Can Guitar Players Play Oud Instrument?

 

Can Guitar Players Play Oud Instrument?

Are you a talented guitar player and new to the world of the Oud? Want to develop perfection in playing this new instrument, but wondering whether you should learn and play it or not? Not to worry. In this post, you’ll find out how learning this new instrument is beneficial for a guitarist. It will not only help in getting expertise in quarter tonal or microtonal intervals but benefit you in numbers of ways. Let’s move closer to what is Oud and why guitarists play it. 

What Is An Oud?

Often known as “the king of instruments” in the Middle East, Oud Instrument is an ancient pear-shaped stringed musical instrument from these areas. It is predominantly used in the music of North America and Western Asia. For many centuries, greatest musicians have been playing it. Day by day increasing popularity has expanded its way to the Western nations over the last few decades. Nowadays, more and more musicians are playing this instrument for endless possibilities of creating an appealing musical blend.

Why Playing Oud Is Excellent For Guitar Players?

Making command over vital oud techniques provide the ability to play oud style easily on guitar. Whether you are a seasoned guitar player or a beginner, you can start learning and playing Oud instrument from today. Let’s shed some light into key reasons.

Forefather Of Guitar

Oud is considered to be a progenitor or grandfather of a modern-day guitar instrument. It is the foundation of the creation of Middle Eastern musical theory. Great significance in the European, Turkish, and Arabic music make guitar players take a bow to play Oud.

Easy And Fun To Start

Playing Oud instrument can be simpler and exciting. Guitar players can play 1-2 songs within a couple of days. Music played on this instrument can be melancholic, enjoyable, lively, and anything you want.

Offers Freedom

It gives them the freedom to play several keys of music, quartertones, and many scales. Playing this instrument gives the marvelous opportunity to improve performance. You can play any frequency of sound you wish to be.

Emerge Out As Great Musician

Playing Oud can make you stand apart from the crowd by becoming a fabulous musician in today’s time. This unique instrument has different music and sound. You’ll learn how to differentiate various modes and scales, how to interpret music, learn new rhythms used in popular Western music, new music theory emphasizing on modal melody.

Most Versatile Instrument

Oud is a highly versatile musical instrument that provides guitar players the taste of everything. It is an ideal choice for an ethnomusicologist. By playing it, you can play the music of several different cultures. You can create Iranian music, Chinese music, Arabian music, Greek music, and lots more.

If you would like to play Middle Eastern music on Oud instrument, then don’t waste your time. Many new versions of this instrument are available now in the market to help you rediscover music. So, start playing Oud perfectly from today to develop a solid base in the world of Oud music.

Are you an Oud and Guitar player ? What do you think, Can Guitar Players Play Oud Instrument?

 

All About Persian Daf Instrument

 

All About Persian Daf Instrument

The history of frame drums based on the ancient times. The persian daf is one of the ancient musical instrument in Iran and neighboring countries.They have strong and dramatic sound with a simple structure and used both in spiritual rituals and entertainment gatherings. Daf instrument is known as one of the oldest frame drums from the ancient history of Asia and Africa. In Sufi culture, they use daf for spiritual chanting and Iranian musicians integrated that successfully in Persian music. The player usually holds the persian daf with left hand (for right handed players). Persian daf has four main techniques. Using these four techniques, all different rhythms and sounds can be produced on Daf. The right hand techniques are called “Tom” and “Bak” and left hand techniques are called “Chap” and “Zanjir”.  In Iran, Sufis use persian daf during their Zikr rituals (spiritual chanting); in recent years Iranian musicians have successfully integrated it into Persian music.

Daf instrument is a large frame drum from the Middle East. It is commonly used in Armenia, Iran, Turkey, Azerbaijan and also in Greece. It can spell as Daf, Daff, Deff, Duff. The frame is made of wood and covered with a lot of metal rings attached around it. The membrane of a daf is mostly made of animal skin, like a goat, horse, and cow but in modern versions, synthetic materials are also in use.

The frame is made of a strong wood. The diameter of it is about 48 – 55 cm wide. The skin of the daf instrument is strongly glued to cover the frame. In order to keep skin tight, metal pins are nailed behind the frame. There are no jingles in the Daf instrument. In the inner part of the wooden frame, there are hooks that help the rings hanging. These rings work like jingles when the instrument moves.

What are the different types of daf?

