Tanbur (spelled Tambur in keeping with TDK conventions) is a fretted string instrument of Turkey and the former lands of the Ottoman Empire. It constitutes with the ney, the armudi (lit. pear-shaped) kemençe and the kudüm the basic quartet of Turkish classical music aka Sanat Musikisi (lit. Art Music). Of the two variants, one is played with a plectrum and the other with a bow. The player is called a Tanburî. The playing range of a musical instrument is the region of pitch in which it can play, i. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. ... The angélique (French, from Italian angelica) is a plucked string instrument of the lute family of the baroque era. ... An Archlute by Matteo Sellas, Venice, 17th century The archlute (Italian arciliuto, German Erzlaute, Russian Архилютня) a European plucked string instrument was developed around 1600 as a compromise between the very large theorbo, the size and re-entrant tuning of which made for difficuties in the performance of solo music, and... This article is about the instrument. ... // History The barbat is an ancient instrument of Persian origin, refined during the Arab age into the current form of oud. ... BA or Ba may stand for: ba an archaic two-letter English word meaning to kiss. in Egyptian mythology: One part of the Egyptian soul (which was imagined as a bird body with a human head). ... For other uses, see Biwa (disambiguation). ... For bouzoukia, see nightclubs in Greece. ... Visit the Guitar Portal A Bolivian charango This article is about an instrument. ... 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An Irish Bouzouki The Irish bouzouki is a slightly modified bouzouki Bouzoukis were introduced into Irish Traditional Music in the 1970s, by Johnny Moynihan and Alec Finn, and popularised by Andy Irvine and Dónal Lunny. ... A liuqin The liuqin (柳琴; pinyin: liÇ”q­ín) is a four-stringed Chinese lute with a pear-shaped body. ... A medieval era lute. ... The mandocello (sometimes spelled mandacello) is a musical instrument of the mandolin family. ... mandola A mandola (US and Canada) or tenor mandola (Europe, Ireland, and UK) is a stringed musical instrument. ... This article is about the musical instrument. ... Front and rear views of an oud. ... This article or section needs a complete rewrite for the reasons listed on the talk page. ... A woman plays the pipa in the New York City Subways Times Square Station, 2004. ... The rubab (also spelled rubāb) is a plucked string instrument from Afghanistan and Pakistan. ... 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Zhonghu The zhonghu (中胡, pinyin: zhōnghú) is a low-pitched Chinese bowed string instrument. ... The yaylı tanbur is a bowed lute from Turkey. ... Tanburi Büyük Osman Bey (1816–1885) was an Ottoman composer and tanbur player. ... Tanburi Ali Efendi (also spelled Tamburi or Tambouri), (1836, Midilli - 1902, Ä°zmir) was a Turkish tanbur virtuoso and composer, one of the most famous among 19th century composers, who was also notable for having greatly contributed to Tanburi Cemil Beys development in music. ... Tanburi Cemil Bey (Tambouri Djemil Bey), (1871, Istanbul - 1916, Istanbul) was a Turkish tanbur, yaylı tanbur, kemençe and lavta virtuoso and composer, who has greatly contributed to the taksim (improvisation on a makam/maqam) genre in Turkish Classical Music. ... Necdet YaÅŸar (approximately nej-det ya-shar, IPA: ) or Necdet Yasar in the West (born 1930), is a Turkish tanbur lute player and teacher. ... Logo of the Turkish Language Association The Turkish Language Association (Turkish: Türk Dil Kurumu - TDK) is the official regulatory body of the Turkish language, founded on July 12, 1932 and headquartered in Ankara, Turkey. ... Ottoman redirects here. ... For other uses, see Ney (disambiguation). ... Kudüm is one of the most fundamental rhythm instruments in classical Turkish music. ... Ottoman classical music (Türk Sanat Müziği) is a kind of music that developed parallel with the Ottoman Empire. ...

