The ''dombra'', also known as ''dombyra'' ( kz, домбыра, uz, dombira, ba, думбыра) is a long-necked
Kazakh,
Uzbek and
Bashkir lute
A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted.
More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...
and a musical
string instrument
String instruments, stringed instruments, or chordophones are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer plays or sounds the strings in some manner.
Musicians play some string instruments by plucking the ...
. The dombyra shares certain characteristics with the
komuz
The komuz or qomuz ( ky, комуз , az, Qopuz, tr, Kopuz) is an ancient fretless string instrument used in Central Asian music, related to certain other Turkic string instruments, the Mongolian tovshuur, and the lute. The instrument can be f ...
and
dutar
The ''dutar'' (also ''Dotara, dotar''; fa, دوتار, dutâr; russian: Дутар; tg, дутор; ug, دۇتار, ucy=Дутар, Dutar; uz, dutor; ; dng, Дутар) is a traditional Iranian long-necked two-stringed lute found in Iran and ...
, such as its long, thin neck and oblong body shape. It is a popular instrument mostly among
Turkic communities in
Central Asian
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the former S ...
countries such as
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
,
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...
,
Tajikistan
Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...
,
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...
and
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
.
Varieties
The instrument differs slightly in different regions. The Kazakh dombyra has
fret
A fret is any of the thin strips of material, usually metal wire, inserted laterally at specific positions along the neck or fretboard of a stringed instrument. Frets usually extend across the full width of the neck. On some historical instrume ...
s and is played by strumming with the hand or plucking each string individually, with an occasional tap on the main surface of the instrument. While the strings are traditionally made of sinew, modern dombras are usually produced using nylon strings. One of the greatest dombra players was the Kazakh folk musician and composer
Kurmangazy Sagyrbayuly
Kurmangazy Sagyrbaev ( kk, Құрманғазы Сағырбайұлы, ''Qūrmanğazy Sağyrbaıūly''; 1823–1896) was a Kazakh composer, instrumentalist (kobyz, dombra), and folk artist. He influenced Kazakh musical culture. He was born in 18 ...
, who had a major influence on the development of Kazakh musical culture, including music for the dombra; his musical composition "Adai" is popular in
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
and abroad.
In 2012, the ''elektrodombyra'' was created.
The
Turkestan
Turkestan, also spelled Turkistan ( fa, ترکستان, Torkestân, lit=Land of the Turks), is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and Xinjiang.
Overview
Known as Turan to the Persians, western Turke ...
i and
Badakhshan
Badakhshan is a historical region comprising parts of modern-day north-eastern Afghanistan, eastern Tajikistan, and Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County in China. Badakhshan Province is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. Much of historic Ba ...
i are
fret
A fret is any of the thin strips of material, usually metal wire, inserted laterally at specific positions along the neck or fretboard of a stringed instrument. Frets usually extend across the full width of the neck. On some historical instrume ...
less
with a body and neck carved from a single block of wood, usually
mulberry
''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of diverse species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 identif ...
or
apricot
An apricot (, ) is a fruit, or the tree that bears the fruit, of several species in the genus ''Prunus''.
Usually, an apricot is from the species '' P. armeniaca'', but the fruits of the other species in ''Prunus'' sect. ''Armeniaca'' are also ...
. The is played with much banging and scratching on the instrument to help give a
percussive
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Excl ...
sound. The two strings are made of
nylon
Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic.
Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from petro ...
(in modern times) or
gut. They cross a short
bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
to a pin at the other end of the body. There is a tiny sound hole in the back of the instrument, while the top is thick wood. It is not finished with any
varnish
Varnish is a clear transparent hard protective coating or film. It is not a stain. It usually has a yellowish shade from the manufacturing process and materials used, but it may also be pigmented as desired, and is sold commercially in various ...
,
filing/
sanding
upright=1.35, Sheets of sandpaper with different grit sizes (40 (coarse), 80, 150, 240, 600 (fine)).
Sandpaper and glasspaper are names used for a type of coated abrasive that consists of sheets of paper or cloth with abrasive material glued to ...
of any kind, and as with all other Turkic instruments there is some decoration.
The dumbyra is the equivalent instrument of the
Volga Tatars
The Volga Tatars or simply Tatars ( tt-Cyrl, татарлар, tatarlar) are a Turkic ethnic group native to the Volga-Ural region of Russia. They are subdivided into various subgroups. Volga Tatars are Russia's second-largest ethnicity after t ...
and
Bashkirs
, native_name_lang = bak
, flag = File:Bashkirs of Baymak rayon.jpg
, flag_caption = Bashkirs of Baymak in traditional dress
, image =
, caption =
, population = approx. 2 million
, popplace ...
. A performer strikes all the strings at the same time. The upper string performs the bourdon tone and the lower string performs the melody. A is used as a solo as well as an ensemble instrument.
