
The ''arghul'' ( ar,
أرغول or
يرغول), also spelled ''argul'', ''arghoul'', ''arghool'', ''argol'', or ''yarghul'', is a
musical instrument
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make 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 who pl ...
in the
reed family
The Reed family is an American business family who focuses on landownership. 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 Egyptian times and is still used as a traditional instrument in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...
,
Syria,
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Ri ...
, and
Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East J ...
.
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 musical instrument, instrument that uses only one reed (music), reed to produce sound. The very earliest single-reed instruments were documented in ancient Egypt, as well as the Middle East, Greece, and the R ...
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 ...
instrument that consists of two tubes: a melody pipe with between five and seven holes and a longer
drone
Drone most commonly refers to:
* Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg
* Unmanned aerial vehicle
* Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft
* Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone
Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to:
...
(Arabic ''ardiyya'', "ground") pipe. Its tone is similar to that of a
clarinet, although a bit more reed-like. Unlike the similar
mijwiz
The ''mijwiz'' ( ar, , DIN: ''miǧwiz'') is a traditional Middle East musical instrument popular in Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. Its name in Arabic means "dual," because of its consisting of two, short, bamboo pipes with reed tips p ...
, 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 and other
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...
nations as an accompaniment to
belly dancing
Belly dance (Egyptian Arabic: رقص بلدي, translated: Dance of the Country/Folk Dance, romanized: Raks/Raas Baladi) is a dance that originates in Egypt. It features movements of the hips and torso. It has evolved to take many different f ...
,
Dabke
''Dabke'' ( ar, دبكة also spelled ''dabka'', ''dubki'', ''dabkeh'', plural ''dabkaat'') is a Levantine Arab folk dance. Dabke combines circle dance and line dancing and is widely performed at weddings and other joyous occasions. The line f ...
, and other types of Arabic musical performances.
Circular breathing
Circular breathing is a technique used by players of some wind instruments to produce a continuous tone without interruption. It is accomplished by breathing through the nose while simultaneously pushing air through the mouth using air stor ...
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'').
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, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge known as a shotshell, which usually discharges numerous small pellet-like spherical sub- p ...
, no doubt because of the barrels' resemblance to the wind instrument.
Dozaleh
:''See main article:
Dozaleh
Dozaleh (Persian: دوزَله) is as Iranian- Kurdish folk instrument. The dozaleh is made of two pipes. One of them produces melody and the other harmony. It sounds like a Ney-anbān
Ney-anbān ( fa, نی انبان , numerous Latin spellin ...
''
The ''dozaleh'' is one of the old folk wind instruments of Iran which is used in mirth celebrations.
Abu Nasr Farabi
Abu Nasr Muhammad Al-Farabi ( fa, ابونصر محمد فارابی), ( ar, أبو نصر محمد الفارابي), known in the West as Alpharabius; (c. 872 – between 14 December, 950 and 12 January, 951)PDF version was a renowned early Isl ...
had called it
Mezmarol-Mosana or
Mozdavadg ozdavej("married"). The ''dozaleh'' has a sound like
Ney-anbān
Ney-anbān ( fa, نی انبان , 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 ...
eianbAn(bagpipe), but to some extent more clear and lower. It is played in
Khorasan
Khorasan may refer to:
* Greater Khorasan, a historical region which lies mostly in modern-day northern/northwestern Afghanistan, northeastern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan
* Khorasan Province, a pre-2004 province of Ira ...
orAsAn Kermanshah
Kermanshah ( fa, کرمانشاه, Kermânšâh ), also known as Kermashan (; romanized: Kirmaşan), is the capital of Kermanshah Province, located from Tehran in the western part of Iran. According to the 2016 census, its population is 946,68 ...
ermAnSAh and mostly in Iran. In some different dialects it is called
Zanbooreh anbureh
See also
*
Aulos
An ''aulos'' ( grc, αὐλός, plural , ''auloi'') or ''tibia'' (Latin) was an ancient Greek wind instrument, depicted often in art and also attested by archaeology.
Though ''aulos'' is often translated as "flute" or " double flute", it was ...
*
Launeddas
The ''launeddas'' (also called Sardinian triple clarinet) are a traditional Sardinian woodwind instrument made of three pipes, each of which has an idioglot single reed. They are a polyphonic instrument, with one of the pipes functioning as ...
*
Mijwiz
The ''mijwiz'' ( ar, , DIN: ''miǧwiz'') is a traditional Middle East musical instrument popular in Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. Its name in Arabic means "dual," because of its consisting of two, short, bamboo pipes with reed tips p ...
Notes
References
Attribution:
*
External links
Arghul pagefrom Zaman Production site
The making of the Arghul, in Egyptby 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