View source for Barbat (lute)

{{Short description|Central Asian lute}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Infobox instrument
| name                  = ''Barbat''
| image                 = barbat.jpg
| image_size            =
| alt                   =
| caption               =Modern ''barbat'' with six courses of strings.
| background            =string
| names                 =
| classification        =[[Plucked string instrument]]
| hornbostel_sachs      =
| hornbostel_sachs_desc =
| inventors             =
| developed             =
| timbre                = 
| volume                = 
| attack                = 
| decay                 = 
| range                 =
| pitch                 = 
| related               =
* [[Lute]]
* [[Oud]]
* [[Mandolin]]
| musicians             =
| builders              =
| articles              =
}}

The '''''barbat''''' ({{langx|fa|بربت}}) or ''barbud'' is a [[lute]] of [[Greater Iran|Greater Iranian or Persian]] origin, and widespread across [[Central Asia]], especially since the [[Sassanid Empire]].<ref name=Iranica>{{cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/barbat |last= During|first=Jean |title=Encyclopaedia Iranica - Barbat |publisher=Iranicaonline.org |date=15 December 1988|access-date=2012-02-04}}</ref> Barbat is characterized as carved from a single piece of wood, including the [[Neck (music)|neck]] and a wooden [[Sound board (music)|sound board]].<ref name=Iranica/> Possibly a skin-topped instrument for part of its history, it is ancestral to the wood-topped [[oud]] and [[biwa]] and the skin-topped [[Yemen|Yemeni]] [[qanbus]].<ref name=Iranica/><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |entry= Iran|volume = 1|last1= Lawergren|first1= Bo |last2=Farhat |first2=Hormoz |last3=Blum |first3=Stephen |date=20 January 2001 |quote= The ‘ūd (lute) is believed to be a later development of a pre-Islamic Persian instrument called barbat.  |encyclopedia=Grove Music Online |doi = 10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.13895}}</ref><ref name=centralasia/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hilarian |first1=Larry Francis |title=Documentación y rastreo histórico del laúd malayo (''gambus'') |trans-title=Documentation and historical tracking of the Malay lute (''gambus'') |language=Spanish |journal=Desacatos |date=2003 |issue=12 |pages=78–92 |url=http://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1607-050X2003000200006 |quote=El gambus melayu que ahí llegó podría ser, o bien un descendiente directo del barbat persa, o del qanbus yemenita, que a su vez evolucionó del barbat.[translation: The melayu gambus that arrived there could be either a direct descendant of the Persian barbat, or the Yemenite qanbus, which in turn evolved from the barbat.]}}</ref>

Although the original barbat disappeared, modern Iranian [[Luthier|luthiers]] have invented a new instrument, inspired by the Barbat.<ref name=majnunn>{{cite web |url=https://majnuunmusicanddance.com/persian-oud-barbat/ |title=Persian Oud – Barbat |last=Goldrick |first=Navid |date=16 August 2013 |website=majnunn music and dance |access-date=31 March 2018 |quote=In the last 40 years...luthiers in Iran have been conducting research on old paintings... to best reproduce the Barbat of old. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191204085552/https://majnuunmusicanddance.com/persian-oud-barbat/ |archive-date=4 December 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The modern re-created instrument ([[Iranian peoples|Iranian]] Barbat) resembles the oud, although differences include a smaller body, longer [[Neck (music)|neck]], a slightly raised [[fingerboard]], and a sound that is distinct from that of the oud.<ref name=majnunn/>

==History==
{{See also|Lute#History and evolution of the lute}}
The ''barbat'' probably originated in [[Central Asia]].<ref name=Iranica/> The earliest image of the ''barbat'' dates back to the 1st century BC from ancient northern [[Bactria]].<ref name=Iranica/> While in his book (''Les instruments de musique de l’Inde ancienne'') [[Musicology|musicologist]] [[Claudie Marcel-Dubois]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cheyronnaud |first=Jacques |date=1990-01-01 |title=Une vie consacrée à l'ethnomusicologie |url=https://journals.openedition.org/ethnomusicologie/2394?lang=en |journal=Cahiers d'ethnomusicologie. Anciennement Cahiers de musiques traditionnelles |language=fr |issue=3 |pages=173–185 |issn=1662-372X}}</ref> pointed out a more "clear cut" depiction of the ''barbat'' from [[Gandhara]] sculpture dated to the 2nd-4th centuries AD, which may well have been introduced by the [[Kushan Empire|Kushan]] aristocracy whose influence is attested in Gandharan art.<ref name=Iranica/> 