History and development

There are several hypotheses as to the origin of the instrument. One suggests that it should have descended from the kopuz, a string instrument still in use amongst the Turkic peoples of Central Asia and the Caspian region ^[1]. The name itself derives from the Arabic tunbur which in turn might have descended from the Sumerian pantur. The name and its variants (tambura, dambra) denote also a wide spectrum of pear-shaped string instruments in Persia and Central Asia, yet these instruments have only their names in common with the Ottoman court instrument, these former being closer akin to bağlamas or sazes. In ancient Hittite texts, we come across a string instrument called tibula ^[2] which is most likely to have been the ancestor of the Ottoman court instrument via the Byzantine tambouras. This latter hypothesis could also account for the favor the instrument received in the Ottoman court vis-à-vis its rival, the oud. As of the 17^th century AD, the tanbur had already received its present form and structure and assumed the preponderant role it still holds in Classical Turkish Music performance. The komuz (translating literally as instrument) is an ancient fretless string instrument used in Kyrgyz music, closely related to other Turkic string instruments and the lute. ... Arabic can mean: From or related to Arabia From or related to the Arabs The Arabic language; see also Arabic grammar The Arabic alphabet, used for expressing the languages of Arabic, Persian, Malay ( Jawi), Kurdish, Panjabi, Pashto, Sindhi and Urdu, among others. ... Sumer (or Shumer, Sumeria, Shinar, native ki-en-gir) formed the southern part of Mesopotamia from the time of settlement by the Sumerians until the time of Babylonia. ... BA or Ba may stand for: ba an archaic two-letter English word meaning to kiss. in Egyptian mythology: One part of the Egyptian soul (which was imagined as a bird body with a human head). ... This article is about the music instrument. ... Relief of Suppiluliuma II, last known king of the Hittite Empire The Hittites were an ancient people from KaneÅ¡ who spoke an Indo-European language, and established a kingdom centered at Hattusa (Hittite URU) in north-central Anatolia from the 18th century BC. In the 14th century BC, the Hittite... Front and rear views of an oud. ...

Description of the instrument

Tanburs are made almost entirely of wood. The shell (Tekne) is assembled from strips of hardwood called ribs joined edge to edge to form a semi-spherical body for the instrument. The number of ribs traditionally amounts to 17, 21 or 23, yet tanburs with slightly wider and consequently fewer ribs (7, 9 or 11) can also be found amongst older specimens. Traditionally, thinner strips called fileto are inserted between the ribs for ornamental purposes, but are not obligatory. The most common tonewood veneers used for rib-making are mahogany, flame maple, Persian walnut, Mecca balsam wood (Commiphora gileadensis), Spanish chestnut, Greek juniper, mulberry, Oriental plane, Indian rosewood and apricot. Ribs are assembled on the bottom wedge (tail) and the heel on which the fingerboard is mounted. A veneer is a thin covering over another surface. ... This article is about the timber. ... Guitar with flamed maple Flame or flamed maple is a type of maple in which the grain pattern of the wood has an abnormality that produces distinct lines known as flames. ... Binomial name Juglans regia L. The Persian Walnut (Juglans regia) is a walnut native from the Balkans in southeast Europe east through southwest and central Asia and the Himalaya to southwest China. ... Balsam of Mecca (or balsam of Gilead or balm of Gilead) is a resinous gum of the tree Commiphora gileadensis (syn. ... Balsam of Mecca (or balsam of Gilead or balm of Gilead) is a resinous gum of the tree Commiphora gileadensis (syn. ... Binomial name Castanea sativa Mill. ... Binomial name M.Bieb. ... For other uses, see Mulberry (disambiguation). ... Binomial name Platanus orientalis L. The Oriental plane (Platanus orientalis L.) is a very large, widespreading, and long-lived deciduous tree in the Platanaceae family. ... For other uses, see Rosewood (disambiguation). ... Binomial name Prunus armeniaca L. For other uses, see Apricot (disambiguation). ...

The soundboard (Göğüs) is a rotund thin (2.5-3 mm) flat three-, two- or single-piece plate of resonant wood (usually Nordmann, silver or Greek fir). This circular plate measuring about 30 to 35 cm in diameter is mounted on the bottom wedge and the heel with simmering glue and encircled with a wooden ring. Soundhole is either wanting or consists of a very small unornamented opening (mostly in historical specimens), which gives the instrument its peculiar satiated sonority. Binomial name Abies nordmanniana (Steven) Spach Nordmann Fir Abies nordmanniana is a fir native to the mountains south and east of the Black Sea, in Turkey, Georgia, Russian Caucasus and northern parts of Armenia. ... Binomial name Abies alba Mill. ... Binomial name Abies cephalonica Loudon Greek Fir (Abies cephalonica) is a fir native to the mountains of Greece, primarily in the Peloponnesos and the island of Kefallinia, intergrading with the closely related Bulgarian Fir further north in the Pindus mountains of northern Greece. ...

The neck (Sap) is a mince (only 4-4.5 cm in diameter) 100-110 cm long D-section fingerboard made of light wood and carries catgut frets adjusted to give 36 intervals in an octave. Catgut frets are fixed on the neck by means of minute nails. The main bridge is trapezoid and mobile, and since the shell lacks braces to support the soundboard, the latter slightly yields in under the bridge. The smaller upper bridge between the pegbox and the neck is traditionally made of bone.

