History and information of Armenian Dhol

Many kinds of percussion instruments are used in theterritory of Armenia. A variety of cymbals, tambourines,drums, and other percussion instruments have been usedthroughout the ages of Armenian history in rites andritual ceremonies.The earliest mentions of Armenian percussion instrumentsfound in historical documents pertain to the time period of3000–2000 B.C. According to ancient manuscripts, severalkinds of timpani were used during worship of the goddessAnahit (Srbuhi Lisitian, Armenian Folk Songs and Dances, Vol.2). Ancient cymbals, dated about 800 B.C., were found atKarmir Blur (Red Hill) excavations.An instrument that has remained from pre-Christian rites—a metallic, decorated disk with little bells on the edges calledKushowthes, is still used in the Armenian Apostolic Church.Considering that Armenia adopted Christianity as its officialreligion in the year 301, it is obvious that the age of the instrumentdates back to much earlier times.Of the many percussion instruments presently used in Armenia,the most widely used and popular is the duhole, a drumwith a cylinder-shaped body that is covered with either one ortwo membranes. Both the cylinder and the heads can be madefrom different materials. Ancient people used ceramic, walnut,and copper shelled duholes. It is generally agreed that the bestduholes are made from walnut. However, because walnut is difficultto work with and is prone to cracking whan making the dhol, other kinds of woodand plastics are more widely used today. Nevertheless, and despiteits heavy weight, duhole players mainly favor walnut duholes due to their rich timbre. The membrane(s) can be on the top, or on boththe top and bottom of the duhole. If there is a membraneon both sides of a duhole, they must be connected so that the instrumentcan be tuned. They must be stretched from both sides of the duholewith a string that zigzags from hole to hole and from one membrane to the other.Tightening or loosening the string tunes the instrument.Membrane material could very well depend on the type of duhole.The duhole can be played with hands or drumsticks. Drumstick-played duholes are called copal duholes. (Copal is a name for a particular stick.) Copal:Depending on the copal’s place of origin,it can be of different shapes and sizes. Copals from some regionshave clublike shapes, while others are simple sticks 30 to40 centimeters long and 1.5 centimeters in diameter.Independent of shapes and sizes, copals always have thesame performing function. Copals are used to strike the uppermembrane to produce low-pitched sounds and to accentuatestrong beats of a rhythmic pattern. Copal duholes may have differentnames, which also depends on the dialect of the placefrom which they come. For example, combal (from theKarabakh region), chomakh (from the Balu region), andtoghmagh (from the Little Armenia region) are all names for co-palduholes.Tchipot: Another stick, called tchipot, is used to strike the bottommembrane. It is a thin stick, which might be a tree branch, 30to 40 cm long. They are usually made from cornelian cherrywood or wayfaring tree wood, and are therefore strong and flex-ible.There are two main types of tchipots, and they vary ac-cordingto the region from which they come. One is a regular 30to 40 cm long branch; the other is the same length but has aleather strap at one end in which one or two fingers are placed.They both have the same function.The left hand of a duhole player has multiple functions. Inaddition to holding the tchipot it also holds the bottom of theduhole and balances its position.The method of holding the sticks for copal duholes is similarto that of military drums. The right hand holds the stick deepinto the palm, while the stroke goes downward from above. Theholding of the tchipot stick and the striking technique is differ-entand rather interesting as well. It is usually held by thethumb and index fingers. However it is also held by the indexfinger with a leather strap attached at the end of the stick. Thestroke goes from below to above. Unlike the copal, tchipotstrikes are of many different types. There are plain (straight)strikes to the membrane, strikes with the whole surface of thestick, and the press-roll strike.High and low pitches of a copal duhole depend not only onthe type of copal or tchipot, but also on the type of membrane.Upper membranes are made mostly from sheepskin, while bot-tommembranes are made from goatskin. However, today’sduholes are made of a large variety of skins and even plastics.Depending on the function and regions from which they come,copal duholes vary in size, ranging from 30 to 90 centimeters ofcylinder length.Copal duholes, like other drums, usually perform a supportivefunction, although in some Armenian dances they do holdthe solo position. For