The name itself meant ''short-necked lute'' in [[Middle Persian|Pahlavi]], the language of the [[Sasanian Empire]], through which the instrument came west from [[Central Asia]] to the [[Middle East]], adopted by the [[Persians]].<ref name="Iranica" /><ref name="centralasia">{{cite book |chapter= Central Asia|last= Blum|first= Stephen|title = Oxford Music Online|date=20 January 2001 |publisher= Oxford Music Online, Grove Music Online|quote= The ‘ūd (lute) is believed to be a later development of a pre-Islamic Persian instrument called barbat...[was part of] eastwards diffusion of Middle Eastern and Central Asian chordophones... the pipa, likewise derived from the barbat or from its prototype|doi = 10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.05284}}</ref> The barbat (possibly known by example in [[History of Yemen|pre-islamic Yemen]]  as mizhar, kirān, or muwattar,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mokrani |first=Samir |date=2007-12-31 |title=Musique et identité au Yémen. Le cas du luth qanbûs |url=https://journals.openedition.org/ethnomusicologie/273?lang=en |journal=Cahiers d'ethnomusicologie. Anciennement Cahiers de musiques traditionnelles |language=fr |issue=20 |pages=191–207 |issn=1662-372X}}</ref> all skin topped versions, like the [[rud]]) was used by some Arabs in the sixth century.<ref name="EncyclopiaIslam">{{cite book|title=First Encyclopaedia of Islam: 1913-1936|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ro--tXw_hxMC&pg=PA986|year=1993|publisher=BRILL|location=Leiden|isbn=978-90-04-09796-4|page=986}}</ref> At the end of the 6th century, a wood topped version of the Persian-styled instrument was constructed by al Nadr, called "ūd", and introduced from [[Iraq]] to [[Mecca]].<ref name="EncyclopiaIslam" /> This Persian-style instrument was being played there in the seventh century.<ref name="EncyclopiaIslam" /> Sometime in the seventh century it was modified or "perfected" by [[Mansour Zalzal]], and the two instruments (barbat and "[[oud|ūd shabbūt]]") were used side by side into the 10th century, and possibly longer.<ref name="EncyclopiaIslam" /> 

The two instruments have been confused by modern scholars looking for examples, and some of the ouds identified may possibly be barbats.<ref name="EncyclopiaIslam" /> Examples of this cited in the ''[[Encyclopedia of Islam]]'' include a lute in the [[Cantigas de Santa Maria]] and the frontispiece from ''The Life and Times of Ali Ibn ISA'' by Harold Bowen.<ref name="EncyclopiaIslam" />

===Kusana origin of short lutes===
[[Laurence Picken]] in his 1955 article ''The Origin of the Short Lute'' laid out an argument for the lute originating in the lands of the [[Kusana]] peoples.<ref name=Pickin>{{cite journal |last1= Pickins|first1=Laurence |date=March 1955 |title=The Origin of the Short Lute |journal=The Galpin Society Journal |volume= 8|pages=32–42 |doi=10.2307/842155 |jstor=842155 }}</ref> 

He looked at the likely places for the short ovoid lute to originate.<ref name="Pickin" /> He showed that the evidence found by 1955 indicated that China would not likely have had an instrument such as the lute earlier than the 5th century.<ref name="Pickin" /> 

He found no evidence of the [[Sasanian Empire|Sasanian]] barbad or barbud earlier than the 4th century A.D.<ref name="Pickin" /> The earliest evidence was to be found among the Kusanas.<ref name="Pickin" /> He considered other peoples further west, but only found evidence of long-necked lutes.<ref name="Pickin" /> The only other possibility was among the "[[Elam]]ic clay figures" from the 8th century B.C.<ref name="Pickin" /> These were discounted, as "no structural detail are visible."<ref name="Pickin" /> 

He was careful to point out that his conclusions were based on the evidence which had been unearthed by 1955, from literature and art.

