The Structure of Kurdistan Daf (I)

Researcher:
Mohammad Tarighat
Translator:
Fatemeh Alimohammadi

Introduction
Today, percussion instruments have such a high place in music that are an essential element of orchestras. This has attracted many people to this type of instrument with roots as old as the first humans. A historical study of music, shows that humans used the sound of these instruments to defend themselves against wild animals and, over time, for alerting each other, signaling their readiness and encouraging people for war, ritual ceremonies, dances, etc. in a manner that is still clearly visible in music and some ritual ceremonies.
“Daf” is a percussion instrument with a long history used in different cities of Iran and even its neighbors in different manners. This instrument is also commonly known as circular instruments1 (with a rim). This is one of the most widely used instruments in human history due to its simplicity of making and playing. Daf and Daf playing are highly valued and respected in Iran’s “Kurdistan” province so that playing the instrument includes its specific etiquettes and rituals.
Nowadays, different factors have changed Daf and Daf playing. These changes have created various performance and training methods, but some were destructive to the Daf structure in a manner that mass Daf production has turned this art into an industry that not only affects the Daf sound, but also irreversibly damages the musicians’ hand joints. Therefore, this study will analyze the Kurdistan Daf’s structure by proposing this central question: What are the components of the Kurdistan Daf? It also introduces a design for this instrument that inflicts the least possible damage to the musicians’ hand joints. This study has a practical goal and uses the descriptive-analytical method. It gathers information using library and field research (interviews with instrument manufacturers).

The History of Daf
Circles are one of the essential symbolic shapes among ancient civilizations. The circle is a universal symbol for wholeness, totality, symmetry, perfection, infinity, eternity, not being limited to one place, and the most natural shape, which makes it divine. It is a complete shape with equal and similar components alongside an unlimited number of radiuses from the same core (Pahlavan, 2013: 26-27).
Emad Tohidi expresses the following in his “Daf Playing Method”:
“The historical monuments in Shush from the 27th century BC include one of the earliest references to minstrels. Also, a carved bronze cup from Lorestan shows the Daf, Chang 2, and Ney instruments in religious or court ceremonies (Museum of Ancient Iran). The embossed carvings from the “Ashur-Banipal” parlance (The first millennium BC) in the British Museum depict Babylonian musicians some of whom are holding a Daf. Other prominent stone carvings and paintings from early historic eras show different musical instruments such as the Daf in the Ilami (Farah)

1. Frame drum
2. Harp
embossed carvings of the Elamite era being the oldest. This carving shows priests during a sacrifice ritual holding instruments such as Dafs and Changs” (Tohidi, 1996: 32).
A brief look at history shows that the Daf dates back to 7000 years, originating from Mesopotamia and Kurdish regions. Historical evidence also shows Arabs have played the Daf for at least 2000 years; therefore, the Daf might be gifted from Kurds to Arabs in the cultural exchange process (Ahmadi, 2017: 10-11).
Keyvan Pahlavan says about this: “the Daf is an instrument from the Eastern Asia, which includes Tehran and the Arabian Peninsula, and remained only in North Saudi Arabia due to the special historical and social conditions of this Peninsula (there were no dealings with them and they remained unchanged for years) and entered Iranian court before Islam and entered the land in a general and popular way after the Islam religion and the Arabs from the Hirah region, used to export Iranian cultural manifestations to Saudi Arabian and import things from Arabia to Iran” (Pahlavan, 2013: 59).

Post a Comment

Required fields are marked *
*
*
Your email is never shared.

Bahma Rajabi Passed Away!

Bahman Rajabi, the renowned tonbak (Persian goblet drum) player and educator, passed away at his home at the age of 86 due to a heart condition. He was the founder of a distinctive school of tonbak playing, and his teaching methods have been widely used by instructors of the instrument for decades..

Reza Vohdani; Unveiling unpublished works, preservation of Iranian classical music

Reza Vohdani is a renowned name among tar (traditional Iranian instrument) players, especially within the Iranian music community that values the meticulous practice and teaching of traditional music. While Vohdani honed his skills in music theory and tar playing under the guidance of masters like Ali-Naghi Vaziri, Ali-Akbar Shahnazi, Hossein Dehlavi, and Ahmad Forutan-Rad, it is his unwavering dedication to studying, documenting, and teaching the Iranian classical music repertoire that has solidified his prominence in the field. Recently, Vohdani’s family decided to make his preserved works accessible to the wider art and music community. In this regard, The Persian-language newspaper ‘Iran’ spoke with Sadjad Pourghanad, a musician, university instructor, and music researcher, who shared his opinion into the project, as detailed in the interview below.