The plectrum is made of tortoise shell and is called "bağa" (meaning turtle). Cut in an assymetrical V-form and polished at 45° on the tip, it measures 2-2.5 mm x 5-6 mm x 10-15 cm. Nowadays it has seven strings. In the past tanburs with eight strings were not uncommon.

A variant: the yaylı tanbur

The yaylı tanbur has a similar physical appearance, although the shell -a nearly perfect semi-sphere- might be made of metal. It is played with a bow instead of a plectrum. The technique was introduced by Tanburi Cemil Bey in the beginning of the 19^th century. Ercüment Batanay is at present the most outstanding virtuoso of this instrument. The yaylı tanbur is held vertically on the knees, as opposed to the regular one where the neck is maintained horizontal to the ground at all times. The yaylı tanbur is a bowed lute from Turkey. ... Tanburi Cemil Bey (Tambouri Djemil Bey), (1871, Istanbul - 1916, Istanbul) was a Turkish tanbur, yaylı tanbur, kemençe and lavta virtuoso and composer, who has greatly contributed to the taksim (improvisation on a makam/maqam) genre in Turkish Classical Music. ...

Performers and techniques

Owing to its long past, the tanbur has let flourish several schools of interpretation. Oldest description of tanburîs is reported by the French traveller Charles Fonton who describes the use of catgut frets^[3]. A Turkish musical theory written in the beginning of the 18th century by the famous Kantemir Pasha -first an Ottoman citizen of Polish-Moldovian origin, then voivode of Moldovia- elucidates for the first time the proper intervals to use on a tanbur. Yet there is little mention of playing styles and the first tanbur master recorded by chronicles and of whom we have solid information is Tanburi İzak Effendi, who is said to have brought the tanbur playing technique to maturity. Today, he is considered as the reference of the "old style" in tanbur playing, partially recovered in the 20th century by Mesut Cemil. Sheikh of the Rifai Tekkesi in Kozyatağı (Istanbul) Abdülhalim Efendi was his pupil and carried on the same tradition. In the 18^th century, among the notable tanbur players we could name Numan Agha, Zeki Mehmed Agha, Tanburî Küçük Osman Bey, all of whom remained representatives of this allegedly old style. The first virtuoso to claim renovation was Tanburi Büyük Osman Bey who broke up with his father Zeki Mehmed Agha's technique to present his own. Later on, this later style became so prevalent that the older technique came to suffer oblivion. The musical heritage transmitted to Suphi Ezgi by Abdülhalim Efendi, and from the former to Mesut Cemil, an eminent figure in 19th Turkish Classical Music, has helped retrieve the essentials of this old technique. One last important tanburi successfully performing according to principles of the old school was Cemil Özbal (1908–1980) from Gaziantep. Dimitrie Cantemir (-Romanian, Дмитрий Кантемир in Russian, KantemiroÄŸlu in Turkish, Kantymir in Polish), (October 26, 1673 - 1723) was a Moldavian Voivode (Prince; March-April 1693 and 1710-1711), philosopher, historian, composer, linguist and scholar. ... Mesut Cemil (1902-1963) was a Turkish composer, tanbur and cello player. ... Tanburi Büyük Osman Bey (1816–1885) was an Ottoman composer and tanbur player. ... Mesut Cemil (1902-1963) was a Turkish composer, tanbur and cello player. ... Gaziantep (Kurdish: , informally, Antep) is the capital city of Gaziantep Province in Turkey. ...

Yet the most renowned and probably the most prolific of tanburis is Tanburi Cemil Bey, who not only excelled in virtuosity, but who alleged a heritage claimed in the past by prominent figures of Turkish Classical Music such as Niyazi Sayın and Necdet Yaşar. Tanburi Cemil Bey (Tambouri Djemil Bey), (1871, Istanbul - 1916, Istanbul) was a Turkish tanbur, yaylı tanbur, kemençe and lavta virtuoso and composer, who has greatly contributed to the taksim (improvisation on a makam/maqam) genre in Turkish Classical Music. ... Niyazi Sayın (approximately nea-yah-zea suh-yewn, IPA: ) or Niyazi Sayin in the West (born 1927) is a Turkish ney flautist and music educator. ... Necdet YaÅŸar (approximately nej-det ya-shar, IPA: ) or Necdet Yasar in the West (born 1930), is a Turkish tanbur lute player and teacher. ...

See also

• Category:Tanbur players

References

Sources consulted

Endnotes

External links

Videos

• Tanbur videos