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Kus
A Kus (Persian کوس ''kūs'') is an ancient Persian musical instrument, a large kettledrum similar to timpani. Etymology Kus is a Middle-Persian military term meaning "march". According to Von Mohl the term was ''Kūša'', apparently borrowed from Aramaic, probably during the Arsacid dynasty (248 BCE-224 CE). Historical background It seems the instrument was invented during the Achaemenid dynasty (550-330 BCE) of Persia, for military purposes. The instrument was a pair of drums, made of clay, wood or metal in the form of a hemispherical kettle, with skin stretched over the mouth. Kus was played with drumsticks of leather or wood (The leather drumstick was called Daval). Kus usually was carried on horseback, camelback or elephant during war to encourage the army. The instrument was also played on many occasions such as festivals and weddings. In ancient times, kus was accompaniment by karnay (Persian trumpet or horn). Particularly the Persian epic poets Ferdowsi and Niza ...
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Persian Musical Instruments
Persian musical instruments or Iranian musical instruments can be broadly classified into three categories: classical, Western and folk. Most of Persian musical instruments spread in the former Persian Empires states all over the Middle East, Caucasus, Central Asia and through adaptation, relations, and trade, in Europe and far regions of Asia. In ancient era, the Silk road had an effective role in this distribution. String instruments Orchestral *Tar * Setar *Kamancheh *Ghaychak * Barbat *Chang (instrument)/Angular harp *Santoor * Qānūn * Shurangiz Safavid-style portrait, female musician plays a tar.jpg, Tar Woman with a setar, Safavid Iran, Isfahan (ca. 1600-1610).jpg, Setar, ca. 1610 A court musician playing the kemanche, painting by Abul Qasim, Qajar Iran.jpg, Kamancheh Woman playing a santur, Qajar Iran, artist named Ahmad.jpg, Woman playing a santur, 19th century File:Ralamb-89.jpg, Qanun, from Rålamb Costume Book, 1657 Folklore * Dotar *Tanbur *Tar (Azerbaijan ...
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Naqareh
The ''naqareh'', ''naqqāra'', ''nagara'' or ''nagada'' is a Middle Eastern drum with a rounded back and a hide head, usually played in pairs. It is thus a membranophone of the kettle drum variety. The term ''naqqāra'' (), also ''naqqarat'', ''naqqarah'', ''naqqåre'', ''nakkare'', ''nagora'' comes from the Arabic verb ''naqr-'' that means "to strike, beat". The instrument was also adopted in Europe following the Crusades, and known as the naccaire or naker. Construction The rounded section of a naqqara is made of baked clay, while the flat side consists of treated skin fastened around the rim with string which is tightened over the back of the bow Playing This percussion instrument is often played in pairs, where one ''naqqara'' will produce low pitch beats called ''nar'' and the other for the high pitch beats. The instruments are beaten with short wooden sticks bent outward at the upper ends called ''damka''. Varieties Iraq and the other Arab countries ''Naqqārāt'' is t ...
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Arsacid Empire
The Parthian Empire (), also known as the Arsacid Empire (), was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Iran from 247 BC to 224 AD. Its latter name comes from its founder, Arsaces I, who led the Parni tribe in conquering the region of Parthia in Iran's northeast, then a satrapy (province) under Andragoras, who was rebelling against the Seleucid Empire. Mithridates I (r. c. 171–132 BC) greatly expanded the empire by seizing Media and Mesopotamia from the Seleucids. At its height, the Parthian Empire stretched from the northern reaches of the Euphrates, in what is now central-eastern Turkey, to present-day Afghanistan and western Pakistan. The empire, located on the Silk Road trade route between the Roman Empire in the Mediterranean Basin and the Han dynasty of China, became a center of trade and commerce. The Parthians largely adopted the art, architecture, religious beliefs, and royal insignia of their culturally heterogeneo ...
