The instrumental Tradition
Sorud - Benju - doneli
The Baluchi are a people of about five million individuals, mainly across Pakistan (of which they occupy nearly half), the Southeast of Iran, Afghanistan and the Emirates of the Persian Gulf, where they from large immigrant community. Because of their origins and language, they belong to the Iranian world; they seem to have occupied first the centre of Iran (Kermân ), or perhaps even the north, before migrating towards the Southeast. Even though the presence of Balouch nomadic tribes is documented before Muslim times, their current territory was populated in the past by a number of other ethnic groups speaking various idioms, amongst which Dravidian languages. Sedentary peoples would more or less consider "Balouchi" to be any nomadic tribes and the latter would accept this name, but this was not sufficient for them to be able to identify themselves as one ethnic community. It was only in the 18th century that a Baluchi national identity arose. It won over and brought together various tribes, essentially on the condition that they would speak the same language. Probably around that time, epic poetry was developed between them, thus unifying all the groups and sub-groups, whatever nuances there might be, into en entity, which we now call the Balouchi people. Language is the essential factor in their cultural cohesion, which is remarkable given the heterogeneous character of their society; but music, too, by highlighting poetry, has been an important element in bringing out a feeling of national unity.
Regional style and
genres
Culturally form a musical point of view, two areas can be distinguished:
-
The North including the northern region of Pakistan - Quetta and Mary,
the Brahu' is mountains, as well as a mountainous region called Khorâsân
(unrelated to the region in Iran and Afghanistan bearing the same name),
and the Iranian region of Zahedan and Sarhadd, the South: from the Makran
(in Iran and Pakistan) to Karachi, an area where the styles of Kulwa,
Dashtiari and Karachi coexist. The tradition of the Makran which is presented
here may be considered to be the richest and most elaborate, and the least
Urdu - influenced. How ever, most musicians tend to include melodies in
their repertoire which originate from other regions.
The genres in professional music from the Makran are: -
The shervandi, or bardic art, sometimes simply called "Balouchi classical
music", since it is the most sophisticated type. This is represented
by a small elite of artists in the Southern centre of the country (Dashtiari
in Iran, and the region of Gwader in Pakistan). The nazink (traditional
wedding songs) and sowt, noqte and ghazal (songs).
The guati - damali - shiki, which is a kind of trance music, with two
or three types of repertoire corresponding to the various rituals.
For the most, Balochi music owes its extraordinary development to a case,
or ethic group, called osta, a word meaning "masters" (i.e.
in the field of crafts or arts). The Rend, Zangeshahi, Surizehi and Davudi,
amongst others), and thus contributed its ancestral musical skills. A
young master puts it this way : " the members of the tribe used to
be idle and aggressive; apart from boasting about being Balochi, they
would do nothing. The ostâ are the ones who really created Balouchi
culture".
Almost all musicians belong to the ostâ social category, as do Black
smith, gold smiths and carpenters. Even though their social rank may be
modest, they pride themselves on prestigious line ages. Many a musician
proudly claims that he has "seven antecedents" haftposht - a
readymade formula meaning seven previous generations of musicians. It
is true that any good Muslim is supposed to be able to mention the name
of seven of his ancestors; but these musicians could probably even trace
their skills back tens of generations. As a matter of fact, there are
reason to suppose that the name "luli" given to the master of
these musical techniques, refers to the nomadic group of the same name
which came from the East, and was mentioned in the ancient chronicles.
Of course, no artist or craftsman would call himself a "luli"
yet, he cannot escape the social implications linked to this name, unless
he has risen to the rank of the greatest epic singers (shervand, shergu),
who are object of public veneration.
On the whole. Pakistani and Iranian officials and institutions have no
interest what so ever in professional music. Neither Balochi nor any other,
or in the fate of its representatives. These are no schools, conservatories
or waged music groups. The reason for this, in the first place, is that
the Baluchi are a people without a state, a stubborn, uncontrollable people
towards whom the Panjabi rulers of Pakistan feel a mixture of contempt
and fear. Besides this, the Pakistani Province of Balochistan is ruled
from Quetta, in the north, which has deferent musical tradition, In addition,
there is the inferior status suffered by the artists, the archaism of
social and cultural structures, the abdication of responsibilities on
the part of the elite and sponsors, the harsh nature of country, etc.
On the Iranian side, The Balochi have status of a colonised people. Therefore,
they avoid contact with urban people, who consider them as a distant,
and somewhat dangerous, minority. As a result, the Balochi, although they
are people of Iranian origin, fairly close the kurds, turn a rather to
the East and South than towards Teheran. Famous masters such as Rasul
Bakhsh or Ghulam Qader, for example, have never played in Teheran, where
musicians from all the other provinces of the country are regularly invited.
The ultimate reason for this situation, rather than the difficult living
conditions and inferior status of the musicians, or of Balochi people
as a whole, could be their peculiar Gypsy mentality, being nomadic freedom-lovers,
living from hand to mouth and always on the move.
All the main instruments in Balochi music are represented on this disc.
The most prominent of them is the Sorud fiddle, the oldest is the Doneli
double flute, the most recent and brilliant is the Benju zither, and the
most primitive, although fundamental, is the Tanburag flute, whose rhythmical
drone, alone or with Doholak percussion, supports all of the others, Here,
only rare or minor instruments, such as the Rabab lute or the Nel/flute,
are missing.