===Iconographic evidence===
{{multiple image|caption_align=center|header_align=center
 | align = right

 | image1 = Gandharan Lute.jpg
 | width1 = 150
 | alt1 = Siddhartha playing the lute, sculpture
 | caption1 = "[[Gautama Buddha|Siddhartha]]" playing a lute-type instrument. [[Gandhara|Gandaran]] art. Date not given for artwork. The era for grey [[schist]] art was 1st-6th centuries A.D.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.photodharma.net/India/Indian-Museum/Indian-Museum.htm|title= Statues and Reliefs in the Indian Museum, Kolkata |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=photodharma.net |access-date=16 August 2018 |quote=Gandhāra School. The [[Indian Museum, Kolkata|Indian Museum, Calcutta]] houses the largest collection of Gandhāra Sculptures in India...The Grey Schist or slate stone sculptures hail mainly from the region lying between Eastern Afghanistan and Northern Pakistan (Peshawar and Rawalpindi districts) and belong to the Gandhāra School which flourished from about the 1st century B.C. to the 6th century A.D. Stucco and teracotta were also used as media from about the 3rd century A.D. The art was at its zenith under the patronage of the Kuṣaṇ kings...Text adapted from a sign in the Indian Museum}}</ref>

 | image2 = Barbat or Oud from 7th or 8th Century Iran.jpg
 | width2 = 150
 | alt2 = Sasanian plate with celebration, includes lute player
 | caption2 = The lute-type instrument from a decorated dish, Sasanian Iran (7th-8th centuries A.D.) was pointed out by Michael Nixon as a possible barbat.<ref name=nixon/>

 | image3 =Britannica Rebab Pear-shaped Rebab from Khotan.jpg
 | width3 = 170
 | alt3 = Khotan lute or rebab
 | caption3  = Clay figurine from [[Kingdom of Khotan]], c. 1st-6th centuries A.D., very early image of short necked lute.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=229721&partId=1&place=2484&page=1&epik=0_sfgE_IW359z|title=The British Museum Collection Online |author=<!--Not stated--> |website= The British Museum|access-date=11 April 2018 }}</ref> Has also been called [[Rubab (instrument)|rebab]] (a skin-topped instrument).<ref>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Rebab |volume= 22 |short= x}}</ref>
}}

In his paper which summarized what was known about early examples of Asian harps and lutes, focusing on images and literature for his sources, [[Michael Dixon (museum director)|Michael Nixon]] pointed out that one image of the barbat from Sasanian Iran (estimated origin in his paper 3rd-7th centuries A.D and 7th-8th centuries A.D. by the [[British Museum]]) resembled other images of the barbat from [[Sasanian]] and [[Gandhara]]n sources.<ref name=nixon>{{cite thesis |last= Nixon|first=Michael |date= September 2016|title= Preliminary thoughts on some Asian harps and lutes in images and literature |institution= University of Cape Town |url=http://www.afroasia.uct.ac.za/sites/default/files/image_tool/images/406/resources-17/Michael%20Nixon%202016.pdf |page=16|access-date=11 April 2018}}</ref> He said that the instrument itself resembled these and was held in the same manner.<ref name=nixon/> The instrument also resembled an image from a door-lintel bas-relief from the [[Gupta Empire|Gupta period]] in [[Padmavati Pawaya]], India.(240-605). A.D.)<ref name=nixon3>{{cite thesis |last= Nixon|first=Michael |date= September 2016|title= Preliminary thoughts on some Asian harps and lutes in images and literature |institution= University of Cape Town |url=http://www.afroasia.uct.ac.za/sites/default/files/image_tool/images/406/resources-17/Michael%20Nixon%202016.pdf |pages=15, 17|access-date=11 April 2018}}</ref><ref name=monuments>{{cite web |url=http://monuments.puratattva.in/2011/07/pawaya-glamour-of-ancient-padmavati.html?m=1 |title=Pawaya - Glamour of the Ancient Padmavati |last=Saxena |first=Saurabh |website=monuments.puratattva.in |access-date=11 April 2018 |quote=A door lintel from Pawaya in Gujari Mahal Museum |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180411151930/http://monuments.puratattva.in/2011/07/pawaya-glamour-of-ancient-padmavati.html?m=1 |archive-date=11 April 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=monuments2>{{cite web |url= http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OqdqzzyaWj4/TiEc-p0HMjI/AAAAAAAAAkg/Qp4-eMP-Pzg/s720/Pawaya-25.JPG|title= A door lintel from Pawaya in Gujari Mahal Museum (image)|last=Saxena |first=Saurabh  |website=monuments.puratattva.in |access-date=11 April 2018 |quote=[The lute is in bottom left corner of image.]}}</ref>

