Edward Powell - 4-8-2009 at 08:44 AM
where the hell does this word come from, and what IS the original tambur???
how many tanburs are there in the world?? Many seem even quite unrelated (bit like the different rababs there are - )
adamgood - 4-8-2009 at 10:27 AM
Edward,
I am a big fan of this very topic actually! I did some google searching a few years ago and learned some interesting things though I can't remember
ever learning what the origin of the word is or where the first tan* came from.
apparently you can add some other instruments to the list by way of some letter exchanges:
bandura - traditional Ukrainian instrument
http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/06/67506-004-F4EA947C.jp...
mandolin - ya know...
and maybe even...
Banjo ???
But I'm not sure what the verdict is on that one.
I'll try to find a cool website that explains more. By the way, Bulgaria and Macedonia both have "Tambura"
How about "Tambourine" ??
Arto - 4-8-2009 at 11:04 AM
I´ve seen in several place mentioned that the original instrument and its name would be of Sumerian origin:
http://www.labyrinthmusic.gr/index.php?option=com_content&task=...
Here it´s said that pan-tur would mean "small bow". I´m almost sure I have seen it somewhere else been translated as "three strings" (compare
"seh-tar"!). These things are pretty obscure and I doubt there are many music historians or organologists who really know Sumerian language, so who
knows.... People are fond of great ancestries and the older, the better... Anyway, there is a horde of very differents instruments with names like
pandore, bandura, bandurria, mandora, mandore, tanbur, tamboor, tampura, tambourine...
Arto
Edward Powell - 4-8-2009 at 11:27 AM
i wonder if the Hindi word "tan", meaning fast musical phrase, is connected??
Cronan - 12-23-2010 at 04:16 AM
According to a Narshbandi Pir from Bukhara : tanbur in Farsi language means
Tan : body and
bur : cut in 2 pices from the word buridan.
The tanbur is the instrument who open the body in 2 pices and let the spirit free for the meditation.
It is a nice proposition but I am not sure that was the first meaning. But now, they think trough his proposition.
The Uzbek tanbur is about minimum 2 or 3 strings some times 5 strings. One melodic string and sympathique drone strings. The frettes or parda are
about 4mm, then from the pressur on the string you can high the note.
http://classicmusic.uz/tanbur.htm
Sylvain