musical folk balalaika

The history of Chinese folk musical instruments spans several millennia. Archaeological excavations show that more than 2000 years ago, and possibly earlier, various musical instruments were already in use in China. For example, as a result of excavations in the village of Hemudu in Zhejiang province, bone whistles from the Neolithic period were recovered, and in the village of Banpo in Xi'an, a "xun" (fired clay wind instrument) belonging to the Yangshao culture was discovered. In the Yin ruins, located in Anyang, Henan Province, a "shiqing" (stone gong) and a drum covered with python skin were found. From the tomb of the imperial dignitary Zeng (buried in 433 BC), discovered in the Suxiang county of Hubei province, the “xiao” (longitudinal flute), “sheng” (lip organ), “se” (25-string horizontal harp), bells, "bianqing" (stone gong), various drums and other instruments.

Ancient musical instruments had, as a rule, a dual use - practical and artistic. Musical instruments were used as tools or household items and at the same time for playing music. For example, "shiqing" (stone gong) may have come from some kind of tool that had the shape of a disk. In addition, some ancient instruments were used as a means of conveying certain information. For example, beats on drums served as a signal to set off on a campaign, strikes on a gong - to retreat, night drums - to beat off night guards, etc. A number of national minorities still have a tradition of expressing love by playing melodies on wind and string instruments.

The development of musical instruments is closely connected with the development of social productive forces. The transition from the manufacture of stone gongs to metal gongs and the manufacture of metal bells became possible only after the development of metal smelting technology by man. Thanks to the invention and development of sericulture and silk weaving, it became possible to manufacture stringed instruments such as "qin" (Chinese zither) and "zheng" (an ancient plucked musical instrument with 13-16 strings).

The Chinese people have always been distinguished by their ability to borrow useful things from other peoples. Since the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD), many musical instruments have been brought to China from other countries. In the era of the Han Dynasty, the flute and "shukunhou" (vertical zither) were brought from the western regions, and in the era of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) - cymbals and "son" (Chinese clarinet). These instruments, which became more and more perfect in the hands of masters, gradually began to play an important role in the Chinese folk music orchestra. It is worth noting that in the history of the development of Chinese folk musical instruments, string instruments appeared much later than percussion, wind and plucked instruments.

According to historical records, the stringed instrument, the sounds of which were extracted using a bamboo plectrum, appeared only in the era of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), and the bowed string instrument, the bow of which was made from a horse's tail, appeared in the era of the Song Dynasty (960 -1279). Since the Yuan Dynasty (1206-1368), other stringed instruments have been invented on this basis.

After the founding of new China in the middle of the last century, musical figures carried out large-scale work and reform to eliminate a number of shortcomings of folk instruments, manifested in the impurity of sound, fragmentation of the tuning, sound imbalance, difficult modulation, unequal pitch standards for various instruments, the absence of medium and low instruments. register. Musical figures have made significant progress in this direction.

Guan

Guan - Chinese wind reed instrument (Chinese ЉЗ), genus Oboe. A cylindrical barrel with 8 or 9 playing holes is made of wood, less often of reed or bamboo. A double reed cane, tied with wire in the narrow part, is inserted into the guan channel. Tin or copper rings are put on both ends of the instrument, and sometimes between the playing holes. The total length of the guan ranges from 200 to 450 mm; the largest have a brass socket. The scale of the modern guan is chromatic, the range is es1-a3 (large guan) or as1 - c4 (small guan). Used in ensembles, orchestras and solos.

In China, guan is widely distributed in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of the PRC. In the south, in Guangdong, it is also known as houguan (Chinese: ЌAЉЗ). The traditional Chinese name for this instrument is beat (Chinese ?кј) (it was in this form (вИвГ in traditional spelling) that it passed into Korean and Japanese).

Banhu

Banhu is a Chinese stringed bowed musical instrument, a type of huqin.

The traditional banhu has been used primarily as an accompaniment instrument in northern Chinese musical drama, northern and southern Chinese operas, or as a solo instrument and in ensembles.

In the 20th century, the banhu began to be used as an orchestral instrument.

There are three types of banhu - high, middle and low registers. The most common high register banhu.