The Ganharan image he points to (c. 2nd-4th centuries A.D.) was published in [[Curt Sachs]]' book ''The History of Musical Instruments'' in 1940.<ref name=nixon2>{{cite thesis |last= Nixon|first=Michael |date= September 2016|title= Preliminary thoughts on some Asian harps and lutes in images and literature |institution= University of Cape Town |url=http://www.afroasia.uct.ac.za/sites/default/files/image_tool/images/406/resources-17/Michael%20Nixon%202016.pdf |page=12|access-date=11 April 2018}}</ref> It shows a man holding a lute-style instrument with bottom of the rounded bowl of the instrument held to his chest, the neck of the instrument held down at a approximately 45-degree angle, and the man strumming the instrument near his chest.<ref name=nixon2/>

Another image from Gandhara from an overlapping time period (100-320 A.D.) is in the collection of the [[Cleveland Museum of Art]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.clevelandart.org/art/1980.15|title= Bracket with two musicians 100s, Pakistan, Gandhara, probably Butkara in Swat, Kushan Period (1st century-320)|publisher= The Cleveland Museum of Art|access-date=March 25, 2015}}</ref> The image shows a similarly shaped instrument, with similar bridge (the bar at the bottom of the instrument's bowl) held and strummed in the same manner. This image, unlike the other two mentioned, shows sound holes, an indication that this instrument had a wooden soundboard and not a skin top.

[[Jean During]], who wrote the 1988 Barbat article used by the [[Encyclopædia Iranica|Encyclopedia Iranica]], cites two images of short lutes as being the oldest currently known.<ref name=Iranica/> One is in [[Khalchayan|Ḵaḷčayān]] (Uzbekistan), c. 1st century A.D.<ref name=Iranica/> The other, "at the moment the oldest evidence of the existence of the barbaṭ," was at [[Dalverzin Tepe|Dal’verzin Tepe]], c. 1st century B.C.<ref name=Iranica/>

Another early source of lute images from Central Asia comes from [[Qashqadaryo Region|East Kashkadarya]], where [[Coroplast (artisan)|coroplast]] statuettes (c. 1st Century B.C. to 1st Century A.D.) from the Kangyui period were found, female lutenists that appear religious, depicting a female goddess playing a lute.<ref name=coroplast>{{cite web |url=http://sanat.orexca.com/2003/2003-1/history_art1-14/ |title=Coroplastics of East Kashkadrya in the Antique Period |last= Omelchenko|first=Andrey |date= 1 January 2003 |publisher=Sanat, Journal of the Academy of Arts of Uzbekistan |access-date= 11 April 2018}}</ref> The Kangyui Kingdom was in the [[Kazakhstan]] and Uzbekistan region from the 2nd century B.C. to the 4th century A.D.<ref>{{cite news |last=Dobrota |first= Lyubov |date= 15 August 2014|title=Expedition Uncovers Secrets about Ancient Kangyui |url= https://astanatimes.com/2014/08/expedition-uncovers-secrets-ancient-kangyui/|work= The Asian Times|location= Kazakhstan|access-date= 11 April 2018|quote=Archaeological and written records of the Kangyui state that existed from the second century B.C. to the fourth century A.D. within the boundaries of the Arys and middle Syr Darya rivers between the Karatau and Karzhantau mountains.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.visit-uzbekistan.com/uzbekistan/history.php |title= Uzbekistan, History|author=<!--Not stated--> |website= visit-uzbekistan.com|access-date= 11 April 2018|quote=The state formation, namely Kangyui, is traced back to the 4th and 3rd centuries B.C. The state is reported to have been located on the territory of north Central Asia, Tashkent oasis, and Talas valley.}}</ref> The lutes are short lutes, but the detail in the statuettes is low. Whether they are the same as the other short lutes in the area is not clear.

