Armenian clarinet is a unique musical instrument

2025 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2025-01-24 17:46

The heritage of the ancient Armenian people is not only the unique nature of their country, traditions, cuisine and language, but also a rich variety of various folk instruments. Among them there are percussion, and strings, and wind instruments. One of the most colorful and famous is the Armenian clarinet, or, as it is called, the duduk. Its sound is the hallmark of national music. Who among us has not heard Armenian songs at least once, in which the clarinet is the soloist? Let's talk about this wonderful tool.

What is it?

Armenian clarinet belongs to the group of reed wind instruments. In addition to the name "duduk", which is only a hundred years old, it is sometimes also called "tsiranapokh". This is a traditional old name, translated as "apricot pipe". At the beginning of the 20th century, the duduk was classified as a one-octave diatonic wind instrument.

The length of the Armenian clarinet can be 28, 33 or 40 centimeters. There are seven holes on the outside of the tube, and another on the inside.one (it is clamped during the game with the thumb).

Playing this instrument consists of pinching holes on both sides and varying pressure on the double reed. Most often, Armenian music, in which the clarinet is the soloist, is a game of a pair of musicians - one of them (the so-called ladies) creates the background, and the second - the duduk - plays the melody itself. It's getting harder

to the one who plays the lady (such a musician is called damkash), because he cannot stop for a minute. This game uses a special technique of continuous breathing. At the same time, the player inhales air through the nose, and also constantly holds the air in the cheeks, while simultaneously releasing the stream onto the tongue of the instrument.

A bit of history

The Armenian clarinet, whose history, according to research, is from two to three thousand years, is mentioned in the ancient manuscripts of Urartu and the documents of King Tigran the Second the Great (reigned before 55 BC).

In many countries of the world there are instruments similar to the duduk, differing from it and from each other only in the number of holes and the material from which the body of the clarinet is made. Even in our kindred Belarus there is a "brother" of the Armenian duduk - this is a pipe! There are "relatives" in Georgia, Dagestan and Europe.

Inimitable sound

The most ancient prototypes of the duduk were made not from wood, but from bones and reeds. Now it is made only from wood. A unique feature of the Armenian instrument is the use of apricot wood. ATothers

countries, walnut, plum and other trees are used, however, the charm of sound inherent in the Armenian duduk is lost. Its sound is not nasal and harsh, but soft, like a human voice. The timbre of the instrument is velvety, muffled.

Love and lyrical songs are usually performed on a long clarinet, but for dance tunes it is better to use a short duduk. The wide reed tongue gives the instrument a sad sound.

At first glance, it seems that playing the duduk is very simple, because it has only one octave. In fact, this is not so, and in Armenia, musicians who own this instrument are highly respected. It is a companion of all important events - funerals, holidays, weddings, festivities.