Gidzhak (gijak, girzhak, gijak, gijjak) is a stringed bowed folk musical instrument of Uzbeks, Tajiks, Karakalpaks, Turkmens, Uighurs. The design of the gidzhak is very close to the Persian kemanche, which is common in Azerbaijan, Iran and Armenia.

In folk musical instruments - all the philosophy and wisdom of the ages. They perform on the gijak folk music, songs, instrumental pieces, maqoms(a vocal-instrumental cyclical genre, the melodic basis of which is most often the intonation of crying). Gidzhak and its varieties, along with other folk instruments, are included in the Uzbek national instrumental orchestras.

Gijak body- spherical shape, traditionally made from a special variety of pumpkin, wood or other material (for example, a large coconut), covered with leather on top. Instrument sizes vary and often depend on the material from which it is made.

Number of strings modern gidzhak - four, although historically this number was also inconsistent, most often three-stringed gidzhaks were found. In the old days, the gijak had silk strings, today they have metal strings.

It is generally accepted that the gidzhak dates back to the 11th century. invented Avicenna(Abu Ali ibn Sina) - a great Persian scientist, doctor and philosopher who laid the foundation for the field of science of musical instruments (instrument science), described almost all musical instruments existing at that time and compiled a detailed classification of their types.

At classic gidjak game the instrument is held vertically, the sound is produced by a special short bow in the form of a bow, although modern players also use a violin bow.

However, there virtuosos who play on the gijak not only classical folk music, but also unusually bright passages. In the video below you can not only listen, what does gidjak sound like but also look virtuosic gidjak game masters of his craft - Uzbek musician Farkhodzhon Gapparov(work "Storm" by Iranian composer Bizhan Mortazavi):

Persian stringed bowed musical instrument. It is believed that this particular instrument is the ancestor of all other types of bowed strings. Today this instrument is widespread in Central Asia and the Middle East.
"Kemancha" in Persian means "small bowed instrument". The kamancha originated in the 19th century, in this era, historians state the heyday of the performing art of playing the kamancha. This is connected with the development of the art of professional khanende singers.
Khanende are Azerbaijani folk singers. They possessed not only beautiful voices, but also a rare ability to improvise. Hanede was highly respected. It was these singers who "brought to light" the kamancha.
The first tools were made from hollowed-out gourds or Indian walnuts. As a rule, they were richly decorated with ivory.
The body of the kemancha is round. The neck is wooden, straight and rounded with large pegs. The soundboard is made of thin snakeskin, fish skin or bovine bladder. The bow is bow-shaped with horse hair.
According to one of the assumptions about the origin of the kamancha, it appeared on the basis of the bowed gopuz. Gopuz is an Azerbaijani folk stringed musical instrument. This is a two- or three-stringed instrument, somewhat reminiscent of a guitar.
Knowledge about the kamancha is supplemented by information from classical poetry and fine arts. Thanks to this, you can get an idea of ​​\u200b\u200bit. For example, kamnacha is mentioned in the poem "Khosrov and Shirin" by the Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi. He compares playing the kamancha to divine music that groans and burns.
To imagine what a kamancha looks like, just look at the miniatures of medieval Azerbaijani artists. There she is depicted as part of an ensemble.

- an ancient wind musical instrument. Its origin from the ram's horn is not accidental. The fact is that in the Semitic languages ​​the word "shofar" and the name of a mountain sheep are words of the same root. In the Talmud, it is allowed to make a shofar from the horns of rams, wild and domestic goats, antelopes and gazelles, but it is still recommended to use the ram's horn, which is associated with the sacrifice of Isaac. The Midrash states that the shofar from the left horn of the ram sacrificed by Abraham sounded at Mount Sinai, and the shofar from the right horn will be blown when the scattered tribes of Israel come together.
The shofar is used on special occasions. So, in ancient times, the sound of the shofar was supposed to announce the onset of the jubilee year. The same instrument reported the beginning of misfortunes - military operations or any disasters. Shofar is an indispensable attribute of various festivities.
There are two varieties of shofar - Ashkenazi and Sephardic. The Ashkenazi shofar is processed inside and out, it is given a crescent shape. Sephardic shofars are long and twisted. Shofars are made by artisans who pass on the tradition from generation to generation.
The shofar has a distinctly religious character. It is played during some rituals, on days of fasting or prayers. The sounds of the shofar, according to legend, brought down the walls of Jericho ("Jericho trumpet"). No Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah) is complete without the shofar. In Israel, for example, the shofar can be heard in such unexpected places as near a railway station or near a shopping center. According to custom, during the two days of Rosh Hashanah, the shofar should be heard a hundred times, so during the morning service they blow many times. The sound of the shofar on the day of Rosh Hashanah enhances solemnity and encourages repentance. According to popular notions, these sounds should confuse Satan, who on this day of judgment acts as an accuser.