From Past Days…

Prominent Iranian Musicologist Passes Away in Vienna

Khosrow Djafarzadeh, musicologist and architect, who was also one of the main authors of HarmonyTalk journal passed away on 15 July 2019.

Banan: the Artist of the Age

Gholam Hossein Banan was born in 1911 in Tehran. He was born in an affluent art-loving family who were Naser al-Din Shah Qajar (1848-1896)’s relative. The Qajar King was his mother’s uncle on her father’s side. He learnt his first lessons in music while his father sang Iranian avaz (improvised rhythmic-free singing), he then attended classes by the renowned Iranian composer, Morteza Neydavoud (1900-1990) along with his sisters; the composer is, therefore, considered as his first teacher. He then learnt Iranian avaz under the supervision of Mirza Taher Zia Resaee (Zia-o Zakerin) and Naser Seif in an oral manner.

Iranian Fallacies – Composition and Arrangement

In the tradition of classical music, it is generally tried to use the same technical terms related to music in all countries. Even in the cultures in which native terms exist to refer to musical terms, usually the better known universal terms are employed.

The Structure of Kurdistan Daf (IV)

Researcher: Mohammad Tarighat Translator: Fatemeh Alimohammadi Daf Structure The Structure of Daf in different cities of Iran has a great variety in terms of dimensions, components and even appearance; some of which are as follows: – Square Daf, on which the skin was stretched either on one or both sides, with strings installed inside it…
Read More »

Gholam Reza Khan Minbashian: a pioneer in Iranian music (II)

Gholamreza Khan Minbashian taught courses such as organology, orchestration of military music and harmony based on the books which were translated from French into Persian with the help of Aliakbar Mozayyan-o-Dolleh (1846-1932).

Interview with the Makers of the New Qeychak (II)

Regarding the classification of a new instrument in an instrument family, one can point to a number of fundamental issues, one of the most obvious of which is the instrument’s visual features. If we look at how the new instrument has changed compared to its historical versions, the set of visual elements that link the instrument to the Qeychak family becomes apparent. But other characteristics such as the geometric dimensions of the instrument, characteristics of the instrument’s various parts and how they relate to each other, its systematic performance, its sound range (compared to modern versions), the material and color of the sound, the way it is played and the like, can be considered in order to classify the instrument in the Qeychak family.

“Symphonic Poems from Persia” Released in Germany

While the name “Persia” (Western historical name of Iran) has attracted tens of thousands of people from around the world to London’s British Museum to visit ancient Persian artifacts, the Nuremberg-based music company, Colosseum, invites Europeans to listen to eight masterpieces of Persian symphonic music.

Principles of Playing Violin (VI)

B. applying force: the force needed for putting finger on finger board is applied through finger tips and using the rest of hand set especially wrist is not allowed. To practice this, it is possible to hold violin without the bow and throw the fingers on the finger board from 1-2cm distance; apply force only through finger tips.

A Look at Ali Tajvidi’s Manifold Musical Activities (II)

Tajvidi thought of studying harmony and orchestration with Houshang Ostvar (who was eight years younger than him) at a time when he had gained a reputation among musicians. His humbleness, making him willing to kneel before the scholars at any age and position, became the key to his scientific success. After this period, Tajvidi made some of his works polyphonic, the most prominent of which is “Burn” set to a poem by Abdullah Ulfat. However, his ability to make his works polyphonic was not so great to make him self-sufficient; so he depended on musicians such as Farhad Fakhreddini, Fereydoun Naseri, Kambiz Roshanravan, Fereydoun Shahbazian and Morteza Hananeh for the arrangement of his compositions.

The Structure of Kurdistan Daf (VI)

Researcher: Mohammad Tarighat Translator: Fatemeh Alimohammadi Hooks and attached rings: The junction of the ring to the arch is about 3 centimeters from the skin.  The ring with its side rings should be as far as the diameter of a ring (about one and a half to one and eight centimeters) to make a proper…
Read More »