Santur

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The santoor is an Indian hammered dulcimer similar to the Persian santur.

Woman playing the Santur in a painting from the Hasht Behesht Palace in Isfahan, Iran, 1669.
String instrument
Classification	Struck
Related instruments
Qanun

The santur (also santūr, santour, santoor ) (Persian: سنتور) (Arabic: سنطور‎) is a hammered dulcimer of Iran, Iraq and India and is also found as a less popular instrument in Turkey and Syria. It is a trapezoid-shaped box often made of walnut, with 72 or 96 strings. The name means one hundred strings in Persian. The special-shaped mallets (mezrab/madhrab) are lightweight and are held between the index and middle fingers. A typical santur has two sets of bridges, providing a range of approximately three octaves. The right-hand strings are made of brass, while the left-hand strings are made of steel.Two rows of 9 articles called "Kharak" (the Iraqi santur has 12 articles called "Damaat") (Totally 18 kharaks/24 damaat) divide the santur into three positions and each lead four unitone strings to the right and left side of the instrument. Each note comes three times in three positions [making (9*3) 27 tones all together and doubles in frequency going to the left. As four notes are repeated in tonation we have only 23 tones in Santur. The santur is primarily tuned a variety of different diatonic scales which utilizes 1/4 tones or semi-tones. There are 12 modes of Persian classical music which is known as the "Radif" which consists of 12 Dastgahs or Modes. Each Dastgah has its own tuning and character which derives from the different parts of Iran (Persia) which dates back thousands of years and was only preserved through performance until the late Ostad Abol Hassan Saba the legendary Master of Persian classical music, who notated and categorized 3500 years of music into the "Radif of Saba."

The santur is the lead instrument in performing of the Iraqi Maqam. The traditional Iraqi ensemble (Chalghi Baghdadi in Osmanli) is made up of a santur (zither, strings are struck) or a qanun (zither, strings are plucked), a joza (rebec or spike fiddle), a clay drum (tabla) or kettle drum (naqqara) and a tambourine with cymbals (daff zinjari). Starting in the 1920’s, the qanun, like the lute, became favored under the influence of Muhammad al-Qubbanji and other masters. The crystalline sound of the qanun is considered as more precise than the santur which leaves an echo. However, modern day Iraqi Maqam ensembles still mainly use the santur, given the instrument's deep roots in the history of this form of art, sometimes along the qanun, and rarely is the qanun used instead of the santur. It is also played by street musicians in Spain and possibly other countries.

The contemporary Iraqi santur consists of a soundbox in the shape of a trapezium made from two boards of wood joined together by splints of varying height; the soundbox is made from a hardwood such as walnut, bitter orange, white beech or apricot. It is approximately 80 to 90 cm wide at the broad end, 31 to 41 cm wide at the narrow end and 7 to 12 cm deep, though the instrument has often been made to accompany a specific singer, so the dimensions of the soundbox are changed to accommodate the register of the singer's voice. Also, unlike the Iranian santur, the Iraqi santur uses steel strings on both the left and right sides. The right side bridges, besides being taller in size than the left side, are moved towards the middle, parallel to the left side, which allows for multi-scale tuning and is more suitable for Iraqi traditional music.

Derivations

Many instruments around the world at least in part derive from the santur. Similar forms of the santur have been present in neighboring cultures like Iran, Armenia, Turkey, and Iraq for centuries. The Indian santoor is thicker, more rectangular, and can have more strings. Its corresponding mallets are also held differently. The Chinese yangqin may have originated from the Mesopotamian santur. The Roma people introduced a derivative of the santur called the cymbalum to Eastern Europe, which in turn likely led to the development of the clavichord and the piano. The Greek santouri is also derived from the santur, and in Nikos Kazantzakis' classic novel Zorba the Greek Zorba plays the santouri.

History

The Santur was invented in Mesopotamia, in ancient Babylon/Assyria over 3500 years ago.^{[citation needed]} Ancient Assyrian and Babylonian illustrations depict santurs.^{[citation needed]}

Notable Persian santur players

• Ostad Manoochehr Sadeghi
• Ostad Faramarz-e Payvar
• Ostad Parviz Meshkatian
• Ostad Arfa Atrai
• Ostad Ardavan Kamkar
• Pashang Kamkar
• Pooyan Nassehpoor

Notable Iraqi santur players

• Amir ElSaffar

Notable Greek santur players

• Aristidis Moschos
• Areti Ketime

See also

Santur

• Persian classical music
• Iraqi classical music

External links

• Iraqi Maqam
• Chromatic Santour
• Santur.com
• Santur introduction in American Lutherie magazine
• Info about Persian musicians and santur
• Nay-Nava Encyclopedia entry on the santur
• Dr. Ümit Mutlu's information on the santur (in Turkish)
• Santur

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