- This is a festive flute, common in the Near and Middle East, Transcaucasia, India, Anatolia, the Balkans, Iran, Central Asia. Like any flute, it has the appearance of a tube with holes and a small beep. Usually there are up to nine holes on the tube, one of which is on the opposite side.
A close relative of the zurna is the oboe, which has the same double reed. Note that the oboe is still longer than the zurna, it has more side holes, and, in addition, it is equipped with valve mechanics, like a clarinet, flute, bassoon. However, the zurnas and the double oboe reed are so similar in terms of the arrangement of the zurnas that sometimes zurnachi musicians buy an oboe reed in a store for their instrument.
Zurna has a special specific sound. Its range is up to one and a half octaves, and the timbre is bright and piercing.
Zurna sounds good as part of an instrumental ensemble. Musicians often perform in threes. The first musician is called the mouth (or master), he plays the main melody. The second musician, as it were, complements the playing of the first and echoes him with lingering sounds. The third musician plays a percussion instrument and performs a varied rhythmic basis.
The oldest zurna is more than three thousand years old. During excavations on the territory of the Armenian Highlands, the oldest copy of the zurna was discovered. It is known about the presence of such a tool in ancient Greece. He accompanied gymnastic exercises, theatrical performances, sacrifices, military campaigns. True, it had a different name then - avlos, but it differed little from the current zurna.
The basis for the manufacture of zurna is a tree - apricot, walnut or mulberry. The diameter of the tool barrel is about twenty millimeters. The tool expands downwards to sixty millimeters in diameter. The average length of a zurna is three hundred millimeters.
A bushing (“masha”) is inserted into the upper end of the barrel. Its length is about one hundred millimeters. It is carved from willow, walnut or apricot wood. It is the sleeve that regulates the setting of the plate. The mouthpiece of the zurna is made of dry reeds, its length is ten millimeters.
The performer blows air through the mouthpiece and thus sounds are obtained. The range of the zurna is quite large for such a small instrument - from "B flat" of a small octave to "C" of the third octave. However, a professional musician can extend this range to several sounds. Experienced performers know how to make the zurna sing softly and gently.

The flute is a woodwind instrument. This is the general name for a number of instruments that consist of a cylindrical tube with holes. The oldest form of the flute seems to be the whistle. Gradually, finger holes began to be cut in the whistle tubes, turning a simple whistle into a whistle flute, on which it was already possible to perform musical works. The first archaeological finds of the flute date back to 35 - 40 thousand years BC, so the flute is one of the oldest musical instruments.
There is a wide variety of flutes in the world: recorder, transverse flute, panflute, piccolo flute and others. - this is also a flute, which is common in the Arab-Iranian, Tajik-Uzbek and Moldavian cultures. Ney is a kind of longitudinal flute, which includes a flute, pyzhatka and whistle. is not the only name for such a flute. Its name depends on the material from which it is made. So, a wooden flute is called agach-Nai, a tin flute is called garau-NaiNai, and a brass one is called Brindgzhi-Nai. The longitudinal flute was known in Egypt five thousand years ago, and it remains the main wind instrument throughout the Middle East.
Consider nei, about which not much is known. The Arabic flute has eight playing holes, while the Uzbek flute has six. Despite such differences, this does not reflect on the game, which has a lot of fans. Flute sounds are not only "ordinary", familiar to most listeners, but also chromatic. As for the Moldavian flute, its components are numerous - up to twenty-four pipes. They should be of different lengths, the pitch depends on it. The tubes are reinforced in an arched leather clip. Her scale is diatonic.
Nai (or ney) is not a fundamentally new instrument, it appeared from the improved tuiduka garga, which was known for many centuries among the eastern peoples. However, this ancient wind instrument - gargy tuyduk - has survived to this day. It is made of reed and has six fret holes. There are no specific sizes for it, each copy is cut differently. These instruments are also used individually: some for solo playing, others for accompaniment. The longitudinal flute, capable of octave blowing, provides a complete musical scale, individual intervals within which can change, forming different modes by crossing the fingers, closing the holes halfway, and changing the direction and strength of breathing.

