Daf
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| Percussion instrument | |
|---|---|
| Other names | Dafli, Dap, Def, Tef, Defi, Gaval, Duf, Duff |
| Classification | Directly struck membranophones |
| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 211.311 (Handle-less frame drum with one usable membrane) |
| Playing range | |
| High sound of jingles, plus some have a skin with a lower sound. | |
| Related instruments | |
| Riq, Buben, Dayereh, Tambourine, Kanjira, Frame drum | |
The daf (Persian: دف daf, Arabic: دُفْ duf, from Middle Persian: dap) is a large Persian frame drum used in popular and classical music. The frame is usually made of hardwood with many metal ringlets attached, and the membrane is usually goatskin. Daf is mostly used in Arabia, Egypt, the Levant, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Iran, Armenia, Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan, North Africa and Central Asia, and usually accompanies singers and players of the tanbur, violin, oud, saz and other Middle Eastern instruments. Some dafs are equipped with small cymbals, making them analogous to a large tambourine.
The earliest evidence of the Dap (Daf) dates back to Sassanid Iran. The Pahlavi (an ancient Iranian language) name of the daf is dap. The word daf is therefore the Arabicized form of the word dap. Some pictures of dap have been found in paintings that date before the Common Era. The presence of Iranian dap in the reliefs of Behistun suggests the daf existed before the rise of Islam. Dafs were part of religious music in Iran much before Sufism. Iranian music has always been a spiritual tool. It shows that dafs played an important role in Mazdean Iran emerging as an important element during the Sassanian times during the Kâvusakân dynasty. Also there is a kind of square frame drum in the stonecutting of Taq-e Bostan (another famous monument located 5 km (3 mi) northeast of Kermanshah city). These frame drums were played in the ancient Middle East (chiefly by women in Kurdish societies), Greece, and Rome and reached medieval Europe through Islamic culture.
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Wikipedia