Artist description Of the many ancient societies that have affected the course of human civilization, Persia has been one of the few that persistently maintained its identity and individuality. This notion is reflected in its classical music.Like other Middle Eastern music, the music of Iran is modal in nature. Iranian classical music is usually performed by small ensembles of variable size. These groups typicallyconsist of the singer, one or two accompanying melodic instruments (either of kamanche, tar, santur, sehtar, or nay) and perhaps a rhythmic instrument, such as the dombak or the zarb. The most important instruments are listed below. The Sehtar is a four stringed lute with two strings of steal and two strings of brass. The neck length fretting has the same range as the tar, from C to G. It is there, however, where the similarity ends. The body of the sehtar is a single pear shape, made entirely out of wood, with some small holes drilled in the outside face of the wood to aid sound projection. However, because of this method of construction, the sehtar is markedly quieter than the tar Also, unlike the tar, the player plucks the strings with the nail of the index finger, instead of using a plectrum. The Santur is generally considered the most important of Persian melody instruments. It is a struck zither or dulcimer. The body consists of a trapezoid-shaped wooden case that has a longer end about 3 ft wide and a shorter end about 14 in wide. Arranged in quadruple sets, the 72 metal strings run across the width of the instrument and are sounded with two thin hardwood hammers. In a typical Persian music ensemble, the leader of the group is the santur player and tends to sit in the middle of the line up. Today, the Tar is the most widely used plucked string instrument in Iran. It is a fretted lute with six strings, five of steel and one of brass. It has a long neck and a double bellied sound box, over which is streched a thin sheep skin membrane. The tunings of the strings are changed according to the dastgah that is being played, and the 26 frets are movable. The strings are plucked with a plectrum. The Kamanche is a bowed spiked fiddle, similar to a rebab, or a small version of the standard cello. It is actually about the same size as a viola, and its four metal strings are generally tuned in the same manner as a violin. The ornate body is usually a wooden hemisphere coverred with thin sheepskin membrane. Oddly, the instrument's bridge runs diagonally across its membrane. The Nay is the simplest and probably the oldest instrument used in the performance of classical music. It is a vertical reed flute with six finger holes in the front and one in the back. It is extremely difficult to play well. As being of particularly simple construction, it is hard to obtain a pure tone. Unlike many instruments used in purely Persian music, the nay is also used outside of Iran such as in Arabic music and in Balkan folk music. The Dombak is the chief percussion instrument of Persian classical music. It is a one-headed drum that is carved of a single piece of wood, and is open on the bottom. Across the larger, upper part of the body is streched a sheepskin membrane that is glued into place. Thus, the instrument cannot be tuned; the performer prepares it for a piece by warming the membrane over a heater. The Zarb is a larger version of the Tombak. The playing technique of these drums is comparable, though not particularly similar, to the Indian Tabla-- the players produce different sounds from a single drum according to how and where they strike the surface with their fingers. For instance, hitting the center of the drum produces a deep booming sound, whereas hitting the rim makes a high pitched ricky-ticky sound. The combination of these sounds produces the distinctive rhythm.

Music Style IRANIAN

Location Tehran, TEHRAN - Iran

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