I came across an article at the BBC's Web site discussing the dying art of making the santoor or santur, a traditional Persian string percussion instrument (not to be confused with the similar Indian santoor, which has a different design). The article is very interesting, and I recommend you click over there and read it for yourself.
Having read it, I wanted to hear what the santur sounded like; so I turned to YouTube, and found quite a lot of material there. Here, in no particular order, are three pieces for the instrument and accompanists.
An interesting excursion into a musical tradition that's wholly new to me. You'll find many more pieces on YouTube.
Peter
3 comments:
Suspiciously similar to the hammered dulcimer used in late Mediaeval Europe, and 17th / 18th C America by Scots / Irish immigrants.
Many societies forget that their "traditional" influences and ingredients were imported to them in the 16th / 17th C.
Note that the "traditional" hot peppers of Chinese, Thai, Indian, Arabic, and Eastern European cuisines were imported first to China on the Manilla Galleons from 16th C Spanish colonial South America, and spread from there.
John in Indy
kind of like a hammer dulcimer.
Fascinating. Mechanically it looks like a distant cousin of the Hammer Dulcimer found in some flavors of folk music. Tuning is quite different, which is unsurprising, as Eastern and Middle Eastern music employ slightly different scales compared to those used in the West. I suspect the strings are strung in sets, so when you strike one, you also strike or excite strings that are tuned to the overtones (harmonics) of the note. An interesting instrument.
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