![Moroccan Sintir Left-hand Side](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Moroccan_Sintir_Left-hand_Side.png)
The sintir ( ar, سنتير), also known as the guembri (), gimbri or hejhouj or Garaya in Hausa language, is a three stringed skin-covered
bass
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range:
** Bass (instrument), including:
** Acoustic bass gui ...
plucked
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 ...
used by the
Gnawa
The Gnawa (or Gnaoua, Ghanawa, Ghanawi, Gnawi'; Arabic: ڭناوة) are an ethnic group inhabiting Morocco.
The name Gnawa probably originated in the indigenous language of North Africa and the Sahara Desert. The phonology of this term accordi ...
people. It is approximately the size of a
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
, with a body carved from a log and covered on the playing side with
camel
A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. C ...
skin. The camel skin has the same acoustic function as the membrane on a
banjo
The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...
. The neck is a simple stick with one short and two long goat strings that produce a percussive sound similar to a
pizzicato
Pizzicato (, ; translated as "pinched", and sometimes roughly as "plucked") is a playing technique that involves plucking the strings of a string instrument. The exact technique varies somewhat depending on the type of instrument :
* On bowed ...
cello
The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...
or
double bass
The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...
.
![Lotar (Berber instrument)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/Lotar_%28Berber_instrument%29.jpg)
The goat gut
strings
String or strings may refer to:
*String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...
are plucked downward with the knuckle side of the
index finger
The index finger (also referred to as forefinger, first finger, second finger, pointer finger, trigger finger, digitus secundus, digitus II, and many other terms) is the second digit of a human hand. It is located between the thumb and the mid ...
and the inside of the
thumb
The thumb is the first digit of the hand, next to the index finger. When a person is standing in the medical anatomical position (where the palm is facing to the front), the thumb is the outermost digit. The Medical Latin English noun for thumb ...
. The hollowed canoe shaped wooden body resonates a percussive tone created by knuckles slapping the camel neck top of the body while the thumb and index finger are plucking the strings. The lowest string on the sintir is a drone note and the second string, the highest in pitch, is tuned an octave higher and is never fretted. The third string is tuned a fourth above the drone. The buzzing sound often heard emanating from the sintir is caused by metal rings dangling off of a galvanized metal feather mounted on the end of the sintir's neck. The feather and rings vibrate in rhythm with the sintir.
The body of the instrument is hollowed out from a single piece of wood, and covered with
camel or goat
A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. C ...
skin. The long neck passes through the top of the body and runs under the face, coming out through the skin near the base of the instrument, to serve as a tailpiece or string-carrier. The sliding leather tuning rings and the rattle-like metal sound modifier are commonly found in such
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...
n instruments as the
kora and the
xalam
Xalam (in Serer, or khalam in Wolof) is a traditional stringed musical instrument from West Africa with 1-5 strings.
The xalam is commonly played in Mali, Gambia, Senegal, Niger, Northern Nigeria, Northern Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, and ...
(lute). The percussive playing style is reminiscent not only of West African technique but also of certain styles of
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
banjo
The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...
picking.
As the sintir is used mainly by Gnawa (North Africans of
Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...
n descent), it is likely that the instrument derives from similar skin-covered lutes of the region around
Mali
Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...
or other areas of the
Sahel
The Sahel (; ar, ساحل ' , "coast, shore") is a region in North Africa. It is defined as the ecoclimatic and biogeographic realm of transition between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian savanna to the south. Having a hot semi-arid c ...
(such as the ''
ngoni'', ''
xalam
Xalam (in Serer, or khalam in Wolof) is a traditional stringed musical instrument from West Africa with 1-5 strings.
The xalam is commonly played in Mali, Gambia, Senegal, Niger, Northern Nigeria, Northern Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, and ...
'', or ''
hoddu
Xalam (in Serer, or khalam in Wolof) is a traditional stringed musical instrument from West Africa with 1-5 strings.
The xalam is commonly played in Mali, Gambia, Senegal, Niger, Northern Nigeria, Northern Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, and ...
'').
Styles
![Chordophone (Cordophone)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Chordophone_%28Cordophone%29.jpg)
Sintirs are usually applied to different styles of music:
Tagnawit: music of the
Gnawa
The Gnawa (or Gnaoua, Ghanawa, Ghanawi, Gnawi'; Arabic: ڭناوة) are an ethnic group inhabiting Morocco.
