The rawap () is a variant of the rubab used in traditional

Uyghur Uyghur may refer to: * Uyghurs, a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia (West China) ** Uyghur language, a Turkic language spoken primarily by the Uyghurs *** Old Uyghur language, a different Turkic language spoken in the Uyghur K ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Characteristics

The body of the instrument is a constructed box, a bowl (like the Neapolitan

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

or the

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck (music), 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 "lu ...

), or else the neck and bowl are carved from a single piece of mulberry wood. It is used to accompany songs, and is less common with larger instrumentation. Instead of a wooden soundboard, the opening across the top of the bowl has a dried snakeskin stretched across like 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 in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

; alternatively, the hide of a donkey or sheep is used. It is strung with between three and nine strings, which run across the skin membrane on the bottom, up the long fretboard and connect to a pegbox, curved backward 180 degrees. Only some strings are struck with a plectrum. The rest are

sympathetic strings Sympathetic strings or resonance strings are auxiliary strings found on many Indian musical instruments, as well as some Western Baroque instruments and a variety of folk instruments. They are typically not played directly by the performer (ex ...

, vibrating in reaction to the actively played strings. Something that sets this instrument apart visually are lateral extension above the wooden bowl, decorated goat horns mounted on the neck, curving toward the bowl. The neck is inlaid decorated. While the

fingerboard The fingerboard (also known as a fretboard on fretted instruments) is an important component of most stringed instruments. It is a thin, long strip of material, usually wood, that is laminated to the front of the neck of an instrument. The stri ...

is not fretted, photos of the instruments show that some instruments do have strings tied around the neck in the position of frets.

Variations

What the rawap is called among the Uyghurs varies according to each region, with names added as accessories. For example Kaxgar-Rawap is the variation of the town

Kashgar Kashgar () or Kashi ( zh, c=喀什) is a city in the Tarim Basin region of southern Xinjiang, China. It is one of the westernmost cities of China, located near the country's border with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. For over 2,000 years, Kashgar ...

. The design, size and style of play differ from one region to another. The Kaschgar-region instrument is 90 centimeters long, with strings tuned in fourths and fifths. The rawap of the Dolan-population in the province Turpan has five melody strings. The first string is fingered and the others are resonance strings and drone strings. For the Tajiks, the original instrument is called rubob and is made from the wood of the apricot tree. The Tajik original model is about 70 centimeters long. In the 1930s, the Uzbeks who borrowed from the original Tajik model, created a long-necked lute (rubap). The different forms are related to the rubob, an instrument Afghanistan which was part of ancient Iran.

Description

Similar to a

, it has 7 strings in 3 courses. Uyghur rawaps have decorative goat horns above the body of the instrument and the body may be covered in hide or snakeskin. http://interactchina.wordpress.com/2011/04/08/xinjiang-uyghur-musical-instrument-rawap/ Uyghur Musical Instrument – Rawaphttps://web.archive.org/web/20110121180930/http://www.meshrep.com/Music_instruments/Rawap/rawap.htm The Rawap There are several varieties of the rawap, among them: * Kasgar Rawap 90 centimeters long 5, 6 or 7 strings, one used the rest sympathetic * Dolan Rawap – similar to the Afghan rubab, Dolan Muqam, one melody string, the rest sympathetic, pear shaped body * Qoychi Rawap – short herder's rawap Hotan region, 70 centimeters long, 2–3 pairs sheep gut strings * Qumul Rawap – used in Qumul Muqam * Bas Rawap – three strings * Caplima Rawap

References

{{reflist

External links

The stringed Instrument Database

Introducing the Uyghur 'Rawap'
String instruments Chinese musical instruments Uyghur musical instruments Tajik musical instruments