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Rabab (fiddle)
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Wood, goat skin, sheep gut, reed. Bow:
horse hair
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Le
: 53 cm
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The
Arab and Mediterranean Center Tunisia
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When I was
a six years old, I saw the cartoon about the cricket that played
the violin and the ant that worked. The recorded tunes supposedly
played by the cricket were wonderful. I have loved the violin
since then and I decided I wanted to be like the cricket myself.
Today, as a student at the Institute of Music I have chosen to
introduce you to a traditional musical instrument from my country
that is the ancestor of the violin.
I am pleased
to be able to give you some details about this stringed instrument.
The rabab is a bowed stringed instrument that belongs to the family
of chordophones. It has a total length of 53 cm. This instrument
existed from the pre-Islamic period almost everywhere in the world,
from India, Spain, Morocco and Algeria to Egypt and Tunisia, albeit
in various shapes and for different uses. The rabab has been played
in Tunisia for serious classical music since the 11th century.
It was used to accompany the naoubet (Tunisian musical style)
in which it improvised and followed the singing. The rabab is
the pivotal element in the traditional Tunisian orchestra called
the tacht that includes the tar (tambourine), the ud (lute) and
the naqara (pair of small kettledrums).
Let us look
at the technical specifications of the rabab. The instrument is
made of a walnut or cedar soundbox that looks like an elongated
half pear joined together along its length. The top has an upper
part covered with a thin sheet of hammered cooper, decorated with
three small rosettes. The lower part is covered with goat skin.
The instrument also has a peg box, two sheep gut strings that
are attached at the bottom of the instrument and pass over a 4
to 5 cm reed bridge. The bow is very curved and made of horse
hair. The rabab has a low range and music is written for it in
the key of F. It has an strange nasal tone and plays long, sustained
and harmonically rich notes. In Tunisia, the instrument is tuned
in fifths (G-D).
The rabab
player sits with crossed legs and places the rabab on his right
knee obliquely across his body, with the peg box resting against
his left shoulder. He holds one of the ends of the bow between
his right index and middle finger. He places his thumb underneath
the strands and uses pressure to control the tension of the bow.
Unfortunately, the rabab has not been part of Tunisian orchestras
for a considerable period of time. It has been replaced by the
violin's clearer sound that suits voices better. It is a real
loss when our traditional instruments are abandoned since they
mirror our traditions and culture. And now, my wish is to meet
a new generation of Tunisians who play the rabab as well as the
cricket played his violin.
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