The Structure of Kurdistan Daf (VII)

1 November 2022 – 2:58 pm Posted in Articles' List, Contemporary Music, General Information, Instrument & Playing

Researcher:
Mohammad Tarighat

Translator:
Fatemeh Alimohammadi

Conclusion

“Daf” is one of type of percussion instruments that has a long history and is commonly known as circular instruments (with a rim). In some tribes, Daf was used as the main instrument in festivity and joy ceremonies; in another tribe it was used as the main instrument for war and campaign ceremonies and some others used it for ritual and religious ceremonies.

In Iran, there are many different names for circular instruments such as: Daf, Dayereh, Charkh, Gharbal, Deire, Ghaval, Dap, Doyah, Sama, Daryeh, Buter, Doub, Taborak and so on.

In this article, a circular instrument called “Daf” in Kurdistan was studied that its components include:

Arch, frame, Gharbali: The type of wood used in Daf depends on the variety of trees in the area. In this instrument, woods of grape, orange, fig, walnut, maple, berry, quince, plane tree, ash (Van, Benav, Benavch) and Salicaceae such as: poplar and red willow are used.

The piece of wood, about two meters long, is made in a circle shape with a diameter between 53 and 55 centimeters. Dimensions will be different for children and youth and a diameter of less than 50 cm is considered for them. In some cases, the diameter may be more than 55 cm , which is made only for the type of sounding in an orchestra. The thickness of the arch wood in the part where the studs are located is about one and a half centimeters. The Avazeh of Daf also starts from the middle of the frame and gradually decreases to a thickness of two and a half to three millimeters at the junction of the skin. The width of the frame is between five and seven and rarely 10 cm (these are known as monastery Daf), it is preferably compared to the size of the player’s palm, so that the knuckle of the thumb does not bend. Such a width will also prevent the wrist from bending in the “middle” beat.

Thumb index: The location of the thumb to hold the Daf. The size of the thumb should be appropriate with the size of the player’s palm and the length of his fingers so that the wrist does not bend during the “middle” beat.

Today, hooks and rings, unlike the past that were made of brass, steel or copper, are only made of iron. The rings are made of iron wire about one and a half to one and eight centimeters in diameter and about one millimeter thick. The distance between the hooks and the skin is calculated by taking into account half the width of the arch and adding about half a centimeter from the skin. The distance between the ring and the side rings should be as large as the diameter of a ring, which makes for a better arrangement and less interference of the rings and a clearer sound, and also helps to keep the instrument lighter. In each hook, there are four rings that the first and second rings are connected from above as a single and the next two rings are connected to the second rings in pairs.

Skin: Old, fat-free, clear, and transparent skin of animals such as sheep, goat, yeanling, lamb, ewe, antelope, fish, camels, calve, and deer, but today sheep skin and in some cases goat skins are used.

Studs or tacks made of brass, copper or iron are used to attach natural skin to arch.

Strap: When the duration of playing Daf is long, a strap is installed on the inner edge of the Daf, which the musician wraps around his wrist to reduce hand fatigue.

The best weight for Daf is a weight that applies a slight pressure to the forearm muscles. In simple terms, the musicians feel the weight of instrument.

It is hoped that this article has led Daf learners to take a deeper look at the form and components of this ancient instrument than before, and that the art of making Daf, especially Dafs with artificial skin, will be revived by using veterans’ experiences, having no weaknesses and shortcomings in the structure. Another important issue that needs basic research is the study of the relation between the weight and diameter of the arch of Daf with limbs, ossification and muscle mass at different ages of Daf musicians, which can be divided into different groups and as a result, design and construction of instruments in various dimensions in accordance with medical science standards and without possible damage to Daf players.

Resources

Ahmadi, A., 2019, Daf officials, New Note Publications, Yazd, First edition.
Pahlavan, K., 2015, Daf and Dayereh, Arun Publications, Tehran, First edition.
Tohidi, A., 1998, Daf playing style, Soroush Publications, Tehran, First edition.
Khaktinat, A., 2005, Daf and playing Daf, Sureh Mehr Publications, Tehran, First edition.
Darwish, M.R, 2005, Encyclopedia of Iran Instruments, Mahour Cultural and Artistic Institute, Tehran, Volume 2, First Edition.
Mohammadi, B., 2001, Daf and its feasts in Ghaderi’s Takaya, Mahidasht Publications, Kermanshah, First edition.
Moradi, A., 2020, Daf in monastery, Arshadan Educational and authoring Institute, Tehran, Volume One, First Edition.
Mogharab Samadi, A., 2009, Exercise of Love, First book, Tasnif Publishing, Tehran, First edition.
Nasrollahpour, A., 2000, Kurdish instruments, Taghbostan Publications, Kermanshah, First edition.
Naqib Sardasht, B., 2007, Knowing instrument in Kurdish music, Tavakoli Publications, Tehran, First Edition.

Researcher’s Interviews

Jabari, A., 2022, About pathology of Daf players, May, In person interview, Tehran.
Hosseini, B., 2021 and 2020, About his Daf playing Style, September and January, In person interview, Sanandaj.
Mohammadi, H., 2021, About the structure of Daf, September, In person interview, Sanandaj.

