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The tambura is a type of string instrument found in different versions in different places around the world; most are plucked lutes.
Bulgaria
The Bulgarian tambura is a long-necked, fretted, bouzouki-like string instrument that comes in two styles: eight-string (four pairs) and four-string (two pairs), played with a plectrum.
A few other modifications are available: the cello-tambura - a synthetic instrument made for the first time somewhere in the early 50s by a player (most of those were part-time luthiers) in the Ensemble of the National Radio. It was build to fill in the frequency gap in the traditional Bulgarian folk band, has six strings tuned GDAE or GDAD in four courses - the first two strings are doubled and the lower two are single. Even today it is not a very common instrument, though a few bands (like Isihia, Bulgara, Om, etc.) in Bulgaria use it as a solo instrument. Its sound is much more mellow than the Tambura, but also quite deep and rich in tone. A few years later a bass-tambura was also made, again by the same person. It is actually a bass-guitar, but with a pear-shaped hollow body. Also there are the so called Pirin tamburas which only have six strings in three courses - usually tuned DAD - the two lower strings are used as drones and the first (and rarely the second) are used as melody strings. There is another kind of synthetic instrument - the soprano-tambura which is actually something between mandolin and baglama - its higher pitch and strong, sharp sound are perfect for solos, but the instrument is not very common since it does not really sound too good if played alone. All the members of the Tambura family have no ribs. The body is normally made of single piece hardwood and is pear-shaped, but also there are old examples of luteback tamburas made with the technique of bending and gluing thin pieces of wood together.
The Bulgarian tambura is played in two ways. As an accompaniment instrument it is tuned similarly to the first four strings of a guitar and played as such. As a melody instument it is tuned in fifths, with the strings that are not being played for melody sounding as drones.
- See also Music of Bulgaria.
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia, especially their Pannonian parts Slavonia and Vojvodina, tambura (often referred to by the diminutive tamburica) are the basic instruments for traditional folk music. This usually performed by small orchestras of three to ten members, but large orchestras capable of playing even classical pieces arranged for tambura also exist.
There are several types of tambura, with three to four strings. The basic forms are samica (three double strings), bisernica (two double strings and two single strings; four tones), prim (one double string and three single strings; four tones), bas-prim or brač (two double strings and two single strings; four tones), čelović (two double strings and two single strings; four tones), čelo (four strings), bas or berda (four strings), and bugarija or kontra (one double string and three single strings; four tones). The names of the instruments and method of playing them depends on the tuning of the strings.
India
A tambura (South India) or tanpura (North India) is a long-necked Indian lute, unfretted and round-bodied. The neck is hollow, and it has four or five (rarely, six) wire strings, which are plucked one after another in a regular pattern to create a tonic resonance field (bourdon or drone function) Hindustani classical music tanpuras come in different sizes: bigger "males" and smaller "females". Male players/musicians pitch their tonic note (Sa) to C#, female singers usually a fifth higher. The male instrument has an open string length of one metre, the female is sized down to 3/4. The standard tuning is 5881 sol do' do' do or in Indian sargam: PA sa sa SA. For ragas that omit the fifth, the first string will be tuned down to the natural fourth: 4881 or Ma sa sa Sa. With a five-string instrument, the seventh or NI (natural minor or major 7th) is added: PA NI sa sa SA (57881). Both the instrument and how it is played look very simple, though in fact it takes a lot of experience and a very good ear to tune and play the tanpura. The special overtone-rich sound is achieved by applying the principle of jivari which creates a rich buzzing sound in which particular harmonics will ring out clearly.
It is designed in three different styles:
- Miraj style: the favorite form of tanpura for Hindustani performers; it is usually between three to five feet in length, with a well-rounded resonator plate (tabali) and a long, hollow straight neck. The round lower chamber to which the tabli and the neck (dandh) are fixed is actually a selected and dried gourd (tumba).
- Tanjore style: this is a south Indian style of tambura, used widely by Carnatic music performers. It has somewhat different shape and style of decoration from that of the Miraj, but is otherwise much the same size. Typically, no gourd is used, but the spherical part is gouged out of a solid block of wood. The neck is somewhat smaller in diameter.
- Tamburi: this style has became more popular recently, due to its small size and portability. It is two to three feet long, with a shallow resonator and a slightly curved tabali. It may have from four to six strings. The small five-string tamburi are tuned to the higher octave and are the preferred instruments for providing the drone for solo-performances by string-playing artists, as the lighter, more transparent sound does not drown out the lower register of a sitar, sarod, or sarangi.
See also
External links
- Makar-records.com: Indian Classical Music Instrument Index
- seasite.niu.edu: World music: Tampura (Tambura)
- Tanpura or Tambura — by David Courtney
- Martin Spaink's pages — articles about tuning and playing of tambura, and why electronic tamburas are bad for music
String instruments | Bulgarian music | Carnatic music instruments | Indian musical instruments
"Tambura"