Balaban (instrument)
Balaban, or balaman is cylindrical-bore, double-reed wind instrument about long with eight finger holes and one thumb hole. Balaban, one of the ancient wind instruments, is played in all corners of Azerbaijan. This instrument is played in Iranian Azerbaijan and in the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Balaban can be made of mulberry or other harder woods, such as walnut. The bore through the instrument is about in diameter. The double reed is made out of a single tube of cane about six cm long and pressed flat at one end. The performer uses air stored in his cheeks to keep playing the balaban while he inhales air into his lungs. This “circular” breathing technique is commonly used with all the double-reed instruments in the Middle East.
Balaban can be found in many regions of Azerbaijan and Anatolia. It is sometimes used in Balaman, Mey or Whistle, Azerbaijan and Turkistan in the West Azerbaijan region.
Consisting of a body and a mouth-worn flat reed mouthpiece, Balaban is 280-300 millimeters long and 20-22 millimeters in diameter. The sound is dull and light, and because it is weak, it is mostly played in closed spaces and room meetings. Thanks to the clamp on the reed, the sound can be thinned and thickened. The cane, flattened by a special method, consists of a clamp and a body. By pushing the grapple upwards or downwards on the reed, one-curtain sound change can be made and it can adapt to the instrument groups immediately.
According to Azerbaijani artist Hüseynqulu Sarabski, hunters steal balans and attract quails. Another type of Balaban is used in love music. Alihan Samedov is a famous Azerbaijani ballaban artist.
Structure
Balaban, which is often called also yasti balaban for flat mouthpiece and soft sound, consists of body made of apricot tree, cane, barrow and cover. The body has 8 holes on the surface and 1 on the back in the middle of the first and second holes on the surface. It consists of a stem, a reed, a regulator, and a cap.The stem of the balaban, or govda, is a cylindrical tube made primarily of apricot wood. The process of carving a balaban stem is called balaban chakma. The upper end of the stem is given a round shape, whereas the lower end is sharpened. The bore is in diameter. Eight holes or "tones" constituting a "sound tone" are made on the obverse and another one is made on the bottom side, opposite of the interval between the first and the second holes of the sas pardasi. Sometimes an additional hole called nizam pardasi is made on the lower end of the bottom side to ensure good timbre.
The holes made on the stem are classified as follows:
| Sound tone– sas pardasi | Functional | #1 – first tone– bash parda |
| Sound tone– sas pardasi | Functional | #4 – main tone – shah parda |
| Sound tone– sas pardasi | Functional | #6 – open tone– achyg parda |
| Sound tone– sas pardasi | Functional | #8 – bottom tone– ayag parda |
| Sound tone– sas pardasi | Functional | rear – back tone– arkha parda |
| Sound tone– sas pardasi | Tonal | #2 – tone of segah – segah pardasi |
| Sound tone– sas pardasi | Tonal | #5 – tone of segah – segah pardasi |
| Sound tone– sas pardasi | Tonal | #7 – tone of mahur – mahur pardasi |
| Sound tone– sas pardasi | Acoustic | bottom – tone of balance – nizam pardasi |
The reed made of club-rush that grows in an arid area is inserted into the upper end. It flattens and takes the shape of a double reed. It is tied to a long and wide regulator made of a willow or grape branch cut lengthways. The reed is then fixed by a collar-like regulator on one side and a pivot on the other side. The cap made of willow, hazel, cornel or mulberry is put on the reed to prevent it from damage. It is tied to the regulator in order not to be lost.
History
In the region; Balaman is also called Yasla Balaman, flat Balaman.- Balaman in Black Hearts.
Balaban first used in Azerbaijan orchestra since 1931, when the Folk Instrument Orchestra was established in Azerbaijan.
It is used to accompany songs in Turkmen and Kurdish cities such as Erbil, Süleymaniye, Kirkuk.
Balaban, which has a warm sonority, is often used as a companion to the songs of heaven and bendir and Aşık. Kudüm and defle can also perform a duet, and are also performed solo.
2 The balaban plays together, while someone gives a sound, and someone plays the melody. yes