Wind instrument
Balaban
or
balaman
[7]
(
Azerbaijani
:
Balaban
? ???????;
Persian
:
???????
) is cylindrical-bore, double-
reed
wind instrument about 35 centimetres (14 in) long with eight finger holes and one thumb hole. This instrument is played in the eastern part of
Iran
's historic
Azerbaijan region
as well as in the Republic of
Azerbaijan
(where it is also called
Duduk
according to the
Encyclopædia Iranica
).
[6]
Balaban,
Mey
, and
Duduk
are almost identical, except for historical and geographical differences.
[8]
Balaban can be made of
mulberry
or other harder woods, such as
walnut
. The bore through the instrument is about 1.5 centimetres (0.59 in) in diameter. The double reed is made out of a single tube of cane about six cm long and pressed flat at one end. The performer uses air stored in his cheeks to keep playing the balaban while he inhales air into his lungs. This “circular” breathing technique is commonly used with all the double-reed instruments in the
Middle East
.
Balaban can be found in regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkey. It is sometimes used as Balaman, Mey or Whistle, among Azerbaijan and Turkistan in the West Azerbaijan region.
Consisting of a body (govda) and a mouth-worn flat reed mouthpiece, Balaban is 280-300 millimeters long and 20-22 millimeters in diameter. The sound is dull and light, and because it is weak, it is mostly played in closed spaces and room meetings. Thanks to the clamp on the reed, the sound can be thinned and thickened. The cane, flattened by a special method, consists of a clamp and a body. By pushing the grapple upwards or downwards on the reed, one-curtain sound change can be made and it can adapt to the instrument groups immediately. Another type of Balaban is used in
ashiq
music. Alihan Samedov is a famous Azerbaijani balaban artist.
Structure
[
edit
]
Balaban, which is often called also yasti (flat) balaban for flat mouthpiece and soft sound, consists of body made of apricot tree, cane, barrow and cover. The body has 8 holes on the surface and 1 on the back in the middle of the first and second holes (sound fret) on the surface.
[9]
It consists of a stem, a
reed
, a regulator, and a cap.
[10]
The stem of the balaban, or
govda
, is a 280?320 millimetres (11?13 in) cylindrical tube made primarily of
apricot
wood (sometimes hazel, pear, mulberry, boxwood, etc.). The process of carving a balaban stem is called
balaban chakma
. The upper end of the stem (
bash
or
kup
) is given a round shape, whereas the lower end (
ayag
) is sharpened. The
bore
is 10 millimetres (0.39 in) in diameter. Eight holes or "tones" constituting a "sound tone" (
sas pardasi
) are made on the obverse and another one is made on the bottom side, opposite of the interval between the first and the second holes of the
sas pardasi
. Sometimes an additional hole called
nizam pardasi
is made on the lower end of the bottom side to ensure good
timbre
.
[10]
The holes made on the stem are classified as follows:
[10]
Sound tone?
sas pardasi
|
Functional
|
#1 ? first tone?
bash parda
|
#4 ? main tone ?
shah parda
|
#6 ? open tone?
achyg parda
|
#8 ? bottom tone?
ayag parda
|
rear ? back tone?
arkha parda
|
Tonal
|
#2 ? tone of segah ?
segah pardasi
(1)
|
#5 ? tone of segah ?
segah pardasi
(2)
|
#7 ? tone of mahur ?
mahur pardasi
|
Acoustic
|
bottom ? tone of balance ?
nizam pardasi
|
The reed (
gamish
,
garghy
or
dil
) made of
club-rush
that grows in an arid area is inserted into the upper end. It flattens and takes the shape of a
double reed
. It is tied to a 60 millimetres (2.4 in) long and 10 millimetres (0.39 in) wide regulator (
kharak
,
boghazlig
,
boyundurug
,
ulama
,
akma
) made of a willow or grape branch cut lengthways. The reed is then fixed by a collar-like regulator on one side and a 7?12 millimetres (0.28?0.47 in) pivot on the other side. The cap (
qapaq
,
aghizlig
,
kip
,
band
, etc.) made of willow, hazel, cornel or mulberry is put on the reed to prevent it from damage. It is tied to the regulator in order not to be lost.
[10]
History
[
edit
]
In the region; Balaman is also called Yasla Balaman, flat Balaman.
Balaban first used in Azerbaijan orchestra since 1931, when the Folk Instrument Orchestra was established in Azerbaijan.
It is used to accompany songs in Turkmen and Kurdish cities such as Erbil, Suleymaniye, Kirkuk.
Balaban, which has a warm sonority, is often used as a companion to the songs of heaven and bendir and A?ık. Kudum and defle can also perform a duet, and are also performed solo.
2 The balaban plays together, while someone gives a sound, and someone plays the melody.
It has origin in Caucuses and has been adopted by Azerbaijani music.