<gallery>
Clevelandart 1980.15.jpg|Cleveland Museum of Art, Lute in Pakistan, Gandhara, probably Butkara in Swat, Kushan Period (1st century-320)
Gandhara Lute, Pakistan, Swat Valley, Gandhara region, 4th-5th century.jpg|Gandhara Lute, Pakistan, Swat Valley, Gandhara region, 4th-5th century
Indo-GreekBanquet.JPG|Hellenistic banquet scene from the 1st century AD, [[Hadda, Afghanistan|Hadda]], [[Gandhara]]. Short-necked, 2-string lute held by player, far right.
Barbat.jpg|Recreation of a barbat, ca. 1910.

File:چند قنبوس جنوب شرق آسیایی.jpg|Myanmar. Ouds, [[gambus]] and a blending of the two. All originating in the barbat.
</gallery>

{{unreferenced section|date=January 2021}}

==The modern instrument==
{{multiple image|caption_align=center|header_align=center
 | align = right
 | image2 = Behroozinia hossein4.jpg
 | width2 = 130
 | alt2 = Hossein Behroozinia holding a Persian Barbat
 | caption2 = [[Hossein Behroozinia]], an Iranian musician holding a Persian Barbat

 | image1 = Persian Barbat.jpg
 | width1 = 142
 | alt1 = Today's Persian Barbat
 | caption1  =Today's Persian Barbat.

 | image3 =Horniman instruments 10.jpg
 | width3 = 180
 | alt3 = 
 | caption3  = Iranian oud AKA barbat in the [[Horniman Museum]], London, UK.

}}

===Holding the ''barbat''===
The ''barbat'' is held similar to an [[oud]], but care must be taken to have the face vertical so that it is not visible to the player, and to support the weight with the [[thigh]] and right arm so that the left hand is free to move around the [[fingerboard]].  

Note the [[Idiosyncrasy|idiosyncratic]] manner of holding the ''[[Mezrab (plectrum)|mizrab]]'' (Turkish) or ''risha'' (Arabic, lit. "feather") or pick; although it seems awkward it is in reality easier than a conventional [[Flatpicking|flatpick]] and gives the "right" [[Tonality|tonal]] shading to the plucked note.

In all matters of holding and playing it is recommended that the player use only the muscles needed for any musical task and to relax as much as possible, using only as much force as is necessary. This will allow one to play longer, easier and to put the effort into creativity rather than mechanics.  In the past many players sat cross-legged on a rug, but now most perform sitting, often using a classical guitarist's footrest under the right foot to help hold the barbat.

===Basic fingering===
Two methods of left hand fingering are in current usage.  The older, more traditional Classical Arabic approach uses all four fingers for stopping the strings, one for each [[semitone]] much as a [[guitarist]]; alternatively, some play with a style more akin to ''[[baglama]]'' (or ''[[baglama|saz]]'') or [[sitar]] technique, using mainly the first and second fingers, with less use of the third and little use of the fourth fingers.  

The [[Violin|violinist]] Hakki Obadia taught a mixed fingering system that uses the first finger for several notes and the second finger for  another notes but not on all strings.  The third finger is used too but not the fourth.

Another important facet of left hand technique is the employment of the fingernail to help stop the string, giving a clearer tone and more pronounced [[Ornament (music)|ornaments]] than use of the fleshy tips alone. This is common to several other fretless instrument, among them the [[sarod]], [[shamisen]] and [[sanxian]].

