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Afghanistan, a historical region previously known as Aryana and Greater Khurasan, has one of the most rich and interesting histories of music making in the world. Since prehistoric (Vedic-Avestan) times, music in Afghanistan clearly indicates that the country due to its central location was an important contributor to the reciprocal development of music with people of Central Asia, Persia, and the Indian subcontinent. The subsequent historical, cultural & religious developments such as Greek, pre-Islamic Buddhist, Islamic, Ghaznavid, Timurid, and Hindustani, further demonstrates the intercultural development of music in the region. The official languages of Afghanistan are Pashto, Dari and Farsi all reflected in the afghan musical landscape.
The Rubab is the national instrument of Afghanistan and its origins date back from the 7th Century and its roots from Central Afghanistan. It is also known as “the Lion of Instruments”. It is mainly played by Afghan, Pashtun, Tajik, Kashmiri and Persian classical musicians.
The Rubab is a double chambered lute and it’s body is carved out of a single piece of wood, with a membrane covering the hollow bowl of the sound-chamber, upon which the bridge is positioned. It has three melody strings tuned in fourths, 4 Frets. three drone strings and 15 sympathetic strings. The instrument is made from the trunk of a mulberry tree, and or out of Rose wood, the head from goat skin and the strings originally from gut the intestines of young goats, brought to the size of thread) and now in nylon.
The Afghan Rubab is featured in many Classical and traditional folk and melodies and is often referred to by Afghan and Persian Sufi poets in their poems especially notable to mention is Rumi.
The Ghichak is a distinctive Instrument because its body is typically made from a Large metal tin. It is a two stringed fiddle played with a horsehair bow called a Kaman. It is common to the central and northern regions of the country. The instrument can be heard in the following song “Bekhanom Meslay Bolbol -I Will Sing Like a Nightingale”
The Tamboor is a stringed instrument made of hollow wood, with metal strings. It is similar to the Indian Tambour frets tied around the hollow wooden neck. The larger Tamboors have 18 strings and corresponding tuning pegs on the end of the neck and 12 pegs on the side of the neck. The topnuts, tailpieces, bridges and inlays are general made of ivory; the wood is rut.
The Tula is a wooden flute it has six finger holes on the frontal plane and a single thumbhole on the dorsal plane.
The Harmonium,(or “harmonia”) is originally from India. This instrument is a lot used as “sur” for the voice. As well as Ghazal Classic, traditional music, Khawali (Qawali) etc. The construction: Blowing air into the holes will produce sound. By using the Keys, you will produce different sounds.
The Tabla are a pair of hand played tunable drums that is the principal percussion instrument in Afghanistan and North Indian classical music, used in the middle of the century in the Kabul art music tradition. The bayan is a metal kettle drum whose pitch is modulated by pressure from the heal of the hand on the drum skin. The tabla or Dahina is a wooden drum whose skin can be tuned to a precise pitch.
The Zirbaghali is a single headed drum that has a body made of wood or pottery. It is shaped like a goblet/ hourglass with a wide drumhead and a tapered base. It has a single-headed membrane made out of goat skin. A similar instrument is found in surrounding regions of the Middle East, including Iran, Turkey and Arab world, referred to as Darbuka, Tabla, Dumbek. The body is made of baked clay and has a ceramic designs on its surface created during the beginning stages of it being manufactured 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.
The Doyra is a round-shaped instrument, which is called differently as Doyra, Dap, Childirma and Charmanda, is regarded to be one of the ancient percussion instruments. Although such instruments are widely used in various peoples, under various names, made-on-stone pictures proving its antiquity and wide usage in ritual ceremonies have been found in Saymalitosh region, Uzbekistan.
Doyra originated as a women-played instrument and spread widely among Turkic peoples. Doyra is used as a major musical instrument in the ritual ceremonies of Uzbeks (long before the spread of Islam) that have remained up to now and are participated only by women. A woman who leads the ceremony has her own instrument and the instrument is used exclusively in this ceremony and at other time it is kept in material covering or wrapped in a fabric. In every ceremony an animal sacrifice’s blood is smeared on the Doyra and this blood is called – renewal.
According to our speculations the Doyra was originally played not with fingers but with special sticks. This method of performance has remained in the performance of shamans of the Northern peoples.
Before the Doyra was used to coordinate simultaneousness of words, phrases and movements made by everybody in religious ceremonies whereas later it became a men-played instrument to accompany other musical instruments and create rhythmical adaptation. The fact that it was played by women can be seen in the folklore-ethnographic groups survived by now in which women accompany the Doyra to their songs and Azerbaijani an singers play the Doyra themselves. Even though the rhythms played by women are very simple and easy to adapt to, the rhythms played by men now differ greatly. The diameter of the Doyra gradually grew smaller and smaller due to the change of the method of performing it. Besides, after it had become an instrument to constantly maintain musical rhythm it came into custom to heat it (when it’s heated over the fire its sonorousness rises). The diameter of Doyras used at the beginning and in the middle of the past century was rather big and the sound was dull.
A tendency to use the Doyra much wider in the Uzbek music, development of performing skills and its popularity started mainly in the second quarter of the XX century primarily owing to Ustad Olim Komilov.
Doyra belongs to the type of percussion instruments such as Nogora, Kayrok, Safoil, Reznogora and Dol. It is found as a round musical instrument in other Eastern countries too, including India, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and is performed along with songs and dances. The instrument of Doyra is also played together with percussion instruments of Latin American, African countries and the performance of Eastern doyra-players impresses the world audience. One of the features of the Uzbek National Art that has become an essential part of Uzbeks is dances which are performed with the Doyra. The Doyra music had no note-script before. It has survived up to our days orally and by practical performance through generations. A famous scientist A.I.Petrosyan having developed the note system of the Doyra has created a method that involves 4 lines. The methods which were written using one line before are nowadays modified to four lines. At present People’s artists of Uzbekistan like Tuychi Inogomov, Kahramon Dadayev, Talat Sayfiddinov, Honored artist of Uzbekistan Elmurod Islamov, Abbos Qosimov, Murod and Maruf Azimovs, Mamur Mirdadayev, Khabibulla Rasulov as well as dozens of other performers are making their great contribution to the development of the Doyra art and to the spread of this invaluable instrument throughout the world.
