditional
Instruments Used In Afghanistan
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In
a 1989 article entitled "Afghan
Music" Dr. Javid
tells us that the history of Afghan music goes back 5,000 years starting
with the Vodi and Gathas of the Zoroastrian civilization. He says, "It
is mentioned by Rigveda poets that the sound of music has been heard from
the palace of Yama, the first king of Aryana."
It has been suggested that the advent of Ustad Qasim Afghan and his
contemporaries signified the cross over from traditional folk music, which
had its roots in the ancient culture, to modern Afghan music. Unlike
traditional folk musicians, these modern musicians played songs written by
known individuals, usually professionals, and in doing so moved away from
the process of oral transmission. These early pioneers of modern Afghan
music were also active in the movement for Afghanistan's Independence in the
early 20th century. This period of enlightenment brought great Ustads such
as: Shaida, Amir Mohammad, Brishna, Nabigul, Yaqub Qasimi, Ghulam Hussain,
Mohammad Hussain Sarahang and Rahimbaksh.
.
The
instruments described below are Traditional Instruments used in Afghanistan.
.
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 Daira:
Single-headed membranophone
found throughout the Circum-Polar region, Central Asia, and the "Middle
East. A translucent skin head is attached to a bent rim (wooden) and the
glued bond is covered by a green and white woven piece of cloth. The
Persians have an analogous instrument also called the daira, and the Turkish
version is known as the del. Both versions often have brass rings or bells
attached to the inside of the rim for an added percussive effect. It is
commonly played in a vertical position with the rim resting on the extended
palm of one hand while it is beaten with the extended fingers of the other.
Fine shades of tone are produced when it is beaten on different places of
the head. Dimensions: 26 cm. diameter, 6 cm. depth. From Paktya Province.
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 Dohl:
A two-headed membranophone. The heads
are made of animal (goat) skin and are retained and tightened in a direct manner
by means of continuous loops of ~ single twisted cord passing through both heads
at several points on their circumferences. The cord passes through the head and
around a wooden collar which is wrapped in the skin. Every two strands of the
cord pass through a brass ring (movable) which serves to regulate the tension of
the heads. Two dhol are in the colection at Indiana University. Photo I is brown
in color; dimensions: 39 cm. in length, heads are 22 and 23 cm. in diameter. The
other is chocolate brown with the dimensions: 42 cm. long, both heads 22 cm. in
diameter. Both are made of tut (mulberry) wood and contain small kernels of
seeds or stones which strike the sides and heads during performance and add to
the percussive effect. The dhol is suspended from the neck of the musician and
played with the hands or sticks. Designs are carved in concentric circles. Dhol
are used primarily by the Pushtun tribesmen. The illustrated specimen was
purchased in Gardez. Analogs are found in India and Pakistan.
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 Doholak:
A a pair of single-headed kettle drums from Gardez. They are made from jeldis
wood and the heads are of goatskin. A black circle, approximately 8 cm. in
diameter, is painted in the center of each head. The heads are secured by
segments of twisted cord passing directly through the circumference of the skin
and meeting at the base of the drum. There they pass around a purple,
cloth-covered ring. The drums are played with drumsticks- chub-i-doholak--which
are made from charmass (walnut) wood. They resemble the Central Asian drum pair
or trio: Naqqara. Large drum: 21 cm. diam., 10 cm. depth. Small drum: 19 cm.
diam., 9 cm. depth Drumsticks: 24 cm. long, 1.5 cm. thick.
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 Rishak:
Bowed chordophone. The two strings,
cylindrical neck, and carved peg-head are similar to the Persian equivalent, the
kemencha. The resonating box is a round frame of hut, covered with goatskin. The
neck is made of chenar. It is played in a vertical position with a bow. 87 cm.
long. From Badakhshan.
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 ZerBaghali:
Single-headed membranophone. The shape is that of the "hourglass" drum
of the Middle East. Analogs are found among surrounding peoples, such as the
Darbuka of Turkey and the Dumbek of the Persians. The body is made of baked clay
and has several concentric designs in its surface created during the beginning
stages of its manufacture on the potter’s wheel: The clay is painted yellow
with designs in silver. The head is of goatskin with a black circle,
approximately 8 cm. in diameter, painted in its center. A piece of red and white
woven cloth with a few strands of gold sewn in covers the perimeter of the skin.
There is also a type of “eye” added to the clay body before firing. Height,
40 cm.; diameter of the head, 20 cm
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 Tambur:
Two in the collection, similar in construction but
of different sizes. Metal strings pass over an ivory bridge which rests on the
wooden face of the resonating chamber (made of gourd). This instrument is almost
identical with the Indian instrument of the same name but has gut (in the case
of the larger) and nylon (in the smaller) frets tied around the hollow wooden
neck. The larger of the two has 18 strings and corresponding tuning pegs on the
end (6 pegs with I missing) of the neck and 12 pegs on the side of the neck. The
smaller version has 17 strings with 6 frotyi the end and II from the side of the
neck. In both cases the only strings fretted are the two making up the first
course (pair) farthest from the player. The other strings are used as drones.
The tarnbur may be used as a solo instrument or, as in the case of its Indian
counterpart, as a drone to accompany singers. The topnuts, tailpieces, bridges
and inlays are ivory; the wood is rut. From Kabul. Large tambur: length, 137
cm.; width of face, 25 cm. Small tambur: length, 115 cm.; width of face, 17 cm.
