Xinjiang Uyghur Musical Instrument - Rawap.
Rawap, also rewapu, is a fretless plucked long-necked lute played in folk music by the Uyghurs of China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region, as well as by Tajiks and Uzbeks.
The instrument's history dates back to the 14th century in southern Xinjiang. The circular, bowl-shaped resonance body is covered with the dried skin of a snake, a donkey or a sheep instead of a solid cover. Three to a maximum of nine strings run over a flat bridge set up in the lower part of the membrane skin and over the long fingerboard to the pegbox with lateral pegs, which is bent backwards in a 180-degree curve.
Only the outer strings are struck with a plectrum, while the rest serve as sympathetic strings. Widenings in the form of cow horns attached to the sides above the wooden body are characteristic. The neck is decorated with marquetry.
The rawap of the Uyghurs carries name suffixes corresponding to the respective region, for example Kaxgar-rawap after the city of Kaxgar. Design, size and playing style vary regionally. The Kashgar instrument is 90 centimeters long and has five metal strings tuned in fourths and fifths.
Two of them have double choirs. Its range is an octave above that of the two-stringed, fretless Uyghur dutar. In addition to five melody strings, the rawap of the Dolan people in Turpan province also has twelve double sympathetic strings.
Among the Tajiks, the instrument is called rebub and is made from the wood of the apricot tree. The Tajik model is about 70 centimeters long. In the 1930s, the Uzbeks adopted a slightly modified long-necked lute (rubob). The different forms are related to the rubāb, whose distribution center is in Afghanistan.
The rawap is used to accompany songs, but is rarely heard in larger groups.
Length approx. 76 cm
Width about 12 cm
Height about 12 cm
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