History
The dombyra first appeared in the Middle Ages. For example, the works of
Aby Nasyr Al-Farabi refer to a
tambur
The ''tambur'' (spelled in keeping with TDK conventions) is a fretted string instrument of Turkey and the former lands of the Ottoman Empire. Like the ney, the armudi (lit. pear-shaped) kemençe and the kudüm, it constitutes one of the fou ...
-like musical instrument similar to the dombyra. An instrument similar to the Dombyra existed in almost every country in Central Asia. Within the last century, there have been many great composers and Dombyra players, such as
Kurmangazy, Kazangap, and Tattimbet.
The importance of the dombra in the culture of Kazakhstan was marked by initiating the Dombra Day in 2018. The National Dombra Day is celebrated in Kazakhstan every first Sunday of July.
Dombra in ensemble and epic performance
The Kazakh poet
Abay Qunanbayuli
Ibrahim (Abai) Qunanbaiuly ( kk, Абай Құнанбайұлы, ; russian: Абай Кунанбаев; ) was a Kazakh poet, composer and Hanafi Maturidi theologian philosopher. He was also a cultural reformer toward European and Russian cultu ...
is often shown holding a dombra at rest and many hold it in high regard as a national symbol among the post-
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
nations of the
Commonwealth of Independent States
The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an area of and has an estimated population of 239,796,010. ...
. The dombra is played by Erzhan Alimbetov in the
Ulytau
Ulytau ( kk, Ұлытау, ''Ūlytau''), literally meaning "the great mountain", is a popular Turkic neopagan instrumental folk metal trio from Kazakhstan. Their music combines the sound of the violin and electric guitar with the dombra, a tradit ...
band.
From the 12th to the 18th century, the was used by Bashkir to accompany their poetic legends and . It is mentioned in the epic poem "Zayatulyak and Hiuhiliu". However, by the beginning of the 20th century, the was forgotten. The were often the main ideologists of ethnic insurrections, so when the Russian administration put down an uprising, they punished the and destroyed their . In the second half of the 20th century, several reconstructions were carried out. At present, the revivalist work continues. Among others, performer V. Shugayupov works on the revival of the . The modern wooden has a pear-shaped or an oval form.
References in popular culture
This instrument has become a part of an
Internet phenomenon
An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...
after a video clip from
SuperStar KZ
''SuperStar KZ'' was a reality television show based on the popular British show Pop Idol, which aired from 2003 to 2007 on the Kazakh television station Perviy Kanal Evrasia. The talent contest determined the best young singers in Kazakhstan by ...
, the Kazakh equivalent of the
Idol series
''Idol'' (also known as ''SuperStar'' in some countries) is a reality television singing competition format created by British television producer Simon Fuller and developed by Fremantle. The format began in 2001 with the British television se ...
, was posted on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
. The video includes two contestants singing and a third one singing and playing the dombra (Ernar Kaldynov), which caused the popularity. The name of the original song is Freestailo by R.Lizer, a Kazakh man.
Dombyra as an instrument is being popularized through
Dombyra Parties, a flash mob-like movement of Kazakh youth organized via
social media
Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...
. The videos of Dombyra Party activities are shared on YouTube, Facebook etc.
Range and tablature
Many folk and regional tunings have existed, though below is the most accepted academic DG tuning for standard concert dombra prima of Kazakhstan.
![Kazakh dombra dombyra range tablature DG tuning](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Kazakh_dombra_dombyra_range_tablature_DG_tuning.svg)
There are different classifications of Dombyra, for example Dombyra for singing songs or has 8-9 frets, dombyra for kyus has more than 20 frets.
[https://shahnameh.netlify.com/dombra.htm The Shahnameh Guide To The Lutes Of Central Asia]
See also
*
Tanbur
The term ''Tanbur'' ( fa, تنبور, ) can refer to various long-necked string instruments originating in Mesopotamia, Southern or Central Asia. According to the ''New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', "terminology presents a compli ...
References
External links
Kui on dombra
Kazakh national Kui - Nauai, author Dina NurpeisovaKazakh national Kui - AdaiHow to play the dombra
Learning dombyra on YouTubeOther links
Song "Dombira"by
Arslanbek Sultanbekov
Arslanbek Sultanbekov (born April 23, 1965), is a Nogais, Nogai folk musician and poet, a dombra player of the Turkic peoples, Turkic world.
Biography
Arslanbek Sultanbekov was born April 23, 1965, in the aul Erkin-Khalk, in Karachay–Cherkess ...
Dombıra - An Ancient Turkish Music Instrumentvideo clipfrom
SuperStar KZ
''SuperStar KZ'' was a reality television show based on the popular British show Pop Idol, which aired from 2003 to 2007 on the Kazakh television station Perviy Kanal Evrasia. The talent contest determined the best young singers in Kazakhstan by ...
{{Authority control
Necked bowl lutes
Afghan musical instruments
Bashkir musical instruments
Kazakhstani musical instruments
Kyrgyz musical instruments
Russian musical instruments
Tatar musical instruments
Uzbekistani musical instruments