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Peyman
Nasehpour © 2002 Abstract
Among the
percussion instruments used heavily across Asia, North Africa and Eastern
Europe are four broad classes of drums, known to musicologists as frame
drums and goblet drums, cylindrical drums and kettledrums. This article
deals with the goblet drums. Introduction
Goblet drums
are one of the most important broad classes of drums, to be played heavily
across Asia, North Africa and Eastern Europe. These instruments
have many similarities, and there are many similar names in use. Most
of the names are derived from two names, the Pahlavi (the Middle Persian
language used by Persians during the Sasanid period) name dombalak and
the Arabic name darbouka. The American
name doumbek should be derived from the Persian name dombak that is the
new form of its Pahlavi name, dombalak and brought to USA by Eastern emigrants. In this article
I will discuss on the names of goblet drums. Afghanistan Zirbaghali
(also spelled Zerbaghali) is the Afghani clay goblet drum and played with
a technique somewhat between Persian tonbak and Indian tabla (the double
membrane instrument of Indian origin) with some darbouka techniques thrown
in for seasoning. Indian tabla has influenced the Afghans, particularly
Kabulis. It is interesting to say that there is a round black patch (siyahi)
on the skin of Zirbaghali, which shows the influence of Indian tabla on
Zirbaghali. Zirbaghali can be considered as an Indo-Persian musical instrument
and it is believed that it is of Persian origin. Albania In Albania,
the name is Darabuke. Azerbaijan In present-day
Republic of Azerbaijan, the doumbek is used. However, the main percussion
instruments are naghara (a cylindrical drum with two heads and same as
Armenian dhol) and ghaval (a kind of frame drum). Bulgaria In Bulgaria,
the names of doumbek are darabuka, darambuka, tarambuke and tarambuka.
The tarambuka is of Eastern origin. Tarambuka is made from baked clay.
It is similar to the Turkish-Arabic darabuka. It is always played together
with other folk instruments. Its sound is soft and low. The tarambuka
provides a background rhythm for songs. Bulgarian
tarambuka can be found only in the Southwest. It most often accompanies
the tambura (a string instrument very similar to the Turkish saz). In
the past these two instruments were played mainly by an ethnic minority
called Pomachs, but in the 20th Century they are used in playing professional
music based on folklore. Most researchers in the field think that these
instruments have entered Bulgarian folklore through the Turkish music.
The professional ensembles also use it nowadays (Ensemble "Pirin"
and "Philip Koutev"). There are cases in which the tarambuka
is played with a tupan (a kind of cylindrical drum). The latter is being
used as a base rhythmic party, whereas the tarambuka for more virtuous
rhythms. The most popular rhythm in Bulgarian folk music is 7/8 with the
accent on the first beat. Egypt
and Arab Countries Tabl
is the Arabic general name for drums and is also the most common name
for goblet drums in the Arabic language countries (not to be confused
with the Indian tabla, which this name has been brought to India by Persian
Muslims). All of them look like the Egyptian drums. The body is traditionally
made of clay and the large opening is covered with fish skin. The other
names are: Egypt -Darabukka,
Derabucca, and Darbouka It's interesting
to note that most of the above names have their root in the Arabic-Turkish
word 'darab' that the meaning of the word is the sound made by beating
a drum. (Compare with Dambel-e-Dimbo in Persian and Rub-a-Dub in English.) Greece In Greece
there is a kind of goblet drum that is so similar to dumbelek of Turkey
and its name is toubeleki. The both names should be originated in the
Pahlavi name dombalak. Toubeleki is played in oriental Greece. India In India
there are various goblet drums. One of them is played in Kashmir and its
name is tumbaknari. Tumbaknari is used for every singing occasion in Kashmir.
The word Tumbaknari is of two parts: Tumbak and Nari. Nari in Kashmiri
means earthen pot. The other
goblet drums of India are Ghumat (Goa) and Jamuku (South India). Japan There is
a kind of goblet drum in Japan. Taiko is the general name for drums in
Japan. The name of this instrument is Shuhai-Gata-Katamen-Daiko. It should
be mentioned here that Shuhai, Gata and Katamen respectively mean goblet,
shape and one-faced. The other drums of Japan are Oke-do-Daiko, Naga-do-Daiko
and Shime-Daiko. Malaysia The gedombak
is a goblet shaped double-headed drum found in Malay folk music. The frame
is made from one type of hard wood, usually jackfruit tree wood or angsana.
The wider end is covered by goatskin, which functions as a sound producer
tensioned using woven rattan strings. The other end is left open. In the performance
context, the gedombak is played in pairs, called Gendang Ibu (Mother)
and Gendang Anak (Child). Gedombak Ibu is able to produce a lower pitch
than the Gedombak Anak, but both have the same frame size. The drumheads
are struck with one hand, while the other is used to stabilize the mnemonic
sounds like "doh", "phat", and "ting". Two
players, accompanying traditional theatre such as Wayang Kulit and Menora,
usually play them. Macedonia There is
a kind of goblet drum in Macedonia that its name is tarabuka. The body
is made of pottery decorated with ethnic designs. The tarabuka is used
mostly for playing as part of folk ensembles, usually at weddings and
other festive occasions. Persia There are
three kinds of goblet drums to be played in Persia (Iran). One is the
tonbak, to be used in Persian art and folk
music. The other is the zarb-e-zourkhaneh (the large sized clay
tonbak to be played in zourkhaneh, the Persian ancient gymnasium) and
the last one is the tempo similar to the Arabic-Turkish darbouka. Here is a
description of the structure of the tonbak: Other names
for this drum are donbak, tombak, dombak, tompak and zarb. The word zarb
is Arabic and probably derived from the word darab that means the sound
made by beating a drum. In Indian music zarab that literally means to
strike is the arrangement of the segments that their combination make
a tala (Indian rhythm). There are
two views for the origin of the name tonbak: Some believe
that the name tonbak is originated in the sound to be produced by the
two main strokes played on the tonbak known as 'ton' and 'bak', respectively
for the bass tone played in the center of the skin and the treble tone
played on the rim and combination of them give us the word tonbak. According
to this view tonbak is an onomatopoeic name, while the other believe that
the word tonbak is diminutive of the word tonb, witch literally means
belly. This view is not so strange because the body of tonbak is convex
(belly-shaped). Tempo is
noted as an Arabic instrument and sometimes it is used for accompanying
Persian banal songs. Tajikistan Tajikistani
goblet drum is called Tablak that is diminutive of the word tabl. Like
the other goblet drums it is open on both sides. Across one of the mouths
is stretched a piece of skin which is beaten with the fingers. The opposite
end is manipulated with the other hand to give various tonal effects. Thailand The Thai
goblet drum is called thon (the other names are thab and thap) that is
often played simultaneously with Thai frame drum called ramana. The instruments
are known together as thon-ramana. The Thon lies on the player's lap and
is played with the right hand, while the ramana is held in the left hand.
The shape of thon is so similar to gedombak (Malaysian goblet drum). Turkey The most
common name of the Turkish goblet drum is dumbelek. Other names are darbouka
and deblek (same as Tajikistani Tablak). The word dumbelek should be originated
in the Pahlavi name dombalak. The Turkish goblet drums are mainly made
of metals. Yugoslavia The Yugoslavian
goblet drum is called darbuk. Acknowledgments
Some of this
information comes from different people by e-mail. My thanks to them:
David Brown, Dr. Iveta Pirgova, Dr. Pongsilva Arunrat, Matt
Hannafin, Dr. David Courtney, Sachi Sakanashi. Further
References B.
Chaintanya Deva, Indian Music, New Delhi, 1974. |
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