About Rabab:
The rebab (also rebap, rabab, rebeb,
rababah, al-rababa) is a string instrument which originated in Afghanistan, no
later than the 8th century, and was spread over much of North Africa, the
Middle East, parts of Europe, and the Far East.Plucked rebabs, common in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and northwest India are oddly-shaped instruments, with a form that has been described by some as "boat like." The body of the instrument is heavy, carved wood, narrow in the middle, suggesting that it might have been played like a violin at one time, like its bowed cousins. The body is covered with stretched skin, usually stoutly glued to the body. The neck is very thick, and the fretboard is often intricately inlaid. The pegbox is often topped with intricate carving.
The kabuli rebab has three or four strings (usually with one string doubled) which are bridged by a carved piece held onto the skin face by pressure. These are attached to tuning pegs (not machine heads) set in the pegbox, and terminate at a single stout peg at the bottom of the instrument. Most plucked rebabs have a number of sympathetic strings stretched underneath the main strings. The sympathetic strings are tuned by pegs set along the base of the necki.
History:
Rabab, the Arab fiddle is the
earliest known bowed instrument and the parent of the medieval European rebec.
Rabab,
it is said could be the oldest musical instrument around (since 8thcentury) and
its evidences have been traced in the archeological excavation at Nangarhar,
the Harrapan and Mohojendaran civilizations.This
instrument may have originated either in Northern Afghanistan or Iran.
Rabab
has been around for years and has evolved since. Now there are two main types
or Rababs – the ones that are plucked with a striker or plectrum, and the spike
fiddles played with a bow.
The Rabab has a membrane
belly and, commonly, two or three strings. There is normally no fingerboard,
the strings being stopped by the player’s fingers. Besides the pear shaped or
boat-shaped bodies they could be flat round, trapezoidal, and rectangular
shapes.
The Rebab is used in a wide variety of musical genres,
because of its wide presence. It’s built and playing technique and style varies
for different areas. In Southeast Asia, the Rebab is a large instrument whereas
as we go further west it tends to get smaller and becomes a high-pitched
instrument.
The rabab has no frets unlike
the sitar but has four strings, one or two of brass and two of gut with
sympathetic metal strings attached to the side. All the strings could also be
of gut.
The body of Rabab, as already
mentioned varies. In some parts of the world it is ornately carved, while in
some it could be a simpler model with 2, 3, or 4 stringed instrument and may
have a body made of half a coconut shell. The more sophisticated and evolved
versions have a wooden sound box and the front part may be covered with beaten
copper & goatskin in two halves.
Rabab has a easily
recognizable rich thick sound, a combination of high & low tones. The
Rabab has now been superseded by the Sarod in classical music performance.