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Naqara
The ''naqareh'', ''naqqāra'', ''nagara'' or ''nagada'' is a Middle Eastern drum with a rounded back and a hide head, usually played in pairs. It is thus a membranophone of the kettle drum variety. The term ''naqqāra'' (), also ''naqqarat'', ''naqqarah'', ''naqqåre'', ''nakkare'', ''nagora'' comes from the Arabic verb ''naqr-'' that means "to strike, beat". The instrument was also adopted in Europe following the Crusades, and known as the naccaire or naker. Construction The rounded section of a naqqara is made of baked clay, while the flat side consists of treated skin fastened around the rim with string which is tightened over the back of the bow Playing This percussion instrument is often played in pairs, where one ''naqqara'' will produce low pitch beats called ''nar'' and the other for the high pitch beats. The instruments are beaten with short wooden sticks bent outward at the upper ends called ''damka''. Varieties Iraq and the other Arab countries ''Naqqārāt'' is t ...
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Persian Language
Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken and used officially within Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan in three mutually intelligible standard varieties, namely Iranian Persian (officially known as ''Persian''), Dari Persian (officially known as ''Dari'' since 1964) and Tajiki Persian (officially known as ''Tajik'' since 1999).Siddikzoda, S. "Tajik Language: Farsi or not Farsi?" in ''Media Insight Central Asia #27'', August 2002. It is also spoken natively in the Tajik variety by a significant population within Uzbekistan, as well as within other regions with a Persianate history in the cultural sphere of Greater Iran. It is written officially within Iran and Afghanistan in the Persian alphabet, a derivation of the Arabic script, and within Tajikistan in the Tajik alphabet, ...
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Kettledrum
Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. Thus timpani are an example of kettle drums, also known as vessel drums and semispherical drums, whose body is similar to a section of a sphere whose cut conforms the head. Most modern timpani are ''pedal timpani'' and can be tuned quickly and accurately to specific pitches by skilled players through the use of a movable foot-pedal. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a ''timpani stick'' or ''timpani mallet''. Timpani evolved from military drums to become a staple of the classical orchestra by the last third of the 18th century. Today, they are used in many types of ensembles, including concert bands, marching bands, orchestras, and even in some rock bands. ''Timpani'' is an Italia ...
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Timpani
Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. Thus timpani are an example of kettle drums, also known as vessel drums and semispherical drums, whose body is similar to a section of a sphere whose cut conforms the head. Most modern timpani are ''pedal timpani'' and can be tuned quickly and accurately to specific pitches by skilled players through the use of a movable foot-pedal. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a ''timpani stick'' or ''timpani mallet''. Timpani evolved from military drums to become a staple of the classical orchestra by the last third of the 18th century. Today, they are used in many types of ensembles, including concert bands, marching bands, orchestras, and even in some rock bands. ''Timpani'' is an Italia ...
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Timpani
Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. Thus timpani are an example of kettle drums, also known as vessel drums and semispherical drums, whose body is similar to a section of a sphere whose cut conforms the head. Most modern timpani are ''pedal timpani'' and can be tuned quickly and accurately to specific pitches by skilled players through the use of a movable foot-pedal. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a ''timpani stick'' or ''timpani mallet''. Timpani evolved from military drums to become a staple of the classical orchestra by the last third of the 18th century. Today, they are used in many types of ensembles, including concert bands, marching bands, orchestras, and even in some rock bands. ''Timpani'' is an Italia ...
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Percussion Instrument
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. Excluding zoomusicological instruments and the human voice, the percussion family is believed to include the oldest musical instruments.''The Oxford Companion to Music'', 10th edition, p.775, In spite of being a very common term to designate instruments, and to relate them to their players, the percussionists, percussion is not a systematic classificatory category of instruments, as described by the scientific field of organology. It is shown below that percussion instruments may belong to the organological classes of ideophone, membranophone, aerophone and cordophone. The percussion section of an orchestra most commonly contains instruments such as the timpani, snare drum, bass drum, tambourine, belonging to the membranophones, and ...
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