"The Armenian duduk can talk to you,entertain you,amuse you,the Armenian duduk can also get you into deep contemplation... "
The Armenian duduk is one of the oldest double reed instrument in the world. Born in the early eons of Armenian history, it is purely Armenian. Because of its evocative and colorful timbre and warm sound, the duduk has become part of everyday life in Armenia.The Armenian duduk itself is a cylindrical tube made of apricot wood. Indeed, it's origins can be traced back to at least before the time of Christ.
Of all the traditional instruments played in Armenia today, only the duduk is said to have truly Armenian origins. This seems to be supported by the fact that, unlike the Armenian duduk, all of these other instruments can trace their lineage's back to the arabic world and to the countries of the silk Road.
Throughout the centuries, the Armenian duduk has traveled to many neighboring countries and has undergone a few subtile changes in each of them, such as the specific tuning and the number of holes. Now variants of the Armenian duduk can be found in Georgia, Azebraijan, Turkey and Persia, and even as far away as the Balkans. Besides being called variations of the Armenia word "duduk", such as "duduki" (in Georgia), it is also referred to as "mey" (in Turkey), and "balaban" (in Azerbaijan and in parts of Central Asia).
The basic form of the Armenian duduk has changed little in it's long history. Originally, like many early flutes, the instrument was made from bone. then it advanced to a single, long piece of reed/cane with the mounthpiece fashioned on one end and holes drilled out along it's length for the notes. However, this had the abvious disadvantages of a lack of durability, namely when any part of it would crack you had to make an entirely new instrument, and perhaps equally frustrating, it could not be tuned. So, to address both of these problems, it was eventually modified into two pieces: a large double reed(ghamish) made of reed/cane; and body made of apricot wood. This is the form that is still in use today.
While other countries may use the wood from other fruit and/or nut trees when making their instruments (Often plum and walnut in Georgia, and Azerbaijan, for example...), in Armenia, the best wood for making duduks has been found to be from the apricot tree. The apricot wood has come to be preferred over the years for it's unique ability to resonate a sound that is unique to the Armenian duduk. All of the other variations of the instrument found in other countries has been a very reed-like, strongly nasal sound, whereas the Armenian duduk has been specifically developed to produce a warm, soft tone which is closer to a voice than to a reed. It should be noted that in order to further accentuate these qualities, a particular technique of reed making has evolved, as well.
The Armenian duduk itself is simply a hollow pipe with eight finger holes on the upper side and one thumb hole on the bottom. It has a warm, soft, slightly nasal timbre, but it is capable of a wide-range of melodies and drone notes sustained for long periods of time. It is invariably played with the accompaniment of a second dum duduk, which gives the music an energy and tonic atmosphere, changing the scale harmoniously with the principal duduk.
The Armenian duduk is built in three sizes, ranging from 11 to 16 inches. It requires a specific type of double reed(ghamish), categorized as a split or slit-tube reed. As a musical instrument, the Armenian duduk has not changed through the centuries, but the manner of playing it has been perfected and its sound has been improved. Its range is only one octave; however, it requires considerable skill to play, - its dynamics controlled by constantly adjusting the lips and fingers. The tuning is basically untempered and diatonic, though chromatic notes may be obtained by partially covering the finger holes. The Armenian duduk repertoire consists of folk ballads as well as upbeat dance music. Composers have even written orchestral pieces for the instrument.
While recent appearance's of the Armenian duduk in various movie and TV soundtracks has accentuated it's evocative and soulful side, it may surprise some to find that it is also quite capable of a wide range of melodies, including rhythmic dance tunes. It may very well be because of this wide range of expression, combined with the depth and power of it's sound, that the Armenian duduk has truly become a part of everyday life in Armenia. In fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say that no wedding, festive occasion, or family gathering would be complete without a duduk player...
This is traditional song, which was used to in old times. When armenian landworkers where working on the lang, they always sing "horovel". Hope you will like new version of song. I am searching mp3 version of original one to put in Folk Music Section. Enjoy it.
Dear Group Leaders, this is the article which will help you to easily create your group in Folkr.org and understand the options , which you should give in Add Group section.
So as soon as you are registered user, you can make your group. What you need is to Click on “Folk Groups” in the main menu. Then you will see in the page
GROUPS BY CATEGORY Folk Dance Groups (5 groups) Folk Music Groups (1 groups) Folk Painting (0 groups) Other (1 groups)
[ Create A Group ] [ View All ]
Click on the Create A group.
there you will find
CREATE FOLKLORE GROUP * Group Name:
* Group Headline:
* Contacts Email:
Group Category:
Members Can Invite:
Open Join:
Public Forum:
Hidden Group:
Members Can Post Images:
* Country:
* City:
Group Image: ( Max Size: 500kb )
* Description: [ HTML Help ]
* - mandatory fields
So. Let's go one by one.
Before to descibe each field, I want to say, that all the fields marked with asterisks(* ) are mandatory. This mean, that you should enter themin any case,and without them the registration of group will fail.
GROUP NAME: Here enter your groups official name. GROUP HEADLINE: This is small description that will be seen in list of groups.
For examle :
Anatolэan Folk Dance Group ( Private ) Created By: Anatolian on Feb 4, 2008 Our all aim is peace in all over the World [ Join ] [ View ]
Here Anataolian Folk Dance Group is a Group Name
“Our all aim is peace in all over the World” is a Group Headline
CONTACT EMAIL- This email will be used to send a message, if somebody will enter in group's page, and will want to send a message clicking on CONTACT US . By default it will show the email of the member who is creating the group. But you can change it.
GROUP CATEGORY: Please choose here the category, in which your group will be listed. If you don't find category, that describes your group , then put it in OTHER section. And suggest us please the name of new category. by writing us throw contact us, or just leave me a message .
MEMBERS CAN INVITE : YES-NO
If you put this option to YES , future members of the group will have ability to invite new members to the group. Anyway you will have moderation rights to your group and can delate the member, that is not really member of your folklore group. If you put this option to NO only you will have option to invite the member's to your group.
OPEN JOIN YES- NO . NO; Members can't Join your group without invitation . They need you to send an invitation.
PLEASE PUT "NO", because otherwise any person can push Join button and he will be shown as system as a member of the group...
YES: They can join the group without your invitation . Anyway you have an option to delate user you don't want to be a member of your created group.
PUBLIC FORUM: YES -NO &nb sp; YES- A special forum section will be added to your group's page, where members can make discussions ect. &nb sp; NO- Nothing will be added. HIDDEN GROUP: YES NO &nb sp; YES- If yes , then your group will be hidden, and not shown in categories , in search and so on. You will know the link of the group and can give it to the members you want.
NO: The group will not be hidden...
MEMBERS CAN POST IMAGES : YES-NO
YES- MEMBERS OF THE GROUP and not the members of the site( big difference , hn? ) will have ability to post photos in the group's gallery. NO: Your group members will not be able to add photos to your group's gallery.
COUNTRY: Choose the country which folk your group represents or your location City: Write the name of the city , where your group is located.
GROUP IMAGE – Usually this is a place for logo of group. But you can put any image. It will be shown as main image and will be shown in search results, in categories listings, etc...
DESCRIPTION : Please enter here description of your group.
Click now on Submit!
Congratulations, you made the First Step. Your group is added to Folkr.org.
Now go again to FOLK GROUPS section.
Click on MY GROUPS.
Enter in it and click on your group name.
The groups page will be opened.
On your groups page, in the header you will find such options like Upload Images , Invite Members. Click on INVITE MEMBERS.
SO how to invite? If the member you want to invite is not in your friend's list, but he is registered in Folkr.org and you know his login use Search box. Just enter his login in Searchbox, make search. You will get a search result , in which you will find your friend's nickname(login) . JUST CLICK ON IT! And Your invitation will be sent automaticly to that user.
If the member(s) you want to invite is/are in your friend's list , use second section. Click on the friend's name, and click on the ADD button. Add all the friends you want in invite box. In the textbox bellow, you can add also just emails of your group members if they are not registered in Folkr.org. Please separate them with comas. For Example : member1@yahoo.com, member2@test.com , invite3@member.de and so on.... emails , listed will become invitation to join the group.
It will be very nice if users will visit your groups page, and will find all the members under it. So If you will ask all members to register under your group, it will be very appreciated.
