Folk music has always played a great role in Baluchi traditions.Baluchi music and instruments belong to the same branch of Iranian music performed by many other Iranian peoples including Persians, Kurds, Lurs, Tajiks and others. Baluchi music has also influenced Sindhi and Seraiki folk music.The most commonly used instruments in Baluchi folk music are Tanbur, Dohol, Sorna, Ney, single or double flutes, Suroz (a Baluchi folk), Tar, Saz, and others.
SUROZ (Baluchi Folk Violin)
The Suroz is a bowed string instrument with a long neck, similar to a fiddle or sarangi and played vertically. It is considered the national instrument of the Balochistan.
TANBUR
The tanbur is a fretted string. The tanbur measures 80 cm in length and 16 cm in width. The resonator is pear-shaped and made of either a single piece or multiple carvels of mulberry wood. The neck is made of walnut wood and has fourteen frets, arranged in a semi-tempered chromatic scale.
SORNA
The Sorna is an ancient woodwind instrument. A small amount of air is forced under pressure through a small metal tube called the staple which serves to hold the reed and match it to the bore. This requires the player to make sure, as in oboe playing, that one also empties the lungs of stale air when taking a new breath. Sorna is used as a main instrument during wedding ceremonies and also funeral ceremonies.
DHOOL
A Dohol is a large cylindrical drum with two skin heads. It is generally struck on one side with a wooden stick bowed at the end, and with a large thin stick on the other side, though it is also played by the bare hands. Dohol is almost always accompanied by Sorna.
FLUTE
The art of playing double flute is traditional to Baluch and can be seen in many parts. The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Flutes are the earliest known musical instruments. A flute produces sound when a stream of air directed across a hole in the instrument creates a vibration of air at the hole. The air stream across this hole creates a Bernoulli, or siphon. In balucoh music a single or double flutes are used and commonly played with “NEY”.
The art of playing double flute is traditional to Baluch and can be seen in many parts. The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Flutes are the earliest known musical instruments. A flute produces sound when a stream of air directed across a hole in the instrument creates a vibration of air at the hole. The air stream across this hole creates a Bernoulli, or siphon. In balucoh music a single or double flutes are used and commonly played with “NEY”.
It is a very ancient instrument, with depictions of “NEY” players appearing in wall paintings in the Egyptian pyramids. This indicates that the Ney has been played continuously for 4,500–5,000 years, making it one of the oldest musical instruments still in use. It is a forerunner of the modern flute. The Ney consists of a piece of hollow cane or reed with five or six finger holes and one thumb hole. Modern NEY may be made of metal or plastic tubing instead. The pitch of the Ney varies depending on the region and the finger arrangement
The Tar body is a double-bowl shape carved from mulberry wood, with a thin membrane of stretched lamb-skin covering the top. The long and narrow neck has a flat fingerboard running level to the membrane and ends in an elaborate pegbox with six wooden tuning pegs of different dimensions, adding to the decorative effect.The melodies performed on tar were considered useful for headache, insomnia and melancholy, as well as for eliminating nervous and muscle spasms.
Saz is a long-necked lutes used in Ottoman classical music.
