Darbuk (Tabla, Dumbek)
The East is a mysterious fascinating magical world, familiar from childhood to us from the amazing tales of “Thousand and One Nights”, which still attracts the attention of many researchers: its secrets, millennial customs, traditions and unique features of a multifaceted culture. A huge artistic value, which occupies a special place in the treasury of world literature and is an inexhaustible fount of wisdom, are works of great Oriental poets: Omar Khayyam, Saadi, Rudaki, Firdousi. And, undoubtedly, the wondrous world of the East cannot be imagined without the most ancient of the form of arts - the oriental dance, which attracts with its unusual refinement and plasticity. Dance - with its own special philosophy, which consists in the skill of expressing feelings and mental state through movements accompanied by rhythmic accompaniment of darbuk - a cup-shaped drum, which is not a simple musical instrument in the East. For an Eastern person, darbuk is a life companion, traditionally resounded for centuries during various celebrations: at weddings, at birth of children, at government ceremonies, at religious and other holidays.
The history of the darbuk and many interesting facts about this musical instrument can be found on our page.
Performance technique
A darbuka is a percussion musical instrument that has an indefinite pitch of sound, but at which a performer can transmit both joy and sadness with the help of various rhythms. On the darbuk, you can play while standing, hanging the drum on your shoulder or laying on your left shoulder, and sitting, holding the instrument in your lap or squeezing between your legs. The performance on the drum occurs with the help of palms and fingers of both hands, while the part of the right hand is the main - leading (main rhythm), and the left - auxiliary (jewelry and rhythmic fillings).
The main rhythms for the instrument are recorded using the letters: D, T (strokes are made with the right hand), K (strokes are performed with the left hand). If the letters are capitalized, then the beats are accented, and if lowercase, the beats are weaker and perform the function of rhythmic filling.
- Sound D (Dum) has a lower tone and is performed by hitting the palm of the right hand in the center of the drum.
- The sound T (Tek) has a higher tone and is performed by hitting the palm of the right hand along the edge of the drum.
- The sound K (Ka) has a higher tone and is performed by striking the palm of the left hand along the edge of the drum.
In addition to the basic methods of sound extraction on the darbuk, there are many different techniques - clicks, slaps, complex beats, various finger rolling, beats on the drum body, muffling sound, membrane friction and many others, each of which also has the letter designation: S (Slap) , ~, r (roll), B (Bak), P (Pak), b, L, U, F, C.
In practice, there are basic rhythms that have become particularly popular in different regions; among them, special mention should be made of "maxum", "belledi", "saidi", "Hagallah, Ayub, Khaliji, Fallahi, Wahda, Bambi, Chifteteli, Kurkuna and others.
A photo:
Interesting Facts
- Darbuka is a common name for the instrument, but different nations call it their own way, for example: in Albania, its name is Darabuk; in Hungary - dobuk; in Greece, tooulekas; in Egypt, the tabla; in Algeria - darabukka, derabukka; in Syria and Lebanon - drbakka, derbecca, drbekka; in Morocco - fare; in Tajikistan - tavlyak, tablak; in Iran - tonbak, donbak, zarb; in Afghanistan, zirbagkhali; in Malaysia, hedombek; in Cambodia and Thailand - tone, tab, tap; in India, tumbaknari; in Iraq, kshishba; in Bulgaria, darabuk, tarambue, darambuk, and tarambuk.
- Vintage copies of the drums, which are the progenitors of darbuk, can be seen in the expositions located in the Cairo National Museum (Egypt), the Louvre (Paris, France), the Metropolitan Museum (New York, USA).
- At present, the largest producers of darbuk are: Egyptian firms "Gawharet El Fan" and "Alexandria", Turkish "Emin", German "Meinl", American "Remo".
- The leather membrane of Darbuki strongly reacts to an increase in air humidity: its sound loses its beauty. Some manufacturers solve this problem quite ingeniously - they insert light bulbs into the instrument body, which create a constant heating of the membrane.
- Darbuka is a very popular tool among representatives of such subcultures as hippies and rastamans.
Design
A rather simple construction of a darbuki is a cup-shaped drum of compact size, one of the holes of which is covered with a membrane. The height of the instrument varies from 35 to 58 cm, the diameter of the membrane varies from 20 to 30 cm. The neck of the darbuk can also vary in width, which affects the pitch of the instrument: if the neck is narrower, the tone of the drum is lower. The edges of the tool in the upper part, on which the membrane is attached, are straight and smoothed.
There are quite a lot of materials from which the Darbuki case is made at the present time. This ceramics, wood, various metals, fiberglass and plastic. Each material in different conditions has its advantage.
