The instruments described were collected by me for the Archives of Traditional Music, Indiana University. In addition, I have taped folk music and folklore in most regions inAfghanistan. The tapes are also in the Archives. Although not an ethnomusicologist, I have been struck by several similarities and contrasts of Afghan music and other folk music. Like other aspects of Afghan cultural patterns, folk music and instruments contain elements of Central Asia, Iran, and the Indian subcontinent. Some cultural continuity appears to exist among the mountaineers of Ewasia from the Carpathians and the Balkans to the Hindu Kush, and possibly the western end of the Himalayas. Many poems, written and unwritten, have been set to music, but vary with region and performer, who improvises, adds or subtracts, as the muse strikes. For an excellent review of recorded Afghan folk music (with pertinent comments on the field as a whole), see Archer, 1964. Recent (1967-68) research by ethnomusicologist Mark Slobin expands our knowledge of Afghan music, particuiarly in the north. For example, see the record: The Music at the Uzbeks, AST 4001 (Library of Congress No. 70-750847) Stereo-Anthropology Record and Tape Corp. L.D.
| Membranophones | Chordophones | Aerophones | Miscellaneous |
I: Dhol :
A two-headed membranophone. The heads are made of animal (goat) skin and are retained and tightened in a direct manner by means of continuous loops of ~ single twisted cord passing through both heads at several points on their circumferences. The cord passes through the head and around a wooden collar which is wrapped in the skin. Every two strands of the cord pass through a brass ring (movable) which serves to regulate the tension of the heads. Two dhol are in the colection at Indiana University. Photo I is brown in color; dimensions: 39 cm. in length, heads are 22 and 23 cm. in diameter. The other is chocolate brown with the dimensions: 42 cm. long, both heads 22 cm. in diameter. Both are made of tut (mulberry) wood and contain small kernels of seeds or stones which strike the sides and heads during performance and add to the percussive effect. The dhol is suspended from the neck of the musician and played with the hands or sticks. Designs are carved in concentric circles. Dhol are used primarily by the Pushtun tribesmen. The illustrated specimen was purchased in Gardez. Analogs are found in India and Pakistan.
II: Doholak:
A a pair of single-headed kettle drums from Gardez. They are made from jeldis wood and the heads are of goatskin. A black circle, approximately 8 cm. in diameter, is painted in the center of each head. The heads are secured by segments of twisted cord passing directly through the circumference of the skin and meeting at the base of the drum. There they pass around a purple, cloth-covered ring. The drums are played with drumsticks- chub-i-doholak--which are made from charmass (walnut) wood. They resemble the Central Asian drum pair or trio: Naqqara. Large drum: 21 cm. diam., 10 cm. depth. Small drum: 19 cm. diam., 9 cm. depth. Drumsticks: 24 cm. long, 1.5 cm. thick.
III: Daira:
Single-headed membranophone found throughout the Circum-Polar region, Central Asia, and the “Middle East. A translucent skin head is attached to a bent rim (wooden) and the glued bond is covered by a green and white woven piece of cloth. The Persians have an analogous instrument also called the daira, and the Turkish version is known as the del. Both versions often have brass rings or bells attached to the inside of the rim for an added percussive effect. It is commonly played in a vertical position with the rim resting on the extended palm of one hand while it is beaten with the extended fingers of the other. Fine shades of tone are produced when it is beaten on different places of the head. Dimensions: 26 cm. diameter, 6 cm. depth. From Paktya Province.
IV: Zerbagali:
Single-headed membranophone. The shape is that of the “hourglass” drum of the Middle East. Analogs are found among surrounding peoples, such as the Darbuka of Turkey and the Dumbek of the Persians. The body is made of baked clay and has several concentric designs in its surface created during the beginning stages of its manufacture 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.
V: Tambur:
Two in the collection, similar in construction but of different sizes. Metal strings pass over an ivory bridge which rests on the wooden face of the resonating chamber (made of gourd). This instrument is almost identical with the Indian instrument of the same name but has gut (in the case of the larger) and nylon (in the smaller) frets tied around the hollow wooden neck. The larger of the two has 18 strings and corresponding tuning pegs on the end (6 pegs with I missing) of the neck and 12 pegs on the side of the neck. The smaller version has 17 strings with 6 frotyi the end and II from the side of the neck. In both cases the only strings fretted are the two making up the first course (pair) farthest from the player. The other strings are used as drones. The tarnbur may be used as a solo instrument or, as in the case of its Indian counterpart, as a drone to accompany singers. The topnuts, tailpieces, bridges and inlays are ivory; the wood is rut. From Kabul. Large tambur: length, 137 cm.; width of face, 25 cm. Small tambur: length, 115 cm.; width of face, 17 cm.