On solemn occasions such as weddings and holiday ceremonies, a balaban-player is accompanied by a percussionist. A traditional Azeri musical group consisting of two balaban-players and a percussionist is called
balabanchilar dastasi
. The short selection of Azerbaijani
mugham
played in balaban, national wind instrument was included on the
Voyager Golden Record
, attached to the Voyager spacecraft as representing world music, included among many cultural achievements of humanity.
[11]
It was also used in pastoral songs and funeral music. According to
Huseyngulu Sarabski
, hunters played the balaban to attract
quails
. Certain types of the balaban are also used in
ashik
music.
[10]
Legacy
[
edit
]
Kamil Jalilov
's recording of the song with balaban was included on the
Voyager Golden Record
, attached to the
Voyager
spacecraft as representing
mugham
, only Azerbaijani song included among many cultural achievements of humanity.
[12]
[13]
[14]
[15]
Gallery
[
edit
]
-
Ashuq plays balaban (right) in
Baku
. The Lute to the left is a
Ba?lama
.
-
Azerbaijani musical instruments (including balaban) on the stamp of
USSR
, 1990
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Толковый словарь русского языка Кузнецова. 1 е изд е: СПб.: Норинт. С. А. Кузнецов"
. Archived from
the original
on 2012-07-09
. Retrieved
2012-07-18
.
- ^
"БАЛАМАН в музыкальной энциклопедии"
.
Music-dic.ru
. Retrieved
21 April
2021
.
- ^
"Atlas of traditional music of Azerbaijan"
.
Atlas.musigi-dunya.az
. Retrieved
21 April
2021
.
- ^
"Статьи, обзоры и лонгриды о главном на iz.ru | Известия"
.
Iz.ru
. Retrieved
21 April
2021
.
- ^
Сергей Александрович Токарев. Основы этнографии: Учеб. пособие для ист. специальностей вузов.. ? Высшая школа, 1968. ? С. 311. ? 359 с.
- ^
a
b
Encyclopaedia Iranica. Balaban.
Archived
2011-08-05 at the
Wayback Machine
:
≪B?L?B?N, a cylindrical-bore, double-reed wind instrument about 35cm long with seven finger holes and one thumb hole. It is played in eastern Azerbaijan in Iran and Soviet Azerbaijan (where it is also called
duduk
).≫
- ^
Музыкальная энциклопедия.
Баламан
. Под ред. Ю. В. Келдыш. Т 1. А ? М.: Советская энциклопедия, 1973.
- ^
A COMPARATIVE VIEW OF THE MEY, BALABAN AND DUDUK AS ORGANOLOGICAL PHENOMENA
Retrieved February 28, 2022
.
- ^
Chandrakausika, R. A. M. (2012-11-18).
"The Music Of Azerbaijan"
.
A World's Heritage of Native Music
. Retrieved
2017-05-16
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Charming Sounds of the Balaban
Archived
2018-08-11 at the
Wayback Machine
by Saadat Abdullayeva
- ^
Chandrakausika, R. A. M. (2013-03-05).
"???? The Music Of Azerbaijan Vol-02 ????"
.
A World,s Heritage Of Native Music
. Retrieved
2017-05-16
.
- ^
"AZ?RBAYCANDA BALABAN S?N?T?N? OYR?N?N AMER?KALININ ?ND? 80 T?L?B?S? VAR (Balaban ustadı Babaxan ?mirovun dedikl?ri)"
.
mediaforum.az
(in Azerbaijani). Archived from
the original
on 2014-05-14
. Retrieved
13 May
2014
.
- ^
"In Search of Extraterrestrials: Azerbaijani Music Selected for Voyager Spacecraft by Anne Kressler"
.
Azer.com
. Retrieved
21 April
2021
.
- ^
"APA - Azerbaijani mugham sent out to outer space 32 years ago"
. Archived from
the original
on 2012-02-25
. Retrieved
2014-05-13
.
- ^
"Voyager - Spacecraft - Golden Record - Sounds of Earth"
.
NASA
. Retrieved
2009-05-25
.
External links
[
edit
]
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European classical
(modern)
| |
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European classical
(historical)
| |
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African traditional
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Asian traditional
| |
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European traditional
| |
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American traditional
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Shared
|
- Novruz
(
Azeri
· 2009)
- Flatbread making and sharing culture:
Lavash
, Katyrma, Jupka, Yufka (2016)
- Art of crafting and playing with
kamancha
(2017)
- Heritage of the
Book of Dede Gorgud
, epic culture, folk tales and music (2018)
- Art of
miniature
(2020)
- Sericulture
and traditional production of silk for weaving (
Azeri
· 2022)
- Culture of
tea
, a symbol of identity, hospitality and social interaction (
Azeri
· 2022)
- Telling tradition of
Molla Nasraddin
anecdotes (2022)
- Craftsmanship and performing art of
balaban
(2023)
- Craftsmanship of mother of pearl
inlay
(2023)
- Iftar
and its socio-cultural traditions (2023)
- Art of
illumination
(2023)
|
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Need of Urgent Safeguarding
| |
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