Franck
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lute identification
Can anyone tell me what this instrument is and where does it come from?
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John Erlich
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Hi Franck,
Looks rather like a guitar finger board attached to the body (and pegbox?) of a Bukharan (Uzbek) stringed instrument whose name I don't know. I
think the "normal" neck of this instrument is considerably longer.
Here are a couple photos I found on the internet:
http://www.trachtenberg.org/myuz2.htm (scroll down to see picture of musician)
http://www.sairamtour.com/uzbekistan/Instruments/uzbek_music_instru... (see the instrument all the way on the left)
I believe that the 1997 documentary film "Chants of Sand and Stars" (about Jewish music) includes a short excerpt of a recital on this instrument by
an Bukharan Jew in Israel.
I hope that helps.
Best,
John
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Franck
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Thank you John,
Your cue helped me find the name of the instrument. It's a rawap a Uyghur long-necked lute. I also found a photo of the true shape of the
instrument.
Thanks again,
Franck
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Lintfree
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The instrument Franck has posted is a cultural icon. In what used to be the former Soviet Union, Islamic musical instruments were to all be converted
to a Western scale to eliminate any "cultural oddities" for the sake of "Sovietization". The Russians decreed that Islamic scales were not to be
played and that the old music should be re-written to sound more..............Russian!! This instrument is most likely an example of that dark period
of history.
In Kazakhstan they did the same. They also decreed that the Kazakh people were to kill off their vast herds of horses and sheep and were to raise
wheat instead. Thousands died as a result. They were also to change all their last names to Russian names.
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Lintfree
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I should say that the "first instrument posted" is the Special Soviet Model. The second one is the real thing. Sorry about that. D.L.
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Franck
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russian
Like most conquering civilizations, Russians commited (ans still commit) numerous atrocities. It seems that they keep on using ancient ways to destroy
opposition to their regime; like poisoning journalists and using illegal gas like in Moscow during the siege of the theater that was taken by the
Tchetchens. Thank you for your valuable info Lintfree, it's always good to know these things (and remember them).
Keep on remaining lint free...
Franck
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Lintfree
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The instrument is valuable because it is from that period. You should keep it just as it is.
Imagine being told that the music you love is too......."Arabic" or has too many "funny notes" in it and that you will have to change your musical
tastes (and your instruments) to fit "the new state standard"? And if you continue to play that "wrong music" you will have to go and break rocks in
Siberia as a subversive? Such horse crap! I'm sure that when the Soviet Union collapsed there were a lot of re-fretting jobs done to celebrate.
This is truly the "Planet of the Defectives".
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Sasha
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I have several, and as usual, different cultures have differnt names.
Uzbekistan - rabab
Tajikistan - pamiri rabab
Azerbaijan - rabab or koshkarjeh
Kashgar - in western China - Rawap
The most common tuning seems to be GCG.
The sound quite a bit like a persian tar.
Here's a link to pictures of one of mine:
http://temurkhanlar.com/kosh.htm
It's a Soviet-era one from Uzbekistan - I am in the process of havin a friend in UZ order one for me - traditionally made with tied perdeh, instead of
the nasty, horrible (untunable) guitar frets this one has.
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