Solo daf is a model specifically designed for solo performances. The jingles have a high pitched clear sound. It has a higher-tone and a voluminous sound. The soloist plays the instrument easily by relaxed finger movements on the surface.

The skin of the daf might be affected by the humidity because of the natural materials used in the making process. A studio daf is a special model produced to prevent the changes on tightness of skin. It helps to play the instrument for the whole performance without worrying about the changes of the tune.

The daf instrument is a strong voiced instrument. But in an orchestra this strong voice could kill the sound of the other instruments. To avoid this problem in an ensemble, the player should use an orchestra daf which has a lighter soft sound that blends warmly with other instruments.

The bass daf is a model which is larger and has a thicker skin. This helps it to catch a fuller, deeper and more appropriate bass sound.

Treble daf is another specialized style, designed to catch high notes. They are also suitable for winter performances.

 

How to play the daf?

Hold the instrument in front of your body. Place the left hand at the 6 o’clock position and the right hand at the 3 o’clock. The rings should face towards the player while drumhead faces away. The three beginning strokes are; bass toned “dum”, high pitched tone “tak” and another high pitched but softer and slightly muted tone “ka”. The dum and tak strokes are produced by right hand while the ka stroke is made by the left hand.

To create the dum stroke, keep fingertips together in a little arc position and hit the center of the daf with the tips. It will help the daf bounce and creates a deep, bass tone. For the tak sound use four fingers and hit the instrument slightly from the edge. To create the ka stroke, twist your left wrist hit with four fingers slightly from the upper edge of the frame.

Playing of the daf involves arms, wrists, hands and fingers working together at the same time. The hands and the wrists help player hold the instrument firmly while fingers creates the sound. At the same time arms get lower or rise up and shake the frame to produce simultaneous movements with the head and the rings. Hand and finger techniques create a wide range of tonal and rhythmic variations.

Place of Daf in Modern Music Genres Throughout History

In a world where even musical instruments go extinct and forgotten, daf can still hold its place and survive in some cultures today. Although Daf does not have the worldwide popularity it used to have, it is still a big accomplishment for an instrument to survive thousands of years in different cultures. Just imagine how many different objects Persian tried to make music with and decided that Daf was better than the most. As a result, Daf has managed to preserve its popularity and relevance.

Looking at its status today, Daf instrument is still fairly popular in many classical orchestras which lean a little bit towards oriental music taste. It is very common to stumble upon a daf player when visiting any musical show in countries such as Turkey, Armenia, or Greece. Not only the oriental classic music but also folk music and in some instances of pop music of these countries have a place for Daf because of its unique oriental spice.

Daf’s Story Started Thousands of Years Ago

Even though there are so many different ways to make music nowadays, instruments like daf still manage to stay relevant. Any instrument who survived as long as daf should be apricated because they guided the music through dark ages to become what it is today. They are one of the reasons music is an essential part of the entertainment industry today.

The Future of Daf

It is impossible to predict the future yet considering the era we live in and the resilience of Daf, it is easy to say it will be around for many more years. The main reason for this is there will always be new people making good music who will try unique things to make their music distinctive. Since nowadays internet stores everything in it, something as historically important as def will never disappear from the face of the earth.

All About Black Sea Kemence

 

All About Black Sea Kemence

Northern Anatolian folkloric music cannot be separated from Kemence. It is the main musical instrument of the Black Sea folklor with its melancholic sound. Although there are two instruments named Kemence, one known as the Fasıl Kemence and the other known as the Black Sea (Karadeniz) Kemence, the latter is very different than the other. The Black Sea Kemence has three parts; the neck, the body, and the stem. It is carved out from a single wood, has strings and is played with a dom.

Black Sea Kemence is an ethnic music instrument that celebrates the diversity of Anatolian culture. Although it is mostly mistaken for the Fasil Kemence, it does not have a standard size like other folkloric instruments. Professional musicians usually play a 56 cm long Kemence which is made of juniper or plum wood. When played, unlike most of the stringed musical instruments, the sound is produced via dom and fingernails.

The Structure of Kemence

The Black Sea Kemence has three parts. Its body is carved out of wood. Although it does not have a standard size, most of the professionals prefer 50-60 cm long kemence to play. It has strait sights and a flat back which is easy to handle during playing it afoot or sitted. The chest of Black Sea Kemence is very thin and usually is made of spruce or fir. Its most distinctive feature is the raised dome. It is there to overcome the pressure being put on the strings while playing.

