Zerbaghali

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Zerbaghali , also zirbaghali, is a single-headed, chalice-shaped hand drum that is played in the folk music of Afghanistan .

Origin and Distribution

The shape of the zerbaghali is of Persian origin. In contrast to the tombak played in Iran , which has a wooden body, the instrument used in folk music throughout Afghanistan is made of clay. The tombak is a drum used in Iranian classical music . Both belong to the group of cup drums, which are traditionally mostly made of clay in the oriental region, from the derbuka in Morocco to the darabukka in Egypt to the doumbek in Azerbaijan . In the Tajik part of the Pamir Mountains , the wooden or clay beaker drum tablak ( tavlak ) accompanies folk songs and dances in Tajik ensembles . Of these, one side covered with fur and at the foot of open drums consisting of different India originating and since the beginning of the 20th century spread in Afghanistan boiler drum few tabla , which has a closed sound box has. The third type of drum in Afghanistan is the typical Pashtun double-membrane drum doholak , which is beaten with the hands while sitting, and the similar but larger dohol , also from the region, which is hung with a ribbon around the neck and is played while standing and with sticks .

Form and style of play

The clay body can be glazed or unglazed. Some seldom made models made of mulberry wood are more durable than zerbaghalis made of clay, but much more expensive . The membrane consists of goat skin stretched out and glued to the edge with a red strip of fabric. If necessary, the instrument is held over a fire before playing to tighten or moisturize the skin to stretch it for a deeper tone. In some recent instruments, the membrane shows a round black spot in the center. This vocal paste ( siyahi ) is not applied to Persian tombaks and refers to Indian influence. In some modern wooden drums, the membrane is placed around a ring and is tensioned by metal tie rods. The size can be very different, common are 30 centimeters in diameter and 45 centimeters in length. The clay drums are made locally in the north. For the south, most of the drums are distilled in the Istalif pottery center .

The player sits cross-legged on the floor and holds the drum under his left armpit; alternatively, he places it horizontally across his legs. The right hand is mainly used for striking. The playing technique is taken from the Persian tombak and the Indian tabla . The fingers of the right hand strike the lower notes in the center, those of the left hand produce the high notes on the edge and, by pressing in the fur while hitting the right hand, a howling sound. Thumbs are not used. Occasional gestures such as pulling up the right hand show that the zerbaghali is an instrument for accompanying the dance.

use

In rural Afghanistan no special qualifications are required for the Zerbaghali game, which is why no special striking technique has developed. The names of well-known virtuosos on the zerbaghali are missing (with one exception) . It can be played instead of the frame drum dāireh as a solo instrument in dance performances. The zerbaghali is played by all ethnic groups in the country, but is not known in the regions bordering to the north. In the cities, too, the drum was largely reserved for amateur music ; in Afghan court music , the singing and the Afghan national instrument rubāb were accompanied by the doolak or the tabla. Rural amateur music consisted of rubab , the long-necked tanbur, various flutes and the zerbaghali.

At the beginning of the 20th century the zerbaghali was not in use in Herat . The dohol was more important then . From the 1950s the zerbaghali was introduced in Herat's tea houses as an accompaniment to the Persian long-necked dutār . In the 1970s, dutār bands using a 14-string dutār , an Indian harmonium, or a rubāb and a zerbaghali were popular. The musician Malang Negrabi plays zerbaghali on two pieces on the double LP Embryo's Reise by the German group Embryo , which was partly recorded in Afghanistan in 1978 and 1979 .

Women's bands prefer the dāireh, which they use in amateur bands at weddings to accompany vocals along with the harmonium. There were some women in the 1970s who also played zerbaghali . To accompany the female wedding guests, the musicians play zerbaghali and the bamboo flute tula.

Until the late 1970s, there was a distinct musical culture in Afghan cities. The spectrum ranged from music in teahouses, which offered a dutār and a zerbaghali player together with amateurs on other instruments from the audience with free entry , to professional sazandeh groups. These were formed by well-known singers such as Amir Mohammad . In addition to the aforementioned Afghan instruments, dilruba and tanpura were occasionally added in a larger line-up in order to expand the sound according to the Indian influence.

Discography

  • Abdul Majid (Tanbur), Golam Nabi ( dilruba ), Malang ( zerbaghali ), Gholam Hassan ( sarinda ) u. a .: Afghanistan - Music from Kabul. Recorded in 1973. CD on Lyrichord Archive Series
  • Bangicha (Zerbaghali) u. a .: Afghanistan. A Journey to an Unknown Musical World. Recorded in 1974 by WDR. As CD with Network 1994. (4 pieces with Zerbaghali)

literature

  • John Baily : Zirbaghali. In: Laurence Libin (Ed.): The Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Vol. 5, Oxford University Press, Oxford / New York 2014, p. 382
  • John Baily: Music of Afghanistan: Professional Musicians in the City of Herat. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1988, pp. 19f, 32, 36, 132, 167
  • Hiromi Lorraine Sakata: Afghan musical instruments: drums. Afghanistan Journal, 7 (1), 1980, pp. 30-32
  • Mark Slobin: Music in the Culture of Northern Afghanistan. University of Arizona Press, Tucson 1976, pp. 261-264

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