For concert activities, it is preferable to use a ceramic tool. Its sound is melodic and sonorous, and the bass is more saturated. A membrane is attached to such a darbuk by ropes or gangue cords, for which goat or fish skin can serve as material. The disadvantage of such instruments is high sensitivity to dampness: in cloudy weather or in the evening, when the air becomes humid, the membrane loses its elasticity, which affects the sound quality of the darbuki. In such a situation, performers have to dry the membrane over various heat sources in order to restore beautiful sound. And manufacturers, to solve this problem, sometimes install plastic membranes on the ceramic body of the instrument.
At present, darbuki made of metal: aluminum, copper and brass are very popular, especially in countries with colder and more humid climates. The membrane for such tools is made of special plastic and is attached to the body with a hoop and bolts, the number of which varies from five to eight. The body of a darbuk is usually decorated with engraving, chasing or icing. Sometimes inside the instrument small metal elements, called sagats, are placed tinkling when playing.
Varieties
Darbuk, being a very popular instrument among many nations, in each country has not only its name, but also some design features that are characteristic only of a particular locality. For example, the Egyptian Darbuk, unlike the Turkish, has beveled edges.
- The Greek darbuka is tobeleki, has an amphora body and has a booming, soft sound.
- The Moroccan instrument is a tarja; it is distinguished by a snake-skin membrane and a string stretched inside.
- The drum from Iraq - kshishba, has a tubular shape, made of wood and a membrane of fish skin.
- Afghan darbuka - zirbakhali, contains an additional overlay on the membrane, which gives the sound of the instrument a vibrato effect.
In addition, varieties of darbuk, which differ in size and tone pitch, are actively used in Egypt:
- tabla - has a relatively small size, performs the function of a solo instrument;
- sumbati - medium size instrument, tone lower than that of tabla;
- dohola - has a large size and performs the bass line.
Application
Darbuk is an ethnic percussion musical instrument, which for many peoples of the East is very important, as it is a constant and irreplaceable companion in human life. To the sounds of darbuki, people are having fun and sad, singing and dancing. The tool is required when performing eastern dance, especially belly dance (belly dance). In addition, at the present time, the sound of darbuki is widely used by musicians all over the world and adorns the compositions of such modern musical styles as rock, blues, pop, jazz, funk, as well as Latin American, Celtic, Arabic music and flamenco.
Famous Performers
Darbuk, being a very popular instrument, has now revealed a whole galaxy of outstanding performers who have made a significant contribution to the development of performance skills on the instrument. Among such musicians who delight the audience with their virtuoso playing, we should highlight the remarkable Darbukists Hossam Ramzi (Egypt), Mysylri Ahmet (Turkey), Said Al Artista (Egypt), Levent Yydyryr (Turkey), Gamal Goma (Egypt), Burkhan Ochala (Turkey), Hamdi Akataya (Turkey), Berkanta Chakidzhy (Turkey), Issam Hossam (Syria), Yashara Akpenche (Turkey), Benjamin Ogulchana (Turkey), Osama Shahin (Lebanon), Hakan Kaya (Turkey). In our country, darbuk is also a very popular instrument and also has its own virtuoso performers, including A. Ostapenko, A. Gramsci, A. Uzunov, K. Martirosyan, S. Kuznetsov, A. Obraztsov, V. Polozov, K. Osherov , O. Ismal, T. Sikharulidze and others.
Story
The beginning of the history of darbuki is lost in the depths of centuries. The cup-shaped drums were known thousands of years ago in the states of Mesopotamia, in ancient Egypt, and even in what is now Europe. Evidence of this can serve as ancient texts and frescoes during the reign of the Egyptian pharaoh Cheops, bas-reliefs that adorn the palaces of the rulers of the Mesopotamian states, and archaeological finds. The drums were played mainly by men, who perfectly mastered the art of performance and passed a thorough competitive selection. And they used such tools in religious rituals and military campaigns.
One of the surviving and extant specimens, dating from the second millennium BC, was in the form of a barrel, 65 cm long and 29 cm in diameter. It was cut from a palm tree and once covered with a leather membrane. The next copy, made a little later, also had a barrel-shaped form, but differed in that its body was made of tightly fastened small plates, and the membranes were attached with an intricate system of fastening cords.
Ancient masters constantly conducted experiments with the shape of the instrument, with the material for the membrane and the methods of its fixation, and by the eleventh century BC. a one-sided cup-shaped drum appeared, strongly resembling a modern darbuka. It was large enough, made of ceramics and had a membrane of fish, goat or camel skin. At first, such a drum, which had the name lishish, was used in ceremonial ceremonies and installed in temples on special supports. Some time later, a lichen of reduced sizes was constructed in slightly different proportions — such an easily portable drum quickly spread among different nations and successfully incorporated into their culture, acquiring names in each country.
At the present time, a tool with a common name darbuk and widespread in the Middle East, Turkey, Egypt, the Balkans, Asia and Africa, has gained immense popularity in almost all the world. This indicates an ever-growing interest in the instrument, which is increasingly being used not only in folk art, but also in music of various modern trends.
Leave Your Comment