The name Gnawa probably originated in the indigenous language of North Africa and the Sahara Desert. The phonology of this term accordi ...
people. The guembri they use is the biggest: a long body, rectangular in shape. There is a hole in the skin at the bridge area for enhanced acoustics. Three strings are used, two that reach the end of the neck, and one that reaches the middle. The two strings are tuned in fourths and used to be fixed to the circular neck using a special knotting, although over the last decade standard tuning pegs for guitar or bass has become increasingly popular. How the strings stay in tune is a mystery has to do with the quality of the string, humidity in the air and making the braided leather strips holding the strings wet with saliva, so they don't move. The shorter string, which is also thinner, is tuned like the lowest string and is considered a drone string. Depending on the family, style or tradition there are different keys to the
tuning
Tuning can refer to:
Common uses
* Tuning, the process of tuning a tuned amplifier or other electronic component
* Musical tuning, musical systems of tuning, and the act of tuning an instrument or voice
** Guitar tunings
** Piano tuning, adjusting ...
. The most common ones however are C, F, D and G. When the Gnawa are clapping and not playing with the
krakebs
Qraqeb or garagab ( ar, قراقب), in English often transliterated as krakeb, are a large iron castanet-like musical instrument primarily used as the rhythmic aspect of Gnawa music. Gnawa today is part of the North African culture and is inhe ...
(a form of
castanets
Castanets, also known as ''clackers'' or ''palillos'', are a percussion instrument (idiophone), used in Spanish, Kalo, Moorish, Ottoman, Italian, Sephardic, Swiss, and Portuguese music. In ancient Greece and ancient Rome there was a similar ...
), it is not uncommon to add a piece of metal that rings when the guembri is played (sersara). The plucking of the strings is done with the thumb and/or the index, and sometimes the player hits the body under the strings for a percussive sound. The Gnawa player who plays with the guembri is called the
Maalem, the master of ceremonies. The Gnawa also refer to the guembri as hajhouj or sintir. The most popular guembri players in traditional and popular music are the late
Abderahmane "Paco" Kiruche and
Mahmoud Gania
Mahmud is a transliteration of the male Arabic given name (), common in most parts of the Islamic world. It comes from the Arabic triconsonantal root Ḥ-M-D, meaning ''praise'', along with ''Muhammad''.
Siam Mahmud
*Mahmood (singer) (born 199 ...
- both from
Essaouira
Essaouira ( ; ar, الصويرة, aṣ-Ṣawīra; shi, ⵜⴰⵚⵚⵓⵔⵜ, Taṣṣort, formerly ''Amegdul''), known until the 1960s as Mogador, is a port city in the western Moroccan region of Marakesh-Safi, on the Atlantic coast. It ha ...
- the brothers
Ahmed
Ahmad ( ar, أحمد, ʾAḥmad) is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other spellings of the name include Ahmed and Ahmet.
Etymology
The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the ve ...
&
Mustapha Baqbou
Mustafa ( ar, مصطفى
, Muṣṭafā) is one of the names of Prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in the Muslim world.
Given name Mou ...
of
Marrakech
Marrakesh or Marrakech ( or ; ar, مراكش, murrākuš, ; ber, ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ, translit=mṛṛakc}) is the fourth largest city in the Kingdom of Morocco. It is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakes ...
,
Abdelkader Amlil
Abd al-Qadir or Abdulkadir ( ar, عبد القادر) is a male Muslim given name. It is formed from the Arabic words '' Abd'', ''al-'' and '' Qadir''. The name means "servant of the powerful", ''Al-Qādir'' being one of the names of God in the ...
and
Majid Bekkas
Majid Bekkas (, born 1957 in Salé, Morocco), also known as Abdelmajid Bekkas, is a Moroccan musician on guembri, oud, guitar and vocals, who is internationally known for his contributions to World music and Ethno jazz with North African roots ...
of
Rabat
Rabat (, also , ; ar, الرِّبَاط, er-Ribât; ber, ⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ, ṛṛbaṭ) is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan populati ...
