A
dayereh (or
doyra,
dojra,
dajre,
doira,
dajreja) is a medium-sized
frame drumA frame drum is a drum that has a drumhead diameter greater than its depth. Usually the single drumhead is made of rawhide or man-made materials. Shells are traditionally constructed of bent wood scarf jointed together; plywood and man-made materials are also used. Some frame drums have mechanical...
with jingles, used to accompany both popular and classical music in
IranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanid period and came into international use from 1935, before which the country was known internationally as Persia...
(Persia), the
BalkansThe Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
, and many
Central AsiaAsia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south. It is also sometimes known as Middle Asia or Inner Asia, and is within the scope of the wider Eurasian continent.Various definitions of its...
n countries such as
TajikistanTajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and People's Republic of China to the east...
and
UzbekistanUzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan , is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia, formerly part of the Soviet Union...
. Frame drums are popular in
KartliKartli is a historical region in central-to-eastern Georgia traversed by the river Mtkvari , on which Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, is situated. Known to the Classical authors as Iberia, Kartli played a crucial role in ethnic and political consolidation of the Georgians in the Middle Ages...
,
KakhetiKakheti is a historical province in Eastern Georgia inhabitant by Kakhetians who speak a local dialect of Georgian. It is bordered by the small mountainous province of Tusheti and mountain-range of Greater Caucasus to the north, Azerbaijan to the east and the south, and the Georgian province of...
,
TushetiTusheti, or Tushetia, is a historic region in northeast Georgia.-Geography:Located on the northern slopes of the Greater Caucasus Mountains, Tusheti is bordered by the Russian republics of Chechnya and Dagestan to the north and east, respectively; and by the Georgian historic provinces Kakheti and...
,
SamegreloMegrelia, Mingrelia or Samegrelo/Samargalo is a historic province in the western part of Georgia, formerly also known as Odishi.It is inhabited by the Mingrelians, an ethnic subgroup of the Georgians....
,
RachaRacha is a highland area in western Georgia, located in the upper Rioni river valley and hemmed in by the Greater Caucasus mountains...
and
ImeretiImereti Province is a province in Georgia situated along the middle and upper reaches of the Rioni river...
. This is a single headed percussion instrument which is not only found in Northern
South AsiaSouth Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries on the west and the east...
,
Central AsiaAsia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south. It is also sometimes known as Middle Asia or Inner Asia, and is within the scope of the wider Eurasian continent.Various definitions of its...
, and the
Middle EastThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, southeastern Europe, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, but also in parts of the Russian
polar regionEarth's polar regions are the areas of the globe surrounding the poles also known as frigid zones. The North Pole and South Pole being the centers, these regions are dominated by the polar ice caps, resting respectively on the Arctic Ocean and the continent of Antarctica...
s. The simple drum is formed by attaching a skin cover onto a wooden ring with glue and cloth ties. This is similar to the Persian daira and the Turkish def. Some daira have metal pieces attached to give them a
tambourineThe tambourine or Marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils"...
-like quality.
History
The history of dayereh goes back to many centuries. An engraved bronze cup from
LorestānLorestân, Lurestaan or Luristan, comprises a province and a historic territory of western Iran amidst the Zagros Mountains.The population of Lorestān is calculated 1,716,527 people in 2006 ....
at the
National Museum of IranThe National Museum of Iran is an archeological and historical museum located in Tehran. It preserves ancient Persian antiquities including pottery vessels, metal objects, books, coins etc. It was inaugurated in 1937.The museum consists of two buildings...
in
TehranTehran is the capital and largest city of Iran, and the administrative center of Tehran Province. Tehran is a sprawling city at the foot of the Tochal mountain range with an immense network of highways unparalleled in Western Asia...
, portrays a double
neyThe ney is an end-blown flute that figures prominently in Persian, Turkish and Arabic music. In some of these musical traditions, it is the only wind instrument used...
(end-blown reed pipes),
changThe chang is an Iranian harp. It was very popular and used widely during the times of ancient Persia, especially during the Sassanid Dynasty where it was often played in the shahs' court....
(harp), and dayereh in a shrine or court processional, as similarly documented in
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
,
ElamElam was an ancient civilization located in what is now southwest Iran. Elam was centered in the far west and the southwest of modern-day Iran, stretching from the lowlands of Khuzestan and Ilam Province , as far as Jiroft in Kerman province and Burned City in Zabol, as well as a small part of...
, and the Persian province of
BabyloniaBabylonia was a civilization in Lower Mesopotamia , with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged when Hammurabi created an empire out of the territories of the former kingdoms of Sumer and Akkad...
where music was arranged for performance by large orchestral ensembles.
In the Pahlavi (Persian pre-Islamic language) the name is dareh. The poet Abu Saeed Abolkheir (967-1048) mentioned in his works, the word dayereh as a drum.
Regional variations
The dayereh is one of the most famous frame drums in Persia and
Central AsiaAsia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south. It is also sometimes known as Middle Asia or Inner Asia, and is within the scope of the wider Eurasian continent.Various definitions of its...
, and in the Pahlavi (
PersianPersian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is widely spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and to some extent in Iraq and Bahrain, and has a status of official language in the first three countries under different names...
ancient language) the dayereh is called
dareh.
In
AzerbaijanAzerbaijan , formally the Republic of Azerbaijan , is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to the south...
, it is called
ghaval and sometimes
dafA daf is a large-sized frame drum used to accompany both popular and classical music in Iran, Iraq, Syria, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Kuhistoni Badakhshon of Tajikistan and other countries of the Middle East...
, and is played on festive occasions. In Azerbaijani art music, the drum that usually accompanies the Ashigh (poet/singer) is ghaval (dayereh). A traditional ensemble contains a singer, who plays this drum, and two instrumentalists, one playing the tar (long-necked lute) and the other, the kamancheh (bowed spike fiddle).
Structure and construction
The jingles which are thin metal plates or rings, are attached to hooks in three or four rectangular holes in the circular wooden frame. The
drumheadA drumhead is a membrane stretched over one or both of the open ends of a drum. The drumhead is struck with sticks, mallets, or hands so that it vibrates and the sound resonates through the drum.-History:...
is made of goat skin.
The diameter of the frame is 45 - 50 cm (18 to 20 in) and the depth, 5 - 7 cm (2 – 3 in). In order to bend the frame, the wood ("buka", "orev") may be softened in water before being bent around a hot metal cylinder.
The frame is closed by gluing the ends together. Finally, the skin is attached to the frame by fixing it with another wooden frame or by using nails.
Another variation is to have the ring-style jingles arranged around the edge of the inside of the drum the whole way around or to have several tiers half way around the inside edge.
Performance
The sound is produced by hitting the membrane with either hand – the left hand, which also holds the dayereh, strikes the edges, and the right hand strikes the center. The right-hand fingers are fastened about their neighbours and suddenly released (like the action of finger-snapping) to produce loud, rapid, sharp sounds.
The dayereh is a solo instrument. Most often it is supported by "Gajda", "chalgija" or "tarabuka". Marko Cepenkov mentions the dayereh as a companion of the "Gajda" in the 18th and 19th centuries. It is most often used for keeping the rhythm in
MacedonianThe Macedonians also referred to as Macedonian Slavs are a South Slavic people who are primarily associated with the Republic of Macedonia. They speak the Macedonian language, a South Slavic language...
folk songs and dances, and also in traditional Macedonian rituals, like wedding ceremony.
External links