Dutar. Du - two. Tar - string. An instrument with forged frets and two vein strings. Do you think the fewer strings the easier it is to play?

Well, then listen to one of the best dutar players, Abdurahim Khait, an Uighur from Xinjiang, China.
There is also a Turkmen dutar. The strings and frets of the Turkmen dutar are metal, the body is hollowed out of a single piece of wood, the sound is very bright, sonorous. The Turkmen dutar has been one of my favorite instruments over the past three years, and the dutar shown in the photo was brought to me from Tashkent quite recently. Amazing tool!

Azerbaijani saz. The nine strings are divided into three groups, each of which is tuned in unison. A similar instrument in Turkey is called baglama.

Be sure to listen to how this instrument sounds in the hands of a master. If you have little time, then watch at least starting at 2:30.
From saz and baglama came the Greek instrument bouzouki and its Irish version.

Oud or al-ud, if you call this instrument in Arabic. It is from the Arabic name of this instrument that the name of the European lute originated. Al-ud - lute, lute - do you hear? The usual oud has no frets - the frets on this specimen from my collection appeared on my initiative.

Listen to how a master from Morocco plays the oud.

From the Chinese two-stringed erhu violin with a simple resonator body and a small leather membrane, the Central Asian gidjak originated, which was called kemancha in the Caucasus and Turkey.

Listen to how the kemancha sounds when Imamyar Khasanov plays it.

The rubab has five strings. The first four of them are doubled, each pair is tuned in unison, and the bass string is one. The long neck has frets in accordance with the chromatic scale for almost two octaves and a small resonator with a leather membrane. What do you think the downward curved horns coming from the neck towards the instrument mean? Does its shape remind you of a sheep's head? But okay form - what a sound! You should have heard the sound of this instrument! He vibrates and trembles even with his massive neck, he fills all the space around with his sound.

Listen to the sound of the Kashgar rubab. But my rubab sounds better, honestly.

The Iranian tar has a double hollowed-out body made from a single piece of wood and a membrane made from fine fish skin. Six pairs of strings: two steel strings, followed by a combination of steel and thin copper, and the next pair is tuned into an octave - a thick copper string is tuned an octave below the thin steel one. The Iranian tar has forced frets made of veins.

Listen to how the Iranian tar sounds.
The Iranian tar is the ancestor of several instruments. One of them is an Indian setar (se - three, tar - string), and I will talk about the other two below.

Azerbaijani tar has not six, but eleven strings. Six of the same as the Iranian tar, another extra bass string and four unplayed strings that resonate when played, adding echoes to the sound and making the sound last longer. Tar and kemancha are perhaps the two main instruments of Azerbaijani music.

Listen for a few minutes, starting at 10:30 or at least starting at 13:50. You have never heard such a thing and could not imagine that such a performance is possible on this instrument. This is played by the brother of Imamyar Khasanov - Rufat.

There is a hypothesis that the tar is the ancestor of the modern European guitar.

Recently, when I talked about the electric cauldron, they reproached me - they say, I take out the soul from the cauldron. Probably, about the same thing was said to a person who, 90 years ago, guessed to put a pickup on an acoustic guitar. About thirty years later, the best examples of electric guitars were created, which remain the standard to this day. A decade later, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and Pink Floyd followed.
And all this progress has not hindered acoustic guitar manufacturers and classical guitar players in any way.

But musical instruments did not always spread from east to west. For example, the accordion became an extremely popular instrument in Azerbaijan in the 19th century, when the first German settlers arrived there.

My accordion was made by the same master who made instruments for Aftandil Israfilov. Hear what this instrument sounds like.

The world of oriental musical instruments is large and diverse. I haven't even shown you a part of my collection, which is far from complete. But I must tell you about two more instruments.
A pipe with a bell at the top is called a zurna. And the instrument under it is called duduk or balaban.

Celebrations and weddings begin with the sounds of the zurna in the Caucasus, Turkey and Iran.

Here is what a similar instrument looks like in Uzbekistan.

In Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, zurna is called surnay. In Central Asia and Iran, the lingering sounds of another instrument, the karnay, are added to the sounds of the surnay and tambourines. Karnay-surnay is a stable phrase denoting the beginning of the holiday.

Interestingly, an instrument related to karnay exists in the Carpathians, and its name is familiar to many - trembita.

And the second pipe, shown in my photo, is called balaban or duduk. In Turkey and Iran, this instrument is also called mey.

Listen to how Alikhan Samedov plays the balaban.

We will return to the balaban, but for now I want to talk about what I saw in Beijing.
As far as you understand, I collect musical instruments. And as soon as I had a free moment during my trip to Beijing, I immediately went to the musical instrument store. What I bought myself in this store, I will tell you another time. And now that I did not buy and what I regret terribly.
In the window there was a pipe with a bell, the design exactly resembling a zurna.
- How does is called? I asked through an interpreter.
- Sona, - they answered me.
- How similar to "sorna - surnay - zurna" - I thought aloud. And the translator confirmed my guess:
- The Chinese do not pronounce the letter r in the middle of a word.

You can read more about the Chinese variety of zurna
But, you know, zurna and balaban go hand in hand. Their design has a lot in common - maybe that's why. And what do you think? Next to the sona instrument was another instrument - the guan or guanji. Here's what it looked like:

Here's what it looks like. Guys, comrades, gentlemen, but this is the duduk!
And when did he get there? In the eighth century. Therefore, it can be assumed that it came from China - the timing and geography coincide.
So far, it is only documented that this tool spread to the east from Xinjiang. Well, how do they play this instrument in modern Xinjiang?

Watch and listen from the 18th second! Just listen to what a luxurious sound the Uighur balaman has - yes, here it is called exactly the same as in the Azerbaijani language (there is such a pronunciation of the name).

And let's look for additional information in independent sources, for example, in the Iranian encyclopedia:
BALABAN
CH. ALBRIGHT
a cylindrical-bore, double-reed wind instrument about 35 cm long with seven finger holes and one thumb hole, played in eastern Azerbaijan in Iran and in the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Or does Iranika sympathize with the Azerbaijanis? Well, the TSB also says that the word duduk is of Turkic origin.
Azerbaijanis and Uzbeks bribed the compilers?
Well, well, you definitely won’t suspect the Bulgarians of sympathy for the Turks!
on a very serious Bulgarian site for the word duduk:
duduk, dudyuk; duduk, dudyuk (from the Turkish düdük), squeaker, svorche, glasnik, additional - Naroden darven is a musical instrument of the aerophonite type, half-closing pipes.
Again they point to the Turkish origin of the word and call it their folk instrument.
This tool is widespread, as it turned out, mainly among the Turkic peoples, or among the peoples who had contact with the Turks. And every nation reasonably considers it to be its folk, national instrument. But only one takes credit for its creation.

After all, only the lazy did not hear that "duduk is an ancient Armenian instrument." At the same time, they hint that the duduk was created three thousand years ago - that is, in an unprovable past. But the facts and elementary logic show that this is not so.

Go back to the beginning of this article and take another look at musical instruments. Almost all of these instruments are played in Armenia too. But it is quite clear that all these instruments appeared among much more numerous peoples with a clear and understandable history, among which the Armenians lived. Imagine a small people living in dispersion among other peoples with their own states and empires. Will such a people create a complete set of musical instruments for an entire orchestra?
Frankly, I also thought: “Okay, those were big and complex instruments, let’s leave them aside. But at least the Armenians could come up with a pipe?” And it turns out that no, they didn't. If they came up with it, then this pipe would have a purely Armenian name, and not the poetic and metaphorical tsiranopokh (the soul of an apricot tree), but something simpler, more popular, with one root, or completely onomatopoeic. So far, all sources point to the Turkic etymology of the name of this musical instrument, and the geography and dates of distribution show that the duduk began its distribution from Central Asia.
Well, let's make one more assumption and say that the duduk came to Xinjiang from ancient Armenia. But how? Who brought him there? What peoples migrated from the Caucasus to Central Asia at the turn of the first millennium? There are no such nations! But the Turks were constantly moving from Central Asia to the west. They could well spread this tool in the Caucasus, and on the territory of modern Turkey and even in Bulgaria, as the documents indicate.

