Ribab [amzad]

Extract

[amzad]

Single-string spike fiddle of the Tamazight (Berber) people of North Africa. The resonator is a shallow circular frame covered by a goatskin head and back. The horsehair string extends at an angle to the neck (not along it) from the end of a long lateral tuning peg, through a thong looped to the neck that acts as a nut, over an inverted V-shaped wooden bridge placed toward the upper side of the head, to a string holder that is looped around the short spike. The neck, of square section, is often ornately inlaid and terminates with a knob. The string is not stopped against the neck but is pressed by the left-hand fingers to produce mainly pentatonic melody within the compass of an octave. The horsehaired bow is a simple arch, the stick wrapped with cloth and the hair tension adjusted by the bow-hand fingers. The ribab is used, with drums, as a solo instrument and for the accompaniment of song and dance....