The Iranian barbat and oud player [[Mansour Nariman]] used only the first three fingers of the left hand. His student [[Hossein Behroozinia]] disagreed with this approach and decided to use all four fingers of the left hand. Today, most professional barbat and oud players use their four fingers.

===Right hand-the mizrab or risha===
As mentioned the right hand employs a special method for holding the [[quill]] inspired [[Plectrum|pick]] called risha in Arabic and [[Mezrab (plectrum)|mizrab]] in Turkish.  The long flexible pick puts the wrist at a particular angle and adds a certain [[Tonality|tonal color]] to the sound. The traditional material was an eagle quill, but this is not practical; plastic makes a more durable and standard material for the risha. Players have used things like collar stays, plastic pieces from hardware stores, cut-up plastic bottles ( this worked better with the old heavyweight containers), and of course the Turkish manufactured models. These come in a thin, more-or-less pointed tip style made of lighter gauge translucent plastic and a round tip model made of heavier white opaque stock. The thinner ones are lovely sounding and play very delicately with subtle nuances; the heavier ones play very loud.

Variations can be obtained by cutting a new tip on the thinner ones a bit further back where the plastic is a little thicker, adding volume to the attack. The rounded ones can be cut to a pointer shape and thinned a fraction with fine sandpaper adding nuance to the heavier attack produced by this pick. Both kinds are made double-ended from the factory, so one end can be left original and the other end customized, the player using the appropriate end for the musical need.

===Body===
The barbat's body contains three major parts:
*Resonating body: It is like a pear and it is the biggest resonating body in comparison with other bodies. There are three sound holes and lattices on its body, one bigger than two others.
*[[Fingerboard]]: Without [[frets]] (or [[fretless]]), and the [[Neck (music)|neck]]. Some earlier illustrations show frets arranged to include [[microtones]].
*Bent-back [[pegbox]]: There is a great angle between the fingerboard/neck and pegbox. This is very important, it has several tuning pegs and if the bent-back pegbox is weak, the instrument won’t be tuned very well.

==== Composition ====
Traditional materials of the ''barbat'' are:
*Resonating body: [[Juglans|Walnut tree]] or maple ;
*String fastener or [[Bridge (instrument)|bridge]]: Boxwood  ;
*Top sheet: Deal  ;
*Neck: Walnut ;
*Nut: Bone or plastic ;
*Pegbox: Walnut ;
*Pegs: Walnut or ebony ;
*Lattices of hole: Walnut.

===How to make a barbat's resonating body===
There are two traditional methods:

Carved body: For this a log is cut in two pieces. On one a silhouette of the body is drawn, then the half log would be carved and scraped by tools from the inside and outside. Then it will be left to be dried.

Constructed body: In this method sections of walnut or mulberry wood are cut and boiled in hot water. These sections or [[lutherie|ribs]] should have the thickness around 2 –3&nbsp;mm. When they are flexible they are stressed on a crescent shaped mold or former. After drying, they will be glued and joined to each other. Then the neck and the top plate or belly will be joined to complete the structure.

==See also==
*[[Ancient music]]
*[[Music of Iran]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*[http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/barbat Barbat] entry in {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080712124138/http://www.iranica.com/newsite/ Encyclopaedia Iranica]}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20180612140147/http://www.iranianoud.com/ Persian Music: Oud, Barbat & Lute]
*[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.80474 Online copy of The Life And Times Of Ali Ibn Isa by Bowen Harold; includes the frontispiece with the image of the oud/barbat.]
*{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Lute |last1=  Hipkins |first1= Alfred James |last2= Schlesinger|first2= Kathleen  |volume= 17 |pages= }}

===Sound samples===
*[http://www.dejkam.com/music/iran_traditional/instruments/ud/samples/ud1.mp3 dejkam.com] (Ude)
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20051123130911/http://www.tebyan.net/Adabi-Honari/Sound/Music/sazha/sound/OOD.wma tebyan.net] (Ude)

{{Lute}}
{{Armenian musical instruments}}
{{Iranian musical instruments}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Armenian musical instruments]]
[[Category:Iranian musical instruments]]
[[Category:Necked bowl lutes]]
[[Category:Ancient music]]