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Section 3. Study of art
Section 3. Study of art Секция 3. Искусствоведение
Dzhanseitova Svetlana Sattarovna, professor, Sakharbayeva Karima, professor Rauandina Sholpan Zadanovna, docent Kazah National Conservatory after Kurmangazy
Kazakhstan, Almaty E-mail: [email protected]
Sound and acoustic features of dombra
Abstract: The world of musical instruments is an excellent material for the study of human culture. The specifics of economic and labor activity, lifestyle, natural and climatic conditions are reflected in the sound of the music itself, gave rise to a certain type of instrument. The history of the instrument is rooted deep into centuries. The process of playing the folk instrument represents not only the transmission of the content, emotional state of a particular genre, but the phenomenon of self-expression.
Key words: typological structure of the instrument, polyphony, evolution of musical thinking
The structure of a musical instrument and music played on it are in complex interrelation. Instrument determines the forms of music, but its development is governed by its own laws, which produce new sound ideas and forms, requiring an improvement of the instrument to be realized. The opportunities of evolutional change of both components of instrumental music of the instrument and musical thinking are not equal.
The development of the instrument has a limit, preassigned both by its typological structure and physiological capabilities of the person. Evolution of musical thinking is immense. There inevitably comes a time in interrelated development of both components when further development of the instrument is impossible without changing its typical distinctness. The contradiction between the opportunities that the instrument affords and the needs of the developing musical thinking that occur at this stage is to some extend resolved by the improvement of performing technique. It is also factored by the creation and cultivation of a variety of instruments and ensembles.
Kazakh instrumental music reached its highest prosperity in XIX century, and in the widest terms, musical thinking of the Kazakhs have evolved based on the capabilities ofa single instrument — dombra and only solo performance. Kyuis for dombra have accumulated
all the richness of musical thinking forms, which, in the unanimous opinion of researchers A. Zataevich, B. Asafiev, P. Aravin and others reached the level of a genuine symphonic style [1]. They are characterized by deep content and perfection of forms honed over the centuries.
An important factor influencing the process of musical formation and on the result of the process — works — is musical instruments, material, structure, tone, technique of playing. Traditionally Kazakh dombra has only two strings, pitch of which determines its tuning. Pressing the string to a certain place of the instrument fretboard, the musician changes its length and, therefore, its sound. The stops — narrow cross steps on the fretboard or the neck of string instruments (dombra, balalaika, bandura, mandolin, etc.), which are located on the fretboard in accordance with the musical structure being used, are intended for this purpose. The structure of the stops reflects historical and national features of development of the dombra art of the nation, the peculiarities of musical perception of the epoch and musical acoustics. Mode function — in this sense — is the role of the generalized melodic tones in the system of generalized melodic relations.
To fix the length of the pressed string according to characteristics of musical performance and perception, and respectively, the musical structure, a fastening of
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Секция 3. Искусствоведение
mode steps on dombra fretboard is used that are made from the same material as its strings. A fastening of the stops depends on the length of the fretboard, length of the string, that differ in each instrument.
By the length of dombra string we mean the distance from the bottom to the top stand of dombra. This part ofvibrating string as often as not determines the frequency of the main tone and its overtone structure. In binding the stops the law of string vibration is used: frequency of vibrations of a string is inversely proportional to its length. This law was used by Pythagoras in constructing his musical structure. This law was also well-known to al-Farabi. One of the most important features of the national style of dombra music is a complex system of natural melodic concords, built on the system of diatonic concords: majeure (Mixolydian) and minor (Aeolian, Dorian, Phrygian), and sometimes pentatonic concords, music systems of the five sounds, that comprise continuous quint rank.
Over centuries dombra retains its basic structure and appearance. Folk masters sought to expand its sound capabilities, melodiousness, rather than diversifying the shape. Comparison of the oldest samples of dombra with instruments that existed in Kazakhstan in XIX century, shows that the development of the instrument was primarily focused towards lengthening of the neck. Short neck of dombra allowed performing melodies of a small range. There are two types: dombra that has the neck with average length, it mainly performs the kyuis of monothematic constitution, small-scale range and of short development. Dombra with a long neck lets perform compositions, extensional on scope and time, technique of playing this type of dombra reaches the highest virtuosity.
Dombra kyuis manifest a wonderful example of the ability of musical thinking to overcome the bounds, conditioned by the structure of the instrument, this is borne out by creation of musical forms, including forms imitating polyphony, really on the instrument, not playable due to its structure. Unexplainable, but clearly
perceptible sound of the third voice that we hear while playing on the two-stringed dombra was noted with surprise by A. V. Zataevich [2].
The polyphony of kyuis, the development of which involves up to 4-5 voices, is manifested in a form different from the traditional European forms of hidden polyphonies. The impossibility of simultaneous extraction of more than two sounds from a twostringed instrument caused the appearance of 4-5 voice thinking in kyuis exclusively in real two-voice texture, save for the developed system of switching on and switching off individual voices.
Two-octave instrument range is divided into zones in accordance with the stages of deploying kyui forms. Kyui starts in the low register, in the process of deploying the forms the range wavily extends to the highest point, then shrinks back to its original status. Each new wave — a step of conquest of the range is a separate section of the kyui form, where at a new pitch a new voice emerges and one previous voice is switched off. In view of distinct coordination between the zonal form generation with its zone thematization and updated composition ofthe voices, every voice has its own range of actions, characteristic timbre and themes, has a specific function in the development of a whole. All of them make it independent, recognizable and easily memorized.
Due to the ability of the memory to retain sound signals for some time after they were played, the listener’s mind forms polyphonic kyui texture. And this type of polyphony can be called imitating polyphony. In climax sections of kyui form the texture of virtual polyphony is manifested more clearly. Leaps of one of the voices or both to large intervals (assuming that the rate of motion of dombra melodics is conjunct) create the illusion of almost real sounding of more than two voices simultaneity. For example, two-octave quart leaps in the rhythm of the sixteenth in Kurmangazy’s “Sary Arqa” kyui create the illusion of simultaneous sounding of four voices, despite the two-stringed structure of the instrument.
References:
1. Zemtsovsky I. I. Musical instrument and musical thinking. (The question about the genesis of musical language)//Theoretical problems of national instrumental music. М., 1974. P. 98-99.
2. Asafiev B. Musical form as a process. М.,1971, - p.376.
3. Zataevich А. V. 1000 songs of the Kazakh nation. - М.: Muzgiz, 1963. - p.476.
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