This entry was written by HarmonyTalk
Tagged: .

Timeless or Timely: The Role of Historical Context in Defining Artistic Value

Imagine that, in the course of historical research, we discover a musical piece whose compositional techniques (including form, melody, texture, and orchestration) resemble those of a second-rate 19th-century composition. But further investigation reveals that this work predates that period by 200 years. Can we still deem it insignificant? Certainly not. Here, the first major role of historical judgment becomes evident.

Leading the Charge in Censorship

Davoud Pirnia, writer and musicologist was the founder of “Golha” (Flowers of Persian Song and Music) programs on Tehran Radio (1956-1966). He received his early education from his father, Hassan Pirnia (Moshir al-Douleh), and several tutors of the time (Taraghi, interview, July 1989) and continued his studies at Saint Louis School in Tehran and then in Switzerland and graduated in law. While studying law, Pirnia got acquainted with European classical music. Upon returning to Iran, he was employed by the Ministry of Justice and founded the Lawyers’ Guild. Then he was transferred to the Ministry of Finance and established the Department of Statistics in this ministry. Later, he became the head of the state inspection office at the Prime Ministry; he was, then, promoted to the position of the Deputy Prime Minister (Navab Safa, interview, August 1999)

Latest posts

From Past Days…

Timeless or Timely: The Role of Historical Context in Defining Artistic Value

A Promising Concert by National Instruments Orchestra

The National Instruments Orchestra of Iran performed its first concert amid much hope and anxiety on July 18, 2015. The Orchestra is founded by Roudaki Cultural and Arts Foundation which is a semi-private foundation in Iran. The Arts Director for the National Instruments Orchestra of Iran is cand the Orchestra Executive Director is Sadjad Pourghand.

Ruggero Chiesa’s Legacy

Written by Peyman Shirali Translated by Mahta Mottaghi Since many years ago, I had the intention of writing an article on the Italian maestro Ruggero Chiesa and his musical life; but his ingenuity and the immense legacy, which is impressive for not only me, but also almost everyone who knows him properly, made it hard for me…
Read More »

Polyphony in Iranian Music (I)

Despite the fact that Iranian folk music (regional music of Iran), like the Radif of Iranian traditional music, is monophonic and follows heterophony in principal, we experience polyphonic forms, albeit, majorly unconscious.

A combination of technique and musicality in the fingers of a pianist

In the world of classical music, the position of soloist has always been exceptional. Apart from the technical ability that many orchestral musicians also have, the soloist must also have a special power to be able to present a different and unique perspective of a piece. The soloist must maintain its special power of expression not only in solo roles but also when interacting with the orchestra.

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.

Hassan Kassai, Ney Virtuoso

The name of Maestro Hassan Kassai is so vehemently intertwined with Ney (Persian reed flute) that one cannot imagine one without the other immediately coming into mind. Ney is one of the instruments which went through a lot of ups and downs in the history of the Iranian music since the time of Sassanid kings to the time when shepherds found playing it consoling when they took their cattle for grazing. However, Nay could never demonstrate its main capacities to gain a stable position among the musicians and the people like other instruments including Oud, Tar, Santour, all sorts of bowed string instruments and plucked string instruments.

Iranian Fallacies – School of Vaziri

The term “School of Vaziri” is often used in writings on Iranian music, but the exact meaning of the term is not clear; some of the authors have used the term to only refer to the group of Vaziri’s students, including a large group of his conservatory students and his Tar students such as Abolhassan Saba, Rouhollah Khaleghi, Ahmad Foroutan Rad, Hossein Sanjari, Heshmat Sanjari and others. But can we consider all Vaziri’s students as followers of his school of thought? This is definitely a mistake, because we know that some of Vaziri’s students have chosen a completely different path than that of Vaziri.

From the Last Instrumentalist to the First Composer (I)

Music as an art has its own special history; emergence of a singer, of an instrumentalist and then the emergence of the strong character of a composer covers three significant phases of the art of music. With the emergence of composer which was simultaneous with the emergence of the language of music, this art managed to offer a domain for criticism for its composer; a procedure which led to a magnificent variety and evolution in musical production. Even though the conflicts between singers and instrumentalists have not met their end in the Iranian society and while singers can achieve high, instrumentalists have yet to play behind curtains . In a special era, with the efforts of musicians such as Ali Naghi Vaziri (1887-1979) and Rouhollah Khaleghi (1906-1965), glimmers of a composing era started to glow bearing fruit in Khaleghi’s achievement as Iran’s first professional composer. Khaleghi made his reputation as a composer while Vaziri deserved to pioneer this path. By then Vaziri was well-known as a Tar player.

The Structure of Kurdistan Daf (III)

“Our ancestors believe powerful blows upon the Daf scatters evil spirits of disease and distress to create a clean and holy space filled with health and prosperity. Adding tools to Daf increases this instrument’s purification, spreading, and summoning powers of evil forces and goddesses. Daf was mostly depicted by red, color of blood, in ancient times or sometimes it was depicted with green, the color of plants and nature. There were probably some mysterious designs painted upon the wooden body and frames of these instruments just like today” (Pahlavan, 2013: 44).