Professional Tanbour by Asadollah Gahvareh

Kuzeh (Iran) In Baluchestan, two Kuzehs are played with a metal platter. This combination, the oldest idiophone instrument in Baluchestan, is known as Kuzak & Tal. The Kuzeh is never played separately. Rather, it is always accompanied by a platter. The player can change the pitch by adding water into these clay pots. The Kuzeh of Kerman is Spindle-like with no handhold. They are made in small & large sizes to accompany folk songs. Because of the uneven bottom, the player uses special holders or holds it by hands or legs. Since time immemorial, the white clay pot has been common in Hormozgan province. Called Jahleh, this pot is completely round & spherical. To play Jahleh, one palm vertically beats on the throat while the other hand strikes on the body. The sound of the throat is thick while the sound of the body is relatively dry. The combination of these two sounds is marvelous. Jahlehs are played singly or together by a group, though each player never uses more than one Jahleh at a time. No water is added into Jahleh as there is no need to change the pitch. Along with Kuzeh-makers in many different countries, Iranian craftsmen have also begun, in recent years, to manufacture their own as a novel experience. Undoubtedly, the Kuzeh, as a musical instrument with its particular features & capabilities is still far from known to many musicians in the country. Our objective, therefore, is to introduce & popularize it as widely as possible by producing a greater variety of pots with higher musical quality & offering them to those interested in pots, the percussionists in particular.