, and
Hamid al Kasri
Hamid refers to two different but related Arabic given names, both of which come from the Arabic triconsonantal root of Ḥ-M-D (ِِح-م-د):
# (Arabic: حَامِد ''ḥāmid'') also spelled Haamed, Hamid or Hamed, and in Turkish Hamit; it m ...
originally from
Ksar El Kebir
El-Ksar el Kebir (Arabic language, Arabic: القصر الكبير; ber, ⵍⵇⵚⵔ ⵍⴽⴱⵉⵔ, lqṣr lkbir) is a city in northwestern Morocco, about 160 km north of Rabat, 32 km east of Larache and 110 km south of Tangi ...
in the north of the country, but since many years living in the capital.
Izlan s
Tamazight
The Berber languages, also known as the Amazigh languages or Tamazight,, ber, label=Tuareg Tifinagh, ⵜⵎⵣⵗⵜ, ) are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They comprise a group of closely related languages spoken by Berber communi ...
: sung poetry by the Berbers of the
Middle Atlas
The Middle Atlas (Amazigh: ⴰⵟⵍⴰⵙ ⴰⵏⴰⵎⵎⴰⵙ, ''Atlas Anammas'', Arabic: الأطلس المتوسط, ''al-Aṭlas al-Mutawassiṭ'') is a mountain range in Morocco. It is part of the Atlas mountain range, a mountainous region ...
and
High Atlas
High Atlas, also called the Grand Atlas ( ar, الأطلس الكبير, Al-Aṭlas al-Kabīr; french: Haut Atlas; shi, ⴰⴷⵔⴰⵔ ⵏ ⴷⵔⵏ ''Adrar n Dern''), is a mountain range in central Morocco, North Africa, the highest part of t ...
. It has a body the size of a
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 ...
or
mandolin
A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...
, but the neck is usually longer and thicker. Unlike the gumebri of Gnawa, this one has wooden tuners. There are usually four strings (although five is not unusual) tuned in fourths as well. Common tunings are A standard or C standard. It is played similar to a lute, however it has its own tonal range, scales and key progressions that are particular to the Berbers. The main artist plays the lute and sings, accompanied by
bendir
The ''bendir'' ( ar, بندير, plural ''banadir'', ) is a wooden-framed frame drum of North Africa and Southwest Asia.
The bendir is a traditional instrument that is played throughout North Africa, as well as in Sufi ceremonies; it was played ...
players and backing singers which can include both men and women. To the Berbers, this type of guembri is more widely known as
loutaralthough in the Jebala area it is actually called a guembri. Popular loutar players are
Mohamed Rouicha
Mohamed Rouicha ( ar, محمد رويشة; 1950 – 17 January 2012) was a Moroccan folk
Folk or Folks may refer to:
Sociology
*Nation
*People
* Folklore
** Folk art
** Folk dance
** Folk hero
** Folk music
*** Folk metal
*** Folk punk
*** F ...
,
Hammou Oulyazid,
Hajjaoui and
Mohamed Mssmodi Al Hamadi
Muhammad was an Islamic prophet and a religious and political leader who preached and established Islam.
Muhammad and variations may also refer to:
*Muhammad (name), a given name and surname, and list of people with the name and its variations
...
and
Maghni.
Malhun
Malhun (Arabic الملحون / ALA-LC: ''al-malḥūn''), meaning "the melodic poem", is a form of music that originated in Morocco.Mounira SolimanPopular Culture in the Middle East and North Africa: A Postcolonial Outlook p.58 (Routledge 2013) ...
: sung poetry in
Moroccan colloquial Arabic (
Darija
Maghrebi Arabic (, Western Arabic; as opposed to Eastern or Mashriqi Arabic) is a vernacular Arabic dialect continuum spoken in the Maghreb region, in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Western Sahara, and Mauritania. It includes Moroccan, Alge ...
). It is similar to the loutar in shape, but much smaller in size. It is not used as the main string instrument; rather it is used to provide
timbre
In music, timbre ( ), also known as tone color or tone quality (from psychoacoustics), is the perceived sound quality of a musical note, sound or musical tone, tone. Timbre distinguishes different types of sound production, such as choir voice ...
contrast to the music. It is sometimes called guenbri as well.
References
External links
Gnawaa artistsat ''
National Geographic
''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...
''
{{Authority control
Spike lutes
Drumhead lutes
Algerian musical instruments
Moroccan musical instruments