The ''tambur'' (spelled in keeping with TDK conventions) is a fretted string instrument of

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

and the former lands of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. Like the ney, the armudi (lit. pear-shaped) kemençe and the kudüm, it constitutes one of the four instruments of the basic quartet of

Turkish classical music Ottoman music ( tr, Osmanlı müziği) or Turkish classical music ( tr, Türk sanat müziği) is the tradition of classical music originating in the Ottoman Empire. Developed in the palace, major Ottoman cities, and Sufi lodges, it traditionally ...

. Of the two variants, one is played with a plectrum (''mızraplı tambur'') and the other with a bow ('' yaylı tambur''). The player is called a ''tamburî''.Tambur
Republic of Turkey - Ministry of Culture and Tourism

History and development

There are several hypotheses as to the origin of the instrument. One suggests that it descended from the kopuz, a string instrument still in use among the Turkic peoples of Central Asia and the Caspian region. The name itself derives from the ''

tanbur The term ''Tanbur'' ( fa, تنبور, ) can refer to various long-necked string instruments originating in Mesopotamia, Southern or Central Asia. According to the '' New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', "terminology presents a comp ...

'' (tunbur), which in turn might have descended from the Sumerian ''pantur''. The name (and its variants such as '' tambouras'', '' dombura'') also denotes a wide spectrum of pear-shaped string instruments in Persia and Central Asia yet these share only their names with the Ottoman court instrument and in fact are more akin to

bağlama The ''bağlama'' or ''saz'' is a family of plucked string instruments, long-necked lutes used in Ottoman classical music, Turkish folk music, Turkish Arabesque music, Azerbaijani music, Kurdish music, Armenian music and in parts of Syria, ...

s or sazes. By the 15th century, the tambur had assumed the modern shape, being described by Tinctoris in 1480 as being like "a large spoon with three strings." By 1740, when

Jean-Étienne Liotard Jean-Étienne Liotard (; 22 December 1702 – 12 June 1789) was a Swiss painter, art connoisseur and dealer. He is best known for his portraits in pastel, and for the works from his stay in Turkey. A Huguenot of French origin and citizen of the ...

painted his painting, the instrument in his painting has pegs for 8 strings, which are strung in four courses. The modern instrument also has four pairs or courses of strings.

Description of the instrument

Tamburs are made almost entirely of wood. The shell (''Tekne'') is assembled from strips of

hardwood Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes fro ...

called ribs joined edge to edge to form a semi-spherical body for the instrument. The number of ribs traditionally amounts to 17, 21 or 23, yet examples with slightly wider and consequently fewer ribs (7, 9 or 11) can also be found among older specimens. Traditionally, thinner strips called ''fileto'' are inserted between the ribs for ornamental purposes, but are not obligatory. The most common tonewood veneers used for rib-making are

mahogany Mahogany is a straight- grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus '' Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Un ...

, flame maple, Persian walnut,

Mecca balsam Balm of Gilead was a rare perfume used medicinally, that was mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, and named for the region of Gilead, where it was produced. The expression stems from William Tyndale's language in the King James Bible of 1611, and has ...

wood ('' Commiphora gileadensis''), Spanish chestnut, Greek juniper, mulberry, Oriental plane, Indian rosewood and

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 al ...

. Ribs are assembled on the bottom wedge (tail) and the heel on which 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 st ...

is mounted. The soundboard (''Göğüs'') is a rotund thin (2.5–3 mm) flat three-, two- or single-piece plate of resonant wood (usually

Nordmann Nordmann is the demonym of the Norwegian people in its native language (see: Norman). It is also a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Alexander von Nordmann (1803–1866), Finnish zoologist * Armand von Nordmann (1759–1809), Aus ...

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

or Greek fir). This circular plate measuring about 30 to 35 cm in diameter is mounted on the bottom wedge and the heel with simmering glue and encircled with a wooden ring. A soundhole is either wanting or consists of a very small unornamented opening (mostly in historical specimens), giving the instrument its peculiar sonority. The neck (''Sap'') is a mince (only 4-4.5 cm in diameter) 100–110 cm long D-section fingerboard made of light wood and carries

catgut Catgut (also known as gut) is a type of cord that is prepared from the natural fiber found in the walls of animal intestines. Catgut makers usually use sheep or goat intestines, but occasionally use the intestines of cattle, hogs, horses, mules, ...

frets A fret is any of the thin strips of material, usually metal wire, inserted laterally at specific positions along the neck or fretboard of a stringed instrument. Frets usually extend across the full width of the neck. On some historical instrum ...

adjusted to give 36 intervals in an octave. Catgut frets are fixed on the neck by means of minute nails. The main

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

is trapezoidal and mobile, and since the shell lacks braces to support the soundboard, the latter slightly yields in under the bridge. The smaller upper bridge between the pegbox and the neck is traditionally made of bone. The

plectrum A plectrum is a small flat tool used for plucking or strumming of a stringed instrument. For hand-held instruments such as guitars and mandolins, the plectrum is often called a pick and is held as a separate tool in the player's hand. In harpsic ...

is made of

tortoiseshell Tortoiseshell or tortoise shell is a material produced from the shells of the larger species of tortoise and turtle, mainly the hawksbill sea turtle, which is a critically endangered species according to the IUCN Red List largely because of it ...

and is called "bağa" (meaning turtle). Cut in an asymmetrical V-form and polished at 45° on the tip, it measures 2-2.5 mm × 5–6 mm × 10–15 cm. Nowadays the tambur has seven strings. In the past tamburs with eight strings were not uncommon.

