Kanun

• Turkish stringed instrument – core of Turkish music• Also used throughout the Middle East, Armenia & Greece• Trapazoid shape; approx. 37-39 in. x 14-16 in.• Zither-like, played horizontally on the lap• Kithara family of instruments• 26 courses of strings, 3 strings per course• Strings plucked with plectrums, one on each hand

o mitzrab/p attached to thimbles that are worn on forefingers, made of ivory, tortoise-shell, or plastico can also be played with fingernails, all fingers

• Can be accompanying instrument or solo instrument

About the Kanunqānūn κανων قانون

Construction

• Made by hand from up to 7 kinds of wood• Top: sycamore; back: pine; bridge: maple

• 200 tuning pegs, metal (brass, silver alpaca) or hardwood (ebony)

• Designs cut out separately from rosewood or white pine

• Strings originally made of catgut, now nylon or PVC

• Sound board: fish skin or calf leather (where bridge rests upon)

• Approx. 10,000+ lbs. of string tension on the bridge

• Small tuning levers/keys, mandels, made of a metal alloy, cut into shape and highly polished; 4-12 per course

o Approximately 3.5 octave range (average)• 26 courses x 3 strings each course = 78 strings total• Each course = 1 full 100 cent tone in equal temperament• Mandals used to divide each course/tone into 4 or 6 units

(octaves divided from semitones to quarter and sixth tones)• 72-tone tuning (related to “12 tone” of Western 20th century composition,

which is a subset of 72-tone equal temperament)• 12 (tones) x 6 (possible subdivisions) = 72 tones• Number of mandels on kanuns are customized by performers• 79-tone tuning (new evolutionary tuning theory)†

o recently proposed and applied by Ozan Yarmano acclaimed by Turkish kanun masters

TuningA Mathematical

Relationship

Music Notation

History &Origins

• Related to ancient Egyptian harps; also related to psaltery, dulcimer, and zither (originating from between 2800-606 B.C.)

• Pythagoras kanon: one string experimental instrument with a moveable bridge (mathematical; Greek origin)

• Turkish kanun said to be invented by Islamic scholar Farabi, living in Turkistan in the 10th century (870-950 C.E.)

• Many believe it was developed much earlier by the Turks of Central Asia, traveling West to Anatolia and Arabia via Iran

• Albert Lavignac’s “Music and Musicians” (French, 1905) cited the Arabs as inventing the kanun (however, the French first had exposure to it during Napoleon’s 1792 Egyptian campaign)

Tracing Kanun’s Development

14th century Persian treatise Kenzü't-Tuhaf:o diagram with written descriptions, measurements, shapeo cites 64 strings tuned in sets of three

Abdülkadir Meragî (d. 1435)o great composer, virtuoso, and theoreticiano writes about kanun in treatises

15th century: used in Ottoman music; made structural changes16th century: identical kanun used in Istanbul, Iran, Mesopotamia

o made entirely of wood with metal stringso similar to the kalun used by the Uygurs today

18th century: began to resemble today’s kanun; found in Turkey and the Middle East (Egypt, Syria)Hizir Aga's Tefhîmü'l Makamât (1765~1770); modern kanun

“Traditional” Links

Solo:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw8gRNBpR1M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDZEkv7sd30&NR=1http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vKFrQvJmZM&feature=related

With other instruments and singing:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idPPeO869BE&feature=related

Modern & Hybrid Uses

Kayazim 789:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFwg6SF-T-U&NR=1

Western Orchestra “Concerto for Kanun and Strings”:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ylI8Cmtx2M&NR=1

Hotel California:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6z_MbPLvB4&feature=related