VI: Rabab:
Two in collection. Both are constructed of tut wood and closely resemble the north Indian classical lute, the sarqd. The face is made of goat-skin and frets are made of gut. The wooden body is decorated by means of carving (relief) and mother of pearl inlays. The larger of the two is profusely inlaid on the fingerboard while the smaller is sparsely inlaid. Tuning pegs are made of tut wood. Both have a carved open-design peghead. The topnut and bridge are made of ivory. Both are played with a small wooden plectrum approximately 3 cm. long. Smaller Rabab: 74 cm. long, 3 plucked and fretter strings, 3 drone strings, 11 sympathetic (i.e., vibrate in sympathy with plucked strings) strings which are unfretted; these originate from pegs on right side of flngerboard. Larger rabab: 80 cm. long, 3 plucked and fretted strings, 3 drone and 12 sympathetic strings originating from- pegs on right side of fingerboard. From Kabul.
VII: Dhamboura:
most common stringed instrument in Afghanistan. Two in collection. Both have two strings made from one strand of nylon doubled over. Both are unfretted of two-part construction: neck and resonating box. The smaller is made of hit wood with a bone bridge and ivory topnut. ‘runing pegs of both are made of wood. The smaller dha;nboura is profusely engraved on the back of the neck of the resonating box and on the fingerboard. There are 8 sound holes on the wooden face of the resonating box of the small dhamboura and 15 on the large dhamboura, arranged in triangular groups and individually. The large dhamboura is decorated with inlaid ivory with red circular intaglio on the neck and back of the resonating box. The resonating box is of rut, and the neck of a lightcolored wood (chenar). The bridge is of ivory. Large dharnboura, 99 cm. long. Small dlramboura, 70 cm. long. Both are from Qataghan and are played with a p1cc-trum or stemmed with the finger(s).
Viii: Shashtar:
10-stringed chordophone with 4 plucked and fretted strings and 6 sympathetic strings. The 5 tied frets are made of gut; bone topnut; wooden bridge. It is profusely engraved on the fingerboard, back of neck and back of resonating box. Two-piece construction: resonating box (rut) and neck (chenar). The head of the resonating box is made of skin (skin is slit, however). Played with plectrum. 75 cm. long. From Aibak.
IX: Richak:
Bowed chordophone. The two strings, cylindrical neck, and carved peg-head are similar to the Persian equivalent, the kemencha. The resonating box is a round frame of hut, covered with goatskin. The neck is made of chenar. It is played in a vertical position with a bow. 87 cm. long. From Badakhshan.
X: Smaller Sarinda:
Bowed lute. From the Baluch people of south Afghanistan, where it is known as Sarud or Sarang; it is also encountered in Pakistan. It is played with a finger-tension horsehair bow. Its strings are made of catgut (1) and steel wire of varying thicknesses (6). Some strings are used for melody, others are unstopped and produce a drone. The sound is transmitted into a resonating chamber by means of a wooden bridge and goatskifl head at the base of the chamber. 58 cm. long.
XI: Waj or Wunz.
Like the vocal polyphony of the Nuristanis, which it often accompanies, this instrument is an anomaly to Central Asia. It consists of four strings of twisted fiber tuned in a tritone, i.e., in intervals of a major seëond. A cross between a harp and a musical bow, it is closer to the latter. The wooden figure-eight-shaped resonating chamber is covered with a goatskin head which serves to transmit the sound from the strings into the chamber. The four twisted gut strings are secured across the span of a curved piece of hard, dark, brown wood which passes through the center of the head at two points and is secured at either end by strips of hide lashing. For the waj, a common tuning would be that of a tritone: c d e f (acording to Dupree tapes: ATL 3266-3267). Length; 47 cm.; height 35 cm. Attached by a piece of twisted gut is a plectrum made of similar wood.
XII: Sarani:
bowed chordophone. Also from Wama, Nuristan. The resonating box is identical in construction to that of the harp. The wood and goatskin head are stained dark brown; the holes in the head are in single and triangular patterns. The neck and peghead are both extensions of the same piece of wood from which the hollow resonating box is carved. The two twisted gut string segments are retained at the peghead by means of two roughly hewn friction pegs. The strings, which are actually one longer string doubled into two segments, pass over a bridge 1.5 cm. in height. It appears to be a bowed chordophone with the center area of the sounding box the most likely place for the bow to be employed. The strings may then be fretted from below by means of the top of the fingernails of the left hand, while the instrument is held in a vertical position. 59 cm. long; 10 cm. high.
XIII. Tula:
fipple-mouthed whistle flute. Wooden, painted red, green, and yellow, it has six fingerholes on the frontal plane and a single thumbhole on the dorsal plane. Stained dark brown. From Qandahar. Scale A c d e# a b c.
XIV: Surnai:
Made of a dark wood, possibly tilt, it has a conical bore with the bell painted brown, yellow, and orange. There are seven fingerholes on the frontal plane and one thumbhole on the dorsal plane. The double reed, which is made from a single stalk of natural reed, is attached to the bore by means of a brass tube protuding from the bore. This shawm is found throughout central-south Asia, the Middle East, and Southern Europe, where it is known as the shanai (India), surnai (Afghanistan), zurna (Central Asia and Turkey), and zurla (Macedonia). It is often played in conjunction with another surnai and either a single-headed drum (such as the daira) or a double-headed drum (such as the dhol). In this case one plays a drone while the other plays the melody, and they usually accompany the dance. From Logar Valley. 40 cm. long.
Chang (no photo).
A jew’s harp played with the mouth, but plucked toward the mouth instead
of away from it.