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 Rebab:
Two in collection. Both are
constructed of tut wood and closely resemble the north Indian classical lute,
the sarqd. The face is made of goat-skin and frets are made of gut. The wooden
body is decorated by means of carving (relief) and mother of pearl inlays. The
larger of the two is profusely inlaid on the fingerboard while the smaller is
sparsely inlaid. Tuning pegs are made of tut wood. Both have a carved
open-design peghead. The topnut and bridge are made of ivory. Both are played
with a small wooden plectrum approximately 3 cm. long. Smaller Rabab: 74 cm.
long, 3 plucked and fretter strings, 3 drone strings, 11 sympathetic (i.e.,
vibrate in sympathy with plucked strings) strings which are unfretted; these
originate from pegs on right side of flngerboard. Larger rabab: 80 cm. long, 3
plucked and fretted strings, 3 drone and 12 sympathetic strings originating
from- pegs on right side of fingerboard. From Kabul.
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 Damboura:
most common stringed
instrument in Afghanistan. Two in collection. Both have two strings made from
one strand of nylon doubled over. Both are unfretted of two-part construction:
neck and resonating box. The smaller is made of hit wood with a bone bridge and
ivory topnut. ‘runing pegs of both are made of wood. The smaller dha;nboura is
profusely engraved on the back of the neck of the resonating box and on the
fingerboard. There are 8 sound holes on the wooden face of the resonating box of
the small dhamboura and 15 on the large dhamboura, arranged in triangular groups
and individually. The large dhamboura is decorated with inlaid ivory with red
circular intaglio on the neck and back of the resonating box. The resonating box
is of rut, and the neck of a lightcolored wood (chenar). The bridge is of ivory.
Large dharnboura, 99 cm. long. Small dlramboura, 70 cm. long. Both are from
Qataghan and are played with a p1cc-trum or stemmed with the finger(s).
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 Shashtar:
10-stringed chordophone with 4 plucked
and fretted strings and 6 sympathetic strings. The 5 tied frets are made of gut;
bone topnut; wooden bridge. It is profusely engraved on the fingerboard, back of
neck and back of resonating box. Two-piece construction: resonating box (rut)
and neck (chenar). The head of the resonating box is made of skin (skin is slit,
however). Played with plectrum. 75 cm. long. From Aibak.
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 Sarinda:
Bowed lute. From the Baluch people of south Afghanistan,
where it is known as Sarud or Sarang; it is also encountered in Pakistan. It is
played with a finger-tension horsehair bow. Its strings are made of catgut (1)
and steel wire of varying thicknesses (6). Some strings are used for melody,
others are unstopped and produce a drone. The sound is transmitted into a
resonating chamber by means of a wooden bridge and goatskifl head at the base of
the chamber. 58 cm. long.
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 Waj
or Wunz:
Like the vocal polyphony of the Nuristanis, which
it often accompanies, this instrument is an anomaly to Central Asia. It consists
of four strings of twisted fiber tuned in a tritone, i.e., in intervals of a
major seëond. A cross between a harp and a musical bow, it is closer to the
latter. The wooden figure-eight-shaped resonating chamber is covered with a
goatskin head which serves to transmit the sound from the strings into the
chamber. The four twisted gut strings are secured across the span of a curved
piece of hard, dark, brown wood which passes through the center of the head at
two points and is secured at either end by strips of hide lashing. For the waj,
a common tuning would be that of a tritone: c d e f (acording to Dupree tapes:
ATL 3266-3267). Length; 47 cm.; height 35 cm. Attached by a piece of twisted gut
is a plectrum made of similar wood.
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 Sarani:
bowed chordophone. Also from Wama, Nuristan. The
resonating box is identical in construction to that of the harp. The wood and
goatskin head are stained dark brown; the holes in the head are in single and
triangular patterns. The neck and peghead are both extensions of the same piece
of wood from which the hollow resonating box is carved. The two twisted gut
string segments are retained at the peghead by means of two roughly hewn
friction pegs. The strings, which are actually one longer string doubled into
two segments, pass over a bridge 1.5 cm. in height. It appears to be a bowed
chordophone with the center area of the sounding box the most likely place for
the bow to be employed. The strings may then be fretted from below by means of
the top of the fingernails of the left hand, while the instrument is held in a
vertical position. 59 cm. long; 10 cm. high.
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 Tula:
fipple-mouthed whistle flute. Wooden, painted red,
green, and yellow, it has six fingerholes on the frontal plane and a single
thumbhole on the dorsal plane. Stained dark brown. From Qandahar. Scale A c d e#
a b c.
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 Surnai:
Made of a dark wood, possibly tilt, it has a
conical bore with the bell painted brown, yellow, and orange. There are seven
fingerholes on the frontal plane and one thumbhole on the dorsal plane. The
double reed, which is made from a single stalk of natural reed, is attached to
the bore by means of a brass tube protuding from the bore. This shawm is found
throughout central-south Asia, the Middle East, and Southern Europe, where it is
known as the shanai (India), surnai (Afghanistan), zurna (Central Asia and
Turkey), and zurla (Macedonia). It is often played in conjunction with another
surnai and either a single-headed drum (such as the daira) or a double-headed
drum (such as the dhol). In this case one plays a drone while the other plays
the melody, and they usually accompany the dance. From Logar Valley. 40 cm.
long.
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Chang:
(No Photo)
A jew’s harp played with the
mouth, but plucked toward the mouth instead of away from it.
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