Gio Israel Persian Essentials Strings

The Persian Essentials series by Gio Israel exposes the hidden sounds of ancient Persian music. Musical development in Iran dates back thousands of years, expanding through various neighboring cultures, making it one of the richest and most influential musical regions of the old world.

In this pack, we present three fundamental traditional string instruments:

Tar (Persian: تار‎) - from the lute family, is an Iranian long-necked instrument widely used in various regions, including the Iranian Plateau, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and others near the Caucasus and Central Asia regions. The original name of the tār is čāhārtār or čārtār, meaning "four string" in Persian.

Santur - Iconic to ancient Persia, the Santur is a percussion-stringed instrument that consists of strings typically stretched over a trapezoidal resonant soundboard. The hammered dulcimer is set before the musician, who, in more traditional styles, may sit cross-legged on the floor, or in a more modern style may stand or sit at a wooden support with legs. The player holds a small spoon-shaped mallet hammer in each hand to strike the strings.

Shurangiz (Persian: شورانگیز) - Based on the setar, the Shurangiz Is a relatively modern instrument developed in the 20th century. Its name means “tumult-exciting”‎. It differs from the setar by the skin it has as part of the soundboard and in the number of strings. It has a unique sound table consisting of a wooden panel suspended in the center of a membranous outer section, six strings, a longer finer fingerboard, and an increased number of frets compared with its original prototype setar.

The musicians who played on this pack are Eitan Refua and Yaron Cherniak.