I foresee one more argument of the defenders of the version of the Armenian origin of the duduk. Like, a real duduk is made only from an apricot tree, which in Latin is called Prúnus armeniáca. But, firstly, apricots in Central Asia are no less common than in the Caucasus. The Latin name does not indicate that this tree has spread throughout the world from the territory of the area bearing the geographical name of Armenia. Just from there it penetrated into Europe and was described by botanists about three hundred years ago. On the contrary, there is a version that the apricot spread from the Tien Shan, part of which is in China, and part in Central Asia. Secondly, the experience of very talented peoples shows that this instrument can even be made from bamboo. And my favorite balaban is made from mulberry and sounds much better than apricot ones, which I also have and are made just in Armenia.

Listen to how I learned to play this instrument in a couple of years. People's Artist of Turkmenistan Gasan Mammadov (violin) and People's Artist of Ukraine, my countryman from Ferghana, Enver Izmailov (guitar) participated in the recording.

With all this, I want to pay tribute to the great Armenian duduk performer Jivan Gasparyan. It was this man who made the duduk an instrument known throughout the world, thanks to his work a wonderful school of playing the duduk arose in Armenia.
But speaking of "Armenian duduk" is justified only about specific instruments, if they are made in Armenia, or about the type of music that arose thanks to J. Gasparyan. Only those people who allow themselves unsubstantiated statements can point to the Armenian origin of the duduk.

Please note that I myself do not indicate either the exact place or the exact time of the appearance of the duduk. Probably, it is no longer possible to establish and the prototype of the duduk is older than any of the living peoples. But I am building my hypothesis about the spread of the duduk, based on facts and elementary logic. If someone wishes to object to me, then I want to ask in advance: please, when building hypotheses, in the same way, rely on provable and verified facts from independent sources, do not shy away from logic and try to find another intelligible explanation for the facts listed.

At all times, people devoted part of their lives to culture. So, despite the nomadic way of life and various difficult times, the inhabitants of Central Asia carried their musical culture through the centuries. Thanks to akyns and masters of the past, national instruments have survived to this day almost in the same form as they were 100 and 200 years ago. The peoples of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan can still hear, play or simply hold in their hands the unique musical instruments characteristic of Central Asia.

Let's tell you more about them.

Uzbek karnai

Karnay is a massive wind instrument made of copper and brass alloys. A large trumpet reaches a length of up to 3 meters and allows you to create unique melodies.

Modern Uzbek musicians traditionally use karnai at weddings. These deep solemn sounds symbolize the holiday today. You can hear them not only from the next street, you can even hear them from another quarter of the city. At the festival, melodies, decorated with karnay, loudly and publicly declare that a celebration is being celebrated in this house.

Previously, karnay was used both as a tool for convening warriors, as well as in order to notify the population that an enemy was approaching, a nuisance. The sound of the karnay was heard throughout the village and people were ready for certain actions thanks to the volume of the national wind instrument.

Tajik rubab

The rubab is a stringed instrument with a long history. It is made by hand from special types of trees. The process of cutting out a jug-shaped body is very painstaking and requires not only great diligence, but also special skills. The secrets of soaking log cabins, stretching the skin of an animal on the main part of a musical instrument, tuning strings and pegs in Tajikistan are passed on only from master to student.

Rubab sounds very lyrical. The strings give rise to a wondrous melody or accompaniment for a poet's song. But real masters of the game can also play on the rubab dance national Tajik melodies, many of which are already countless years old, and they are simply considered traditional folklore.

Kyrgyz komuz

Komuz is a national Kyrgyz stringed musical instrument. It has only three strings, but it has a very sonorous and melodic sound. A real komuz is made from wild apricot (apricot tree). The carpentry process for creating the shape of a komuz, the corresponding recess in the body, the top, the fingerboard, etc. is very complex and requires great skill. A piece of sawn wood for the future komuz must dry completely; for this, it can be placed in a special dark room for several years.

There are no frets on the neck of the komuz, as well as on some other musical instruments of the peoples of Central Asia. They learn to play it by ear, so not everyone can become a komuzchi (a master of playing the komuz).

The sound of a stringed instrument is practically inimitable, therefore, so many characteristic melodies have been written for the komuz, which are performed by national akyns, both solo and in an ensemble.

Sources of information, photos and videos