Rasul Baksh Zangeshahi
Balochi professional musicians favourite instrument is the Sorud, sometimes
also called qeychak, its origin is unknown, but in Rajasthan, the Sorud
is played by a caste of musicians (the Sarinda Langaw) of whom the Nepal
gain, professional bards who sing while accompanying themselves on this
instrument, are probably descendants. However, it is in Balochistan that
the making and playing technique of the Sorud (Sarinda) are by far the
most elaborate. As can be heard in the recordings by Rasul Bakhsh, the
Sorud can be played with aperfection equal to that of the Indian Sarangi.
The names of greatest Sorud-maker have been preserved: the first of them
was Loqman (none of his instruments any longer exists), then came his
son , Abdul karim, then Allahbakhsh and , Ali Mamad , and finally Emam
Bakhsh, (who died around 1990) . The Sorud played by Rasul Bakhsh, an
instrument with an exceptional sonority was made by the latter. We know
nothing about what the Sorud look like before Loqman, but it was probably
still rudimentary. There exist 18th century representations of the Sorud
which sow that this instrument was already use d at that time by dervishes,
to reach ecstasy.
As for the Master of Sorud playing, they
were not anonymous village musicians, but, indeed, first-class artists
whose names have been remembered and whose ancestors are known: Tolu,
Nur Muhammad, Luqman, Abdul Baqi, Dorr Muhammad, Daden, Daru Khamisa,
not to mention singers such as Sa'id, Haji Abdul Rahim, Mulla Mosa or
Saleh Muhammad…remembered and whose ancestors are known: Tolu,
Nur Muhammad, Luqman, Abdul Baqi, Dorr Muhammad, Daden, Daru Khamisa,
not to mention singers such as Sa'id, Haji Abdul Rahim, Mulla Mosa or
Saleh Muhammad…
The Sorud is carved out of a block of wood ( parpuk = tecomella, or
sometimes from mulberry tree) into a complex shape reminiscent of a
skull. Its soundboard is made of gazelle or goat skin. It is set with
four strings, which are tuned almost like a Violin's from low to high
pitch, A E E (an octave lower) A; three of strings are made of steel,
the fourth (drone) is made of gut. Their sound is amplified by six to
eight sympathetic strings, which are most of the time tuned as follows
(from high to low pitch): B G sharp D C sharp B. the strings are only
lightly touched with the fingertips of the hand: the thumb does not
rest on the neck, which requires less effort and therefore allows for
a greater virtuosity.
Sorud playing has been developed as an art in its own right, with no
need to be complemented by singing of percussion. As matter of fact,
even in vocal pieces, the Sorud part could easily do without the voice,
as can be hand in these recordings. The same could the said about the
Donaly and Benjo this is a cultural feature, which is peculiar to Indo
- Iranian peoples; in certain then - centuries old Arabic musical treatises,
the fact that these people ere fond of music types which were devoid
of song and lyrics, was already noted as a matter of curiosity….
Rasul Bakhsh Zangeshahi (from Rask, in Iranian Makran), was born in
1942. His father dilwash, his grandfather Mirgand, and his great - grandfather
Boland were all three great Sorud players and singers (sha'er). His
family also includes many other professional musicians, almost all of
them Sorud - players: Musa, Din Muhammad and another Mosa from Zahidan
Ali Muhammad and Barkat from Sarbaz, etc. there should be no shortage
of heirs to take over in the future, since Rasul Bakhsh has no less
than twenty one children (from three wives), most of tem musicians.
(Incidentally, he is accompanied here on the Tanburag and Dhulak, by
one of his sons, Rasul Bakhsh, who is eighteen years old).inedition
to his children, he has taught some three or four of the best modern
Sorud players: his son-in-law, Abdul Ghafoor from Iranshar, athok from
chahbahar, and hyder from Shahrak. For more than thirty years he compound
the most famous apic singers, of whom there are no more than three or
four in the whole country: Mulla Jan Muhammad (now deceased; he used
to sing with Dilwash Rasul Basul Bakhsh's father), Mulla Kamalan (now
retired), Haji Qadirdad (Qadu) and specially Mulla Ghulam Qadir. He
has been quite a few times in Dubai.
According to an ancient story, Baochi musicians were doomed by a Khan's
spell to work intensely but to always have empty stomachs. It is true
that a number of them, how ever popular, live a fairly humble life.
Even the most beloved of all, Faiz Muhammad, whose voice was broadcast
on the radio for years and whose songs are considered to the national
haritage, died in poverty. How ever, there are a few exceptions: when
a Singer or Sorud - player reaches the top of his art, surpassing all
other, he can menage to learn honourably from his music, and ever a
little better, through performing only at wedding and musical evenings.
The best musician to go to Dubai, Bahrain and in the other emirates,
and play there for their compatriots, of which many have emigrated to
find word, and some have been populating whole village for several generation.
Rasul Bakhsh belongs to his happy elite. For some time now, in Pakistan,
Iran and the Emirates, his name, and no others, has appeared whenever
the Sorud was mentioned.
Although there are currently two or three other masters of approximately
the same level of excellence, he has something more about him: the elegance
of his style, the warmth of his expression, his strength and gentleness
have earn him unanimous and wholehearted admiration and praise. In any
other country, an exceptional artist such as Rasul Bakhsh would be considered
to be a living treasure, and would spend his days practising and his
nights playing is concerts. But here, it is not the case: Rasul Bakhsh's
main activity is…. bush taxi driving ! He has invented in a pick
up and spends most of his time wheel. As famous as he may be, Rasul
Bakhsh has never used the media as a mean for success; he refuses to
play on the radio or television, and only allows a few duplicated cassettes
to be sold in music shops of the local small town bazaars. In his attitude,
although it is fairly typical fort balochi traditional musicians, there
is also some sort of ethical commitment and resistance to the modern
world.