 

The Melancholic Sound of Kemence

The small pegs on the Kemence’s body are attached at the back of it and there are three strings. The sound of Black Sea Kemence is rather distinctive and very gritty. The number of chromatic tones being produced by the Kemence is related to the melancholy of the Black Sea climate. In fact, it is the most associated musical instrument with the culture of Black Sea and its people.

Strong Bonds With Culture

Althugh the name kemençe comes from the Persian musical instrument kamancheh, Kemence is a very typical Turkish instrument. It is played by many people in Karadeniz region. It is always played when people dance in the region. Horon is a famous folk dance of Black Sea and is very popular in Turkey.  It represents the region and makes the native sound symbolic of Turkey. Turkomen in Antalya region also use Kemence in their native sound and ethnic music.

Key  Quality Features

Kemençe is a tuned instrument and has a one octave range. Black Sea Kemençe has an important predominance in parallel fourths and this feature is its strength. It can be played both as an ensemble with other traditional instruments and as solo. Although most of the folk instruments are played polyphonically, Kemence is played both melodically and polyphonically.

All the Kemences at our store are hand made products of excellent craftsmen with affordable prices. Upon the request of customers tailor-made professional Kemences of all sizes are made by our  masters. If you are looking to buy a convenient Kemence with a fair value please visit our store in İstanbul or check our online catalogue.

All About Yayli Tanbur

 

All About Yayli Tanbur

While looking for the right instrument people usually focus on finding an extraordinary one. The search for the right instrument should be a search for the one that makes a magnificent sound. Although every instrument has an individual characteristic, yayli tambour has its unique voice with haunting drones and melodies. The yayli tambur is also notable for the fact that its frets are set up in microtones. So it allows you to play the tones in between the notes of a western scale.

What is a Yayli Tambur?

The yayli tambur is a string bowed long-necked instrument. It is the bowed version of the classical Turkish tanbur and first developed by Tanburi Cemil Bey in the 1910s. Yayli Tanbur is derived from cümbüş and has the characteristic skin-head resonation of it. It has a long wooden neck. The fretted neck of yayli tambour can be between 104 to 110 cm long. The body of yayli tanbur is made of wooden strips. More affordable versions use metal or spun aluminum at the soundbox.

How to Play Yayli Tanbur?

By holding the yayli tambour vertically between the calves or in the lap, the player can hold the instrument stable. Keeping position of the bow is quite important. It is hold firmly with the middle, ring and little fingers pressing the horsehair. At the same time, the index finger and the thumb should hold the furthest edge of the bow. The strings that places at the left, come together into a single course and they form a double string. This double string adjusts correct and uniform pitch. This is the place that all harmonious play happen. The other parts are from 4 to 6 numbered strings that are pitched to the octave fourth or fifth of the primary doubled string. Yayli tanbur has an unusual nature in which the neck of the instrument act as it is unfitted. But it normally has 24 to 34 frets. While playing to catch the same effect as stopping the frets, player can press on unfretted parts of the neck. This allows a continuous slide upward and downward between two notes and a slide from one note to another flawlessly. As a further matter, the frets can be repositioned for the taste and style of the player to catch the correct pitch of a suited makam.

Where to Buy Yayli Tanbur?

 

If you have a local music shop with honest and knowledgeable help, has reasonable return policy and offers fair prices that sells yayli tanbur, you should also be considering their skills on an eastern instrument and be sure that the prices are fair before your purchase. If possible, ask a teacher or other music professional that are familiar with yayli tanbur for advice. If you want to buy yayli tanbur from Turkey you can easily check it on our website. As Sala Muzik, we have a professional team of Turkish musicians that are ready to reply all your questions about yayli tanbur and help you to get the best instrument at the best value.

All About Kamancheh

 

All About Kamancheh

Tips For Purchasing A Good Kamancheh

 

Searching for your ideal instrument is a thrilling and a rewarding journey. If you want to buy the right one, you need to love the process. Because finding the instrument that only feels right for you is not going to work. Buying a kamancheh is no difference. If you follow the right steps and focus on main characteristics the right kamancheh instrument will almost pick you.

What is a Kamancheh?

Kamancheh or Kamancha is a bowed string instrument with a spherical body. In Persian, the word kamancheh means “a small bow”.

