Persia, China, and India – three ancient civilizations that have flourished on the vast Asian continent – each with its own rich heritage, artistic achievements, and distinctive traditions in music. Their modes, scales, forms, genres, and practices are strikingly different, reflecting unique anthropological contexts, expressing meanings and emotions with remarkable depth and nuance. Yet, they share a common feature: the centrality of improvisation. In Persia, the Dastgah and in India, the Ragas, rely both on specific modes and melodic figures, providing a foundation for improvisation, each embodying its own colour and emotional essence. Similarly, in traditional Chinese music, improvisation is a highly valued technique, with its tonal variations, ornamental embellishments, and rhythmic modulations. The ability to improvise is a key measure of a musician’s artistry. In this concert, a bespoke world music trio will gift us with an evening of improvisational delight, seamlessly blending three musical traditions, promising a contrasting experience to a classical concert.
Each artist will play a traditional instrument, encapsulating the essence of their own musical ancestry. The kamancheh, widely played in Iran and Central Asia, is a long-necked bowed string instrument. Kamancheh translates to “little bow” in Persian. Its bowl-shaped sound box is crafted from gourd or wood, covered with either goatskin or fish skin, and features a spike at the bottom. Modern kamanchehs usually have four metal strings.
The pipa, a traditional Chinese plucked string instrument with a semi-pear-shaped sound box, is typically made of wood, consisting of a soundboard and a backboard bonded together, with frets on the neck and soundboard defining the pitch. Over its long history, the pipa has taken various forms, but the modern version generally has four strings. It is played in an upright position, with a hand pressing the strings while the other, often wearing artificial nails, plucks the strings. Before the Tang Dynasty, the term “pipa” referred to all lute-like instruments.
India’s tabla consists of a pair of single-headed drums. The smaller, high-pitched, made of teak or rosewood, is played with the right hand and is called “tabla” or “dayan”. The larger, low-pitched, typically crafted from brass or copper, is played with the left hand and is called “bayan”. Their pitch differences generally span a fifth to an octave. The drumheads, made of animal skin, are tensioned with straps, with wooden wedges inserted between the straps and the body to adjust the tension, modifying pitches and timbres. A black paste, composed of flour, metal powder, and water, is applied to the drumheads’ centre to dampen dissonances and produce harmonic overtones. The player strikes different parts of the drumheads with fingers and palms, creating a complex array of rhythms and timbres.
By Danni Liu