The kobyz or qobyz, also known as the kylkobyz, is an ancient Turkic

bowed string instrument Bowed string instruments are a subcategory of string instruments that are played by a bow (music), bow rubbing the string (music), strings. The bow rubbing the string causes vibration which the instrument emits as sound. Despite the numerous spe ...

, spread among

Kazakhs The Kazakhs (Kazakh language, Kazakh: , , , ) are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia and Eastern Europe. They share a common Culture of Kazakhstan, culture, Kazakh language, language and History of Kazakhstan, history ...

Karakalpaks The Karakalpaks or Qaraqalpaqs (; ), are a Kipchak languages, Kipchak-Nogai Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group native to Karakalpakstan in Northwestern Uzbekistan. During the 18th century, they settled in the lower reaches of the Amu Darya a ...

Bashkirs The Bashkirs ( , ) or Bashkorts (, ; , ) are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group indigenous to Russia. They are concentrated in Bashkortostan, a Republics of Russia, republic of the Russian Federation and in the broader historical region of B ...

, and

Tatars Tatars ( )Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary are a group of Turkic peoples across Eas ...

. The Kyrgyz variant is called the ). The kobyz has two strings made of horsehair. The resonating cavity is usually covered with goat

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning (leather), tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffal ...

. Traditionally kobyzes were sacred instruments, owned by

shaman Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...

s and baksıs (traditional spiritual medics). According to legends, the kobyz and its music could banish evil spirits, sickness and death.

In Kazakh music

In the 1930s, when the first folk instrument orchestras were established in the Soviet republic of Kazakhstan, a new kind of kobyz came into existence. It now had four metallic strings and thus became closer to a

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

. Such a modernized kobyz can be used to play both Kazakh music and the most complicated works of violin literature. One of the few western musicians to use the kobyz is

Trefor Goronwy Trefor Goronwy (born Trevor J. Goronwy, 23 August 1960 – February 2024) was an English vocalist, bass guitarist, guitarist, and percussionist. He joined This Heat for their final European tour in 1982, and continued to work with drummer Charle ...

. While many Kazakh ''kobyz'' players and scholars theorize that bards accompanied themselves on the ''kobyz'' during recitation of

epics Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

, today a mainstay of the Kazakh ''kobyz'' repertoire is küi, which are short programmatic pieces composed as instrumental narration or expression of emotion, often employing the purposeful imitation of sounds such as bird calls or horse hooves.

In Karakalpak music

The ''kobyz'' is still played today by ''jyrau'' (one of the two types of Karakalpak bard), as accompaniment during recitation of

and dastan. The ''kobyz'' punctuates spoken narrative, plays the melodic line in unison with the voice during the sung parts, supports sustained notes in the voice by repeatedly bowing the same note, and plays the melody when the ''jyrau'' is not singing. The ''jyrau'' sings with a guttural, raspy timbre, in a style common to many nomadic groups of

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

, and Southern

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

. Although this timbre was in the past associated with shamanic practice, living memory of this has died out, and modern ''jyrau'' instead interpret the timbre as a vocal imitation of the ''kobyz'' itself.

In Tatar music

The art of kobyz flourished before the fall of the

Kazan khanate The Khanate of Kazan was a Tatars, Tatar state that occupied the territory of the former Volga Bulgaria between 1438 and 1552. The khanate covered contemporary Tatarstan, Mari El, Chuvashia Republic, Chuvashia, Mordovia, and parts of Udmurti ...

1552 __NOTOC__ Year 1552 ( MDLII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events January–March * January 15 – Henry II of France and Maurice, Elector of Saxony, sign the Treaty of Chambord. * February 12 &ndas ...

among

Tatars Tatars ( )Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary are a group of Turkic peoples across Eas ...

and some other ethnic groups of

Volga region The Volga region, known as the ( , ; rus, Поволжье, r=Povolžje, p=pɐˈvoɫʐje; ), is a historical region in Russia that encompasses the drainage basin of the Volga River, the longest river in Europe, in central and southern European ...

. However, this art was preserved until the end of the 18th century among the Tatar dervishes. Today the instrument is used in various Tatar ethnic ensembles like Bermenchek etc. and it is studied in depth by a candidate of art history at the Kazan Conservatory .

In Kyrgyz music

The kyl kyyak ( Kyrgyz: кыл кыяк ) (sometimes spelt kyl kiak and sometimes without the 'kyl') is a stringed musical instrument used in Kyrgyz music. The instrument is carved from a single piece of wood (typically

apricot An apricot (, ) is a fruit, or the tree that bears the fruit, of several species in the genus ''Prunus''. Usually an apricot is from the species '' P. armeniaca'', but the fruits of the other species in ''Prunus'' sect. ''Armeniaca'' are also ...

) and typically measures 60–70 cm. It has 2 strings, one to provide melody and the other resonance. The kyl kyyak is played vertically with a bow and can be played on

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...

back. The strings and bow are normally made from horse hair and many instruments feature a carved horse's head. This all reflects the importance of the horse in Kyrgyz

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...

culture.

Notes

References

External links

Kurmangazy Academic orchestra of national instrumentsTrefor Goronwy
{{Authority control Necked bowl lutes Drumhead lutes Bowed instruments Kazakhstani musical instruments Culture of Kazakhstan Continuous pitch instruments Sacred musical instruments