The ''arghul'' (), also spelled ''argul'', ''arghoul'', ''arghool'', ''argol'', or ''yarghul'', is a

musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make Music, musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person ...

in the

reed family The Reed family is an American business family that focuses on owning land. The family currently controls Simpson Investment Company, established 1890, and its spin-off Green Diamond Resource. The family owns 1.37 million acres across California ...

. It has been used since

ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

ian times and is still used as a traditional instrument in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

and

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

Basic characteristics

''Modern Egyptians''.)
Modern Arghul, 3 ft. 2½ in. long.

The arghul is a double-pipe,

Single-reed A single-reed instrument is a woodwind instrument that uses only one reed to produce sound. The very earliest single-reed instruments were documented in ancient Egypt, ancient Greece as well as the Middle East, and the Roman Empire. The earliest ...

woodwind Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and Ree ...

instrument that consists of two tubes: a melody pipe with between five and seven holes and a longer drone (Arabic ''ardiyya'', "ground") pipe. Its tone is similar to that of a

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

, although a bit more reed-like. Unlike the similar mijwiz, the arghul has fingering holes on only one of the instrument's pipes (the melody pipe), and the drone pipe has a detachable length that allows the player to alter the pitch of the drone. In the illustration above all three lengths are shown in use. An arghul belonging to the collection of the Conservatoire Royal at Brussels, described by Victor Mahillon in his catalogue cites: ''Catalogue descriptif et analytique du musée du Conservatoire'' ''Royal de Bruxelles'' (Ghent, 1880), p. 141. (No. 113), gives the following scale: — Arghuls are used in Egypt, Palestine and other

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

nations as an accompaniment to belly dancing, Dabke, and other types of Arabic musical performances.

Circular breathing Circular breathing is a breathing technique used by players of some wind instruments to produce a continuous tone without interruption. It is accomplished by inhaling through the nose while simultaneously pushing air out through the mouth usi ...

is an important part of the playing of the instrument. There are three varieties of arghuls: the small arghul (''arghoul alasghar''), the medium arghul (''arghoul alsoghayr''), and the large arghul (''arghoul alkebir''). File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Dubbel enkelriet (klarinet) van bamboe TMnr 1312-1.jpg, Egyptian arghul collected before 1939 in the Wereld Museum in Belgium. File:Flutes and Pipes LACMA M.80.196.27.jpg, Egypt 1537 - 31 BCE. Instrument from ancient Egypt found in a tomb.

Çifte

Çifte is a Turkish folk instrument of the wind type. It is made by tying two reed pipes side by side. Two small reed pieces which produce the sound are added to the ends of both reeds. These two small reeds are taken into the mouth cavity and it is played by blowing the air into both at the same time. There are two çifte types known as Demli Çifte and Demsiz Çifte. In demli çifte one of the reeds does not have any pitch keys and it just produces a drone. There are melody keys on the other reed and the main melody is played through them. Çifte is also known as Argun, Argul, Kargın or Zambır at different regions. In Turkish, the word "çifte" also refers to a double-barreled

shotgun A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, peppergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which discharges numerous small ...

, no doubt because of the barrels' resemblance to the wind instrument.

Dozaleh

:''See main article:

Dozaleh The Dozaleh (Persian: دوزَله) is an Iranian folk instrument. The dozaleh is made of two Pipe (instrument), pipes. One of them produces melody and the other harmony. It sounds like a Ney-anbān and it is very dynamic. The instrument is playe ...

'' The ''dozaleh'' is one of the old folk wind instruments of Iran which is used in mirth celebrations. Abu Nasr Farabi had called it Mezmarol-Mosana or Mozdavadg ozdavej("married"). The ''dozaleh'' has a sound like

Ney-anbān Ney-anbān (, numerous Latin spellings), is a type of bagpipe which is popular in southern Iran, especially around Bushehr. The term ''ney-anban'' literally means "bag pipe", - ''Nai, signifies a reed, pipe, &c, and Anban or Anbanah, a bag made ...

eianbAn(bagpipe), but to some extent more clear and lower. It is played in Khorasan orAsAn

Kermanshah Kermanshah is a city in the Central District (Kermanshah County), Central District of Kermanshah province, Kermanshah province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. The city is from Tehran in the western pa ...

ermAnSAh and mostly in Iran. In some different dialects it is called Zanbooreh anbureh

Notes

References

Attribution: *

External links

Arghul page
from Zaman Production site
The making of the Arghul, in Egypt
by Dominik Huber

Listening

Arghul audio
{{Authority control Single-reed instruments North African musical instruments Arabic musical instruments Turkish musical instruments Syrian musical instruments Ancient Egyptian musical instruments Circular breathing