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Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Dilruba, the sound of Mystery from Afghanistan

I have an acquaintance on line who is teaching violin in Afghanistan. He recently answered one of my many request to show a demonstrations of musical instruments from the region. These are very up close and personal so that you can really see how the instrument is being played. As most other recordings on YouTube are not very good quality or do not get very close to the musicians playing the accompaniment.

One of bowed instruments in particular caught my attention. As you see it lays over the shoulder like a cello even though the man is sitting on the floor. I can't wait till you push the play button and watch him play because the sound is absolutely haunting. You couldn't create a sound like this with an electronic key board and PC. There is nothing else like it. Who would guess such a sound would come from a stringed instrument with a bow.

From now on when I hear that mysterious sound in music from the middle East or South Asia I will now know what is producing it.

Thank you William Harvey for putting this series together and making it available to all the rest of us. Thank you for reminding us that there is a whole planet of friends around the world who play their music with the bow waiting to be discovered.







Sunday, November 6, 2011