Tanbur

The term "tanbūr" (Persian: تنبور) can refer to various long-necked, fretted lutes originating in the Middle East or Central Asia.NewGrove2001|Tanbūr|Scheherezade Qassim Hassan , R. Conway Morris, John Baily, Jean During|xxv|pp. 61-62]

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Origins

One study has identified the name "tanbūr" as being derived from "pandur", a Sumerian term for long-necked lutes. [cite conference|first=Cumhur|last=Erkut|coauthors=T. Tolonen, M. Karjalainen, and V. Välimäki|year=1999|month=July|title=Acoustical Analysis of Tanbur, a Turkish long-necked lute|conference=Sixth International Congress on Sound and Vibration|conferenceurl=http://www.iiav.org/meeting1.html|booktitle=Proceedings of the Sixth International Congress on Sound and Vibration|volume=vol. 1|location=Lyngby, Denmark|pages=pp. 345-352|url=http://lib.tkk.fi/Diss/2000/isbn9512251965/article4.pdf|format=PDF|accessdate=2007-06-30] Lutes have been present in Mesopotamia since the Akkadian era, or the third millennium BCE. Al-Farabi described a Baghdad "tunbūr", distributed south and west of Baghdad, and a Khorasan "tunbūr" found in Persia. This distinction may be the source of modern differentiation between Arabic instruments, derived from the Baghdad "tunbūr", and those found in northern Iraq, Syria, Iran and Turkey, from the Khorasan "tunbūr".

Instruments

According to the "New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians", "terminology presents a complicated situation. Nowadays the term tanbur (or tambur) is applied to a variety of distinct and related long-necked lutes used in art and folk traditions. Similar or identical instruments are also known by other terms:"

* The "saz" (Persian: "instrument") is found in the Caucasus, Turkey, northern Syria, western Iraq and Southeast Europe. Another name is "tambura", but it also refers to an Indian fretless drone lute.
* In Turkey, the terms "bağlama" and "saz" both refer to a long-necked lute used in folk music.
** The Turkish "tanbur" is a larger variant used in art music.
** The "yaylı tanbur" variant is played with a bow instead of a plectrum.
* The "tembûr" is a Kurdish "tanbur" associated with the Ahl-e Haqq sect.NewGrove2001|Kurdish music|Shiloah, Amnon|xiv|p. 40]
* The "buzuq" is an instrument found in urban areas such as Baghdad, Damascus, and Beirut.
* Until the early twentieth century, the names "chambar" and "jumbush" were applied to instruments in northern Iraq.
* The "dutar" and "setar", found in Iran and Central Asia, are derived from the Khorosan "tunbūr".

Related terms can refer to string instruments that are not long-necked, fretted lutes:

* The "tambura", a fretless drone lute found in India.
* The "tanbura", a bowl lyre found in Iraq, Egypt, and the Sudan.

ee also

*

References

External links

* [http://www.atlasofpluckedinstruments.com/central_asia.htm Atlas of Plucked Instruments: Central Asia]