example, in “Bert” and “Kochari” (two Armeniandances), the soloist is the duhole player. In addition toplaying the duhole, the player also dances in these dances.Recently, copal duholes become widespread in the Kurd-populatedregions in Armenia. Some Armenian composers usedcopal duholes in symphonic orchestras, such as “The Dance ofKurds” from “Gayaneh” Ballet by Edgar Hovannesyan.Hand duholes:Hand duholes differ from copal duholes because they areplayed with hands and not sticks. Hand duholes are from 20 to 60 cm long. They are mainly made from walnut. However, they can also be made from plastics, metals, or ceramic. Membrane - HeadsTheir membranes also differ from copal duholes, in that they are usu-allymade from sheepskin and calfskin. However, modern duhole players use pigskin, some fishskin, and different kinds of plastics witch is wildly used this days by many of our dhol players, since it lasts longer and those not need to bee tuned every moment do to moister or heat.Duhole players:Duhole players are referred to as “duholchees,” “tumbook-chees,”and “tumpkahars.” Hand duholes are played both standingand sitting. While standing, the duhole is held by a specificrope around the shoulder. While sitting, the duhole is placed onthe left foot and leaned on by the left elbow. Because the righthand is free, it performs the main and strong beats. The lefthand plays the accompaniment and uses unique Armenian fingertechniques.Three main areas are beaten on the duhole, and beating indifferent ways will produce different sounds. For example, thesound produced near the center is called “dump.” In Armenian,“dump” means many things: low, pitch sound, and main. A“dump” sound may be produced by the palm or the fingers. Thepalm can have the fingers touching each other or separatedfrom each other. Any finger can be used in addition to any fin-gertip.Another sound is called “zil.” Once again, “zil” has manymeanings in Armenian: good, good sounding, and loud. The “zil”sound is produced by beating the edge of the membrane usingthe palm or finger(s). One other sound produced is called “kut.”Snapping the middle and ring finger produces it.Just as eastern music varies in many ways, so do the traditionsof duhole players. In Armenia, you may come across manydrums covered with golden plaques received by the musicianfrom his or her fans. You may also come across duholes coveredwith valuable stones showing how much the musician valueshis or her duhole. One Armenian tradition is that elder duholeplayers give their duholes to young ones so that they continuethe elder’s style of playing the duhole.The duhole sounds:The duhole sounds equate to the notation in the followingmusical examples as follows: “dump” (center) = C, “zil” (rim) =R, and between “dump” and “zil” = normal notation (N).Many composers used different folk instruments in classicand contemporary music. Armenian composers used many folkpercussion instruments. For example, Alexander Spendarianused the duhole in “Erevanian Portraits.” Avet Terterian usedthe “dupp” in “Symphony #7” with a symphony orchestra.Composers of many nationalities, especially Caucasians, usedfolk percussion instruments in their music. In my opinion, thevery best use of these instruments in symphonic music was byAram Khachaturian.“Gayaneh” (often spelled “Gayne”) Sabre Dance - was performed for thevery first time (with the participation of Aram Khachaturian) inArmenia. Some parts of this ballet were performed by playingthe duhole. When this ballet was to be performed in Armenia,Khachaturian didn’t have to give specific details to theduholchee. However, when other countries around the world be-ganperforming this ballet, it became necessary to use othersymphonic instruments instead of the duhole or duppe. Manytests took place using tomtoms, bongos, timpani, etc., to seewhich one worked the best. In Armenia, the use of snare drumswithout snares and timpani became widespread. Khachaturianwas very satisfied with this.The principle of transferring a part to be played on one instrumentto another instrument is simple: the timbre and melisms (music ornaments) of the snare drum or timpani mustbe as much like the duhole’s timbre and melisms as possible.When the “Gayaneh” ballet was played outside of Armenia,equivalents to the rhythms and sounds played by duholcheesbecame necessary. Discussions and disputes arose pertaining tothis matter and, therefore, many experiments took place.For exploration purposes, let’s look at “Lezginka” from“Gayaneh” ballet. The Lezgins are people who live in the moun-tainregions of Georgia and Aphasia. Many composers havewritten a “Lezginka,” including Ipolitov-Ivanov, Paliashvily, andEdward Mirzoyan. In all such examples, the composers’ rhyth-micstructure is basically the same.Iplitov-Ibanov wrote “Lezginka” from “Iberia” in 6/8: