A qanbūs () is a short-necked lute that originated in Yemen[ The gambus (lutes) of the Malay world: its origins and significance in zapin Music, Larry Hilarian, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 06 Jul 2004] The instrument was related to or a descendant of the barbat, a (possibly) skin-topped lute from Central Asia.
Yemen migration saw the instrument spread to different parts of the Indian Ocean. In Muslim Southeast Asia (especially Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei), called the gambus, it sparked a whole musical genre of its own. Nowadays it is played in the traditional dance of Zapin and other genres, such as the Malay language ghazal and an ensemble known as kumpulan gambus ("gambus group"). In the Comoros it is known as gabusi,
In Yemen and Oman
The
qanbus is a traditional instrument from Yemen carved from a single block of wood. It is also played in Oman, where it is called
gabbus. The lower half of the top is covered in skin, and the upper half has a wooden soundboard, often with small soundholes. It has a floating bridge, a sickle-shaped pegbox and usually 7 nylon or gut strings in 4 courses, with the lowest course single. There also exist 3-course versions, with 6 or 5 strings, though these are less common.
The Yemeni lute has 7 strings in four courses, tuned low note to high C DD GG CC. The first C string is a single string; strings D G and C are all pairs.
In East Africa
In
Kenya and
Tanzania, a related instrument was called the
Kibangala. It used to be built and strung in the same way as the Qanbus. In the
Comoros islands, a related instrument called the
Gambusi is played, which is built in the same way but often has a flat-shaped pegbox, rather than the sickle-shape, and sometimes has a differently shaped soundbox. Both usually have 4 courses of strings, which can be double or single.
Several structural nuances exist between the original design (
Anjouan,
Mwali) and the later avatars in
Mayotte.
The corrupted pronunciations
Gaboussi,
Gabusi, or
Gaboussa are also found in
Mayotte, and obviously preaches for a joined etymology with the
Kabosy chordophone in N-W Madagascar.
In Southeast Asia
The word
gambus () covers a variety of instruments, some with skin soundboards, some with wooden soundboards, some that are shaped like the
quanbūs, and some that are shaped like the Arabian
oud. The instruments may have 3, 4 or 5 courses of strings, plus a single base string. To avoid confusion, various descriptors are used in the names by academic researchers.
In the Malay world there are two types of gambus: the gambus Melayu and the gambus Hadhramaut. "Gambus" can be used to refer simply to either type of instrument, however The instruments are different than the Hasapi boat lutes. The instruments were "transmitted" from the Middle East to the Malay world at an undermined time. Links to the Middle East begin as early as the 5th-6th centuries C.E., with trading networks and occupation in the 15th century. Experts have tentatively given dates for the instruments' arrival between the 9th and 15th centuries C.E. In looking for origins, musicologists have also noted some similarities with the Chinese pipa.
The two types of gambus likely arrived at different times; the gambus Melayu likely arriving as the quanbus or barbat and developing over centuries. The gambus Hadhramaut likely developed in the 19th century after the arrival of the oud.
Some modern luthiers in Indonesia and Malay world have begun to make hybrid instruments, combining the gambus or dambus (?) with other instruments, such as the ud (Sabah), the Hawaiian ukulele (Flores) or the bluegrass mandoline (Lombok)
Gambus Melayu or gambus Hijaz
The gambus Melayu –also known as gambus Hijaz ("
gambus"), panting, gita nangka, gambus seludang ("palm
spathe gambus"), gambus perahu ("
perahu gambus"), and gambus biawak – retains a shape similar to the original qanbūs, but equipped with a skin soundboard.
The sounds of this gambus accommodate to native Malay music more than its more conservative Hadhramaut counterpart.
Tuning:
- Riau Islands: G3 D4D4 G4G4 C5C5 for wire strings or A3 D4D4 G4G4 C5C5 for nylon strings
- East Sumatra: G AA B DD AA EE (double courses tuned in unison)
- elsewhere in Indonesia and Malay Peninsula: A3 D4D4 G4G4 C5C5
- Brunei: E3E3 A3A3 D4D4
Gambus Hadhramaut
The
gambus Hadhramaut is a gambus that resembles an
oud. The name
Hadhramaut refers to Eastern Yemen, and this form of the instrument may have arrived in
Indonesia (and a wider extent to another
Malay world) with immigrants from there in the 19th century, joining Muslim communities already established centuries earlier. The bowl is made of light woods, the neck of a hardwood. It has a wooden soundboard.
It is a fretless instrument with 11 strings in 6 courses, tuned low note to high:
- (Notes in scientific pitch notation)
- Arab tuning for oud: C2 F2F2 A2A2 D3D3 G3G3 C4C4
- Alternate for oud C EE AA DD GG CC
- Circle of fifths: B2 E3E3 A3A3 D4D4 G4G4 C5C5
- Circle of fifths: B EE AA DD GG BB
- Ghazal: A, DD, GG, CC, FF, BbBb
Gambus Seludang
The Gambus Seludang was another name for the gambus Hijaz with a specific reference to its monoxyle (like boat constructed from a single piece of timber) structure. The name came with the revival in
Brunei,
Riau and
Sabah. In
Sabah, this is similar in shape and size to the gambus Hijaz, but features a wooden resonator.
Similar instruments
-
Gittern – a medieval European instrument built in the same way, but with a completely wooden soundboard.
See also
Sources
External links
Further reading