A Variant: The Yaylı Tambur

The yaylı tambur has a similar physical appearance, although the shell -a nearly perfect semi-sphere- might be made of metal. It is played with a bow instead of a plectrum. The technique was introduced by

Cemil Bey Tanburi Cemil Bey (1873, Istanbul – July 28, 1916, Istanbul) was an Ottoman tanbur, Turkish tambur, yaylı tambur, kemençe, and lavta virtuoso and composer, who has greatly contributed to the ''taksim'' (improvisation on a makam/maqam) g ...

in the end of the 19th century. Ercüment Batanay was, after Cemil Bey, the most outstanding virtuoso of this instrument, until his death. The yaylı tambur is held vertically on the knees, as opposed to the regular one where the neck is maintained horizontal to the ground at all times. File:Tanbûr from the book Kitâb-i ‘Ilmü’l Mûsîkî ala Vechi’l-Hurûfat by Dimitrie Cantemir.jpg, 1700-1703. Tanbûr from the book Kitâb-i ‘Ilmü’l Mûsîkî ala Vechi’l-Hurûfat by

Dimitrie Cantemir Dimitrie or Demetrius Cantemir (, russian: Дмитрий Кантемир; 26 October 1673 – 21 August 1723), also known by other spellings, was a Romanian prince, statesman, and man of letters, regarded as one of the most significant e ...

File:Monsieur Levett et Mademoiselle Hélène Glavani en Costume Turc (1740) by Jean-Étienne Liotard.jpg, 1740, painter

. Europeans dressed up in traditional "

Tartar Tartar may refer to: Places * Tartar (river), a river in Azerbaijan * Tartar, Switzerland, a village in the Grisons * Tərtər, capital of Tartar District, Azerbaijan * Tartar District, Azerbaijan * Tartar Island, South Shetland Islands, Ant ...

" costume. File:Osman Hamdi Bey - Two Musician Girls - Google Art Project.jpg, 1880. Painting by

Osman Hamdi Bey Osman Hamdi Bey (30 December 1842, in Istanbul 24 February 1910) was an Ottoman administrator, intellectual, art expert and also a prominent and pioneering painter. He was also an accomplished archaeologist, and is regarded as the pioneer of th ...

File:YaylıTambur of DrOzanYarman.jpg, Yaylı Tambur

Performers and techniques

Owing to its long past, the tambur has let flourish several schools of interpretation. The oldest description of tamburîs is reported by the French traveller Charles Fonton who describes the use of catgut frets. A Turkish musical theory written in the beginning of the 18th century by the famous Kantemir Pasha -first an Ottoman citizen of Polish-Moldovian origin, then voivode of Moldovia- elucidates for the first time the proper intervals to use. Yet there is little mention of playing styles and the first tambur master recorded by chronicles and of whom we have solid information is İzak Efendi, who is said to have brought the playing technique to maturity. Today, he is considered as the reference of the "old style" in tambur playing, partially recovered in the 20th century by

Mesut Cemil Mesut Cemil (; b. 1902 – d. October 31, 1963) was a Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Tur ...

. Sheikh of the Rifai Tekkesi in Kozyatağı (Istanbul) Abdülhalim Efendi was his pupil and carried on the same tradition. Among notable 18th-century players were Numan Ağa, Zeki Mehmed Ağa, Küçük Osman Bey, all of whom remained representatives of this allegedly old style. The first virtuoso to claim renovation was Tanburi Büyük Osman Bey who broke with his father Zeki Mehmed Ağa's technique to present his own. Later on, this later style became so prevalent that the older technique came to suffer oblivion. The musical heritage transmitted to

Suphi Ezgi Suphi is a Turkish name of Arabic origin (صبحي) that may refer to *Suphi Nuri İleri (1887–1945), Turkish politician and writer *Hamdullah Suphi Tanrıöver (1885–1966), Turkish poet and politician *Mehmet Suphi Kula (1881–1948), Turkish m ...

by Abdülhalim Efendi, and from the former to

, an eminent figure in 19th Turkish Classical Music, has helped retrieve the essentials of this old technique. One last important tamburi successfully performing according to principles of the old school was Cemil Özbal (1908–1980) from

Gaziantep Gaziantep (), previously and still informally #Name, called Aintab or Antep (), is a major city and capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Mediterranean Region, Turk ...

. Yet the most renowned and probably the most prolific of tamburis is

, who not only excelled in virtuosity but bequeathed a heritage that later prominent figures of Turkish Classical Music such as

Neyzen The ''ney'' ( fa, Ney/نی, ar, Al-Nāy/الناي), is an end-blown flute that figures prominently in Persian music and Arabic music. In some of these musical traditions, it is the only wind instrument used. The ney has been played continuall ...

Niyazi Sayın Niyazi Sayın (; born 1927), is a Turkish ''ney'' flautist and music educator. For a long time, he has performed duets with ''tanbur'' lute player Necdet Yaşar. He is regarded as the most important ''ney'' player in Turkish classical music. D ...

and Tamburi Necdet Yaşar claimed.

References

External links