It has reached many countries but commonly used in the classical music of Iran, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkey. The structure of the instrument is slightly different in each country. It also has some different names such as Kamanche, Kamancheh, Kemanche or Kemancha. The instrument is played in both folk and classical music.

What is the difference between Iranian and Azeri Kamanche?

Although it is used in both countries for centuries, there are some minor differences between the Persian and Azeri version of Kamancheh. The first visible difference is the length of the neck. The neck of the Azeri version is 3 to 5 cm shorter than the Iranian Kamancheh.

The variety of the wood in use and the sound box of the instruments have some dissimilarities, too. The woods used in Persian model is mostly walnut and mulberry whereas Azeri models are carved from both walnut and mulberry. Azeri Kamancha is usually made from one piece of wood and its spherical structure is hand carved. Persian models are traditionally made from sliced woods. The sound box gets its round shape from compressed woods.

Length of the strings is 33 cm for Iranian and 29 cm for Azeri models. Formerly the silk strings were in use for the kamancheh but in modern versions, metal strings took place instead. Traditionally the bow of an Azeri kamancheh is made of slightly curved wood and horse hair. The hairs are not stretched tight and the player can adjust them to get softer or louder sounds.

How to play and tune a Kamancheh?

Its soft and easy to listen timbre makes kamancheh a suitable instrument for solo and ensemble. The player rests the Kamancheh on the knee and instead of using the guidance of the bow he turns the instrument to meet the bow. During the performance, player uses fingers by inserting them between bow hair and the wood part to get the desired sound.

Kamancheh can be tuned in a wide range and so it gains a technical advantage. Lowest could be : La – Re – La – Re until Re – Sol – Re – Sol. Some prefer to utilize the mid-tension strings. Less commonly some players prefer to tune Kamancheh like a violin. There are many versions for tuning and in the end, player’s taste is the final for tuning pitch. Some players prefer to play on tense strings while the others prefer to play mostly on loose strings.

You can view our catalogue for both Persian and Azeri high quality kamancheh instrument models made by famous makers.

Kamancheh’s Influence on Different Cultures Over the Years

Kamancheh has influenced a number of different cultures throughout the history. Kamancheh is a Persian musical instrument which is inspired by rebab. Kamancheh has paved the path for so many Persian people to chase their dreams as artists over the years. Kamancheh constituted the majority of their lives. The instrument and the music you can produce with it have an aura that binds both the listeners and the artist.

 

Although Kamancheh has touched so many different lives from different parts of the world, it was mainly the Middle east where Kamancheh had the most cultural effect. Countries like Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan have seen the major impact of Kamancheh in their cultures.

Sentimental Value of Kamancheh In the Middle East   

All the musical instruments have a sentimental value in terms of their influence on the mankind. They are the bridge between humanity and the very fine art known as music. People have shrines in their hearths for their musical instruments.

It has been the same story for Kamancheh throughout the history. The music produced by Kamancheh can be best described as rigid and sharp yet touches to heart. For Middle Eastern people, that description fits so much with their lives and their history. Middle East have seen so many wars and disputes throughout its history, which made the Middle Easterners thick skinned but kind at heart people they are nowadays. This resembles have made Kamancheh one of the best ways to tell their story for many Middle Easterners.

Worldwide Popularity of Kamancheh

Kamancheh’s influence is not limited to Middle East. It has caught the attention of many artist from Europe over the years. There are many stories about artists travelling to countries such as Turkey, Iran, and Armenia, just to learn how to play Kamancheh. Kamancheh has managed to gain love and interest from many different parts of the world and this love has been recognized with the instrument’s inclusion to UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.

 

Gemme

 

Gemme

Une gemme est une pierre fine, précieuse ou ornementale ou n’importe quelle matière très dure ou colorée ayant l’aspect de ces pierreries et utilisée comme ornement.

Pour mériter l’appellation de gemme, cette matière (minéral, roche ou une substance organique telle que perle, ambre ou corail) doit être attrayante, surtout par sa couleur. Elle doit être peu altérable, et assez solide pour survivre à un usage constant ou aux manipulations, sans se rayer ou s’endommager.

Une gemme est souvent taillée par le lapidaire pour finir montée sur une bague, en boucle d’oreille ou tout autre ornement de joaillerie. Elle peut être naturelle, traitée ou fabriquée artificiellement (pierre synthétique).

Dans le droit français, les appellations « pierre gemme », « pierre ornementale », « pierre précieuse » sont regroupées sous l’appellation unique de « pierres gemmes » par souci d’harmonisation avec la nomenclature de la CIBJO (commission internationale bijouterie, joaillerie, orfèvrerie) qui ne distingue pas entre les trois expressions. « Pierre précieuse » ne peut s’appliquer qu’à un produit naturel. Cette commission traite à part le diamant.

le diamant, transparent (pratiquement toutes les couleurs peuvent être trouvées)

• l’émeraude (variété de béryl), transparente (vert, à vert-bleuté)
• le rubis (variété de corindon), transparent (rouge à écarlate)
• le saphir (variété de corindon), transparent (toutes les couleurs sauf rouge (réservé au rubis))

• l’agate (variété de calcédoine), translucide (marron, bleu, blanc, rouge…)
• l’aigue-marine (variété de béryl), transparente (bleu vert pâle)
• l’alexandrite (variété de chrysobéryl), verte à rouge suivant le type d’éclairage
• l’améthyste (variété de quartz), transparente (violet)
• l’amétrine, transparente (mélange améthyste/citrine)
• la citrine (variété de quartz), transparente (jaune)
• la cordiérite, transparent (bleu foncé)
• la cornaline (variété de calcédoine), translucide (rouge, brun-rouge orange…)
• les grenats, (nom de famille de nombreux nésosilicates transparents (rouge, marron, vert ou violet)
• l’hématite, opaque (gris noir métallique)
• le jade (jadéite ou néphrite), translucide (vert pâle, foncé, vert et blanc)
• le jaspe (roche siliceuse) opaque (rouge, avec reflet noir à marron)
• le lapis-lazuli (roche contenant de la lazurite, de la calcite de la pyrite de la sodalite), opaque (bleu clair et foncé, taches dorée)
• la malachite, opaque (vert clair et foncé)
• l’obsidienne (roche volcanique), opaque (noir), translucide
• l’onyx (variété de calcédoine), transparent (très nombreuses couleurs)
• les opales, translucide (très nombreuses couleurs)
• le péridot (variété d’olivine), transparent (Vert à vert jaune)
• la pierre de lune (Adulaire variété d’orthose), translucide (blanche avec adularescence bleu pâle)
• le quartz fumé (variété de quartz), transparent (brun clair à noir)
• le quartz rose (variété de quartz), transparent (rose clair)
• la sardoine (variété de calcédoine), opaque (orange à marron rouge)
• les spinelles, transparent (rouge, marron, vert foncé)
• la sugilite, translucide (violet à rose)
• la tanzanite, transparente (bleu saphir, violet, brun)
• la topaze, transparente (jaune, bleu, rose, violet…)
• la tourmaline, transparente (vert, bleu, marron, rouge, noir…)
• la turquoise, opaque (bleu vert pâle)
• le zircon, transparent (incolore, bleu, vert pâle à vert, brun, etc. )
• l’ambre, transparent (diverses nuances de jaune, mais aussi verte exceptionnellement bleue)
• le corail, opaque (rouge écarlate, rose, blanc)
• le jais, opaque (noir)
• la mellite, de couleur du miel
• la nacre (perle), translucide (blanc, jaune, rose, noire)

news

Termeh Mahan tissé à la main!! tissé à la main!! Termeh Gajar tissé à la main Termeh Vida tissé à la main Plat Emaillé Diam 40 Plat Emaillé Fait Main Diam 20!! Bol Turquoise – Artisanat Turquoise – Bol Artisanal!! Vase en cuivre et pierre turquoise, fait main 13!! Vase en cuivre et pierre turquoise, fait main 15!! Vase en cuivre et pierre turquoise, fait main 20!! Bol en cuivre combiné avec de la turquoise originale, fabriqué à la main!! Carafe d’eau et une combinaison de turquoise, pierre faite à la main!! Petite tasse en cuivre avec pierres turquoises d’origine, fabriquée à la main!! Service samovar fait à la main en cuivre et turquoise!! Plateau en cuivre combiné avec de la turquoise, fabriqué à la main!! Présentoir de confiserie en cuivre avec pierres turquoises, fabriqué à la main!! Instruments de Musique!! Artisanat cuivre artisanal Plats Emaillés Termeh Artisanal Instruments à Cordes Instruments à Percussion Instruments à Souffle Kalimba