Rubab Maker - M