SANTOOR

The santur (also santūr, santour, santoor ) (Persian: سنتور) (Arabic: سنطور‎) is a hammered dulcimer of Iran and Iraq. It is a trapezoid-shaped box often made of walnut, with 72 or 96 strings. The name means one hundred strings in Persian. The special-shaped mallets (mezrab/madhrab) are lightweight and are held between the index and middle fingers. A typical santur has two sets of bridges, providing a range of approximately three octaves. The right-hand strings are made of brass, while the left-hand strings are made of steel.Two rows of 9 articles called "Kharak" (the Iraqi santur has 12 articles called "Damaat") (Totally 18 kharaks/24 damaat) divide the santur into three positions and each lead four unitone strings to the right and left side of the instrument. Each note comes three times in three positions [making (9*3) 27 tones all together and doubles in frequency going to the left. As four notes are repeated in tonation we have only 23 tones in Santur. The santur is primarily tuned a variety of different diatonic scales which utilizes 1/4 tones or semi-tones. There are 12 modes of Persian classical music which is known as the "Radif" which consists of 12 Dastgahs or Modes. Each Dastgah has its own tuning and character which derives from the different parts of Iran (Persia) which dates back thousands of years and was only preserved through performance until the late Ostad Abol Hassan Saba the legendary Master of Persian classical music, who notated and categorized 3500 years of music into the "Radif of Saba."

The santur is the lead instrument in performing of the Iraqi Maqam. The traditional Iraqi ensemble (Chalghi Baghdadi in Osmanli) is made up of a santur (zither, strings are struck) or a qanun (zither, strings are plucked), a joza (rebec or spike fiddle), a clay drum (tabla) or kettle drum (naqqara) and a tambourine with cymbals (daff zinjari). Starting in the 1920’s, the qanun, like the lute, became favored under the influence of Muhammad al-Qubbanji and other masters. The crystalline sound of the qanun is considered as more precise than the santur which leaves an echo. However, modern day Iraqi Maqam ensembles still mainly use the santur, given the instrument's deep roots in the history of this form of art, sometimes along the qanun, and rarely is the qanun used instead of the santur.

The contemporary Iraqi santur consists of a soundbox in the shape of a trapezium made from two boards of wood joined together by splints of varying height; the soundbox is made from a hardwood such as walnut, bitter orange, white beech or apricot. It is approximately 80 to 90 cm wide at the broad end, 31 to 41 cm wide at the narrow end and 7 to 12 cm deep, though the instrument has often been made to accompany a specific singer, so the dimensions of the soundbox are changed to accommodate the register of the singer's voice. Also, unlike the Iranian santur, the Iraqi santur uses steel strings on both the left and right sides. The right side bridges, besides being taller in size than the left side, are moved towards the middle, parallel to the left side, which allows for multi-scale tuning and is more suitable for Iraqi traditional music.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santur