Doshpuluur
Encyclopedia
The doshpuluur is a long-necked Tuva
n lute
made from wood
, usually pine
or larch
. The doshpuluur is played by plucking and strumming.
There are two different versions of the doshpuluur. One version has a trapezoidal soundbox, which is covered on both sides by goat
skin and is fretless. The other has a kidney-shaped soundbox mostly of wood with a small goat or snake
skin roundel on the front and has fret
s.
Traditionally the instrument has only two strings, but there exist versions of it with three or even four strings. The two strings are commonly tuned a perfect fifth
apart, with the third string usually forming the octave. Sometimes the two strings are tuned a perfect fourth
apart. Like the other stringed instruments of Tuva, it is traditionally used as an accompaniment for a solo performance.
Tuva
The Tyva Republic , or Tuva , is a federal subject of Russia . It lies in the geographical center of Asia, in southern Siberia. The republic borders with the Altai Republic, the Republic of Khakassia, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Irkutsk Oblast, and the Republic of Buryatia in Russia and with Mongolia to the...
n lute
Lute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
made from wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
, usually pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...
or larch
Larch
Larches are conifers in the genus Larix, in the family Pinaceae. Growing from 15 to 50m tall, they are native to much of the cooler temperate northern hemisphere, on lowlands in the north and high on mountains further south...
. The doshpuluur is played by plucking and strumming.
There are two different versions of the doshpuluur. One version has a trapezoidal soundbox, which is covered on both sides by goat
Goat
The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
skin and is fretless. The other has a kidney-shaped soundbox mostly of wood with a small goat or snake
Snake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
skin roundel on the front and has fret
Fret
A fret is a raised portion on the neck of a stringed instrument, that extends generally across the full width of the neck. On most modern western instruments, frets are metal strips inserted into the fingerboard...
s.
Perfect fifth
In classical music from Western culture, a fifth is a musical interval encompassing five staff positions , and the perfect fifth is a fifth spanning seven semitones, or in meantone, four diatonic semitones and three chromatic semitones...
apart, with the third string usually forming the octave. Sometimes the two strings are tuned a perfect fourth
Perfect fourth
In classical music from Western culture, a fourth is a musical interval encompassing four staff positions , and the perfect fourth is a fourth spanning five semitones. For example, the ascending interval from C to the next F is a perfect fourth, as the note F lies five semitones above C, and there...
apart. Like the other stringed instruments of Tuva, it is traditionally used as an accompaniment for a solo performance.
External links
- Doshpuluur Demo, photos, and text