Persian Kamancheh
The Persian Kamancheh is a four-stringed spike fiddle that is prevalent in both classical Persian music and folk music in Iran.
Spike fiddles are found across Central Asia, Caucasus and the Middle East, and in Iran they were known under the name “rabab” until the 19th century, while the name now designates another family of plucked lute including the Uyghur rawap. “Kamancheh” itself means a “small bow”. It is best known as a popular instrument in the mountainous Lorestan province in western Iran, as well as a principal instrument for Persian classical music since the Safavid dynasty in the 16th century. It was superceded by the violin at the beginning of the 20th century, but has seen a revival since the 1970s.
The kamancheh’s body is made of stripes of woods, and is covered with animal’s skin such as lamb or fish. The fretless neck is anchored to the body by a metal bar that goes through the body. A metal spike on the bottom (similar to that of the Western cello) facilitates the turning of the instrument for string-changing when playing. It currently uses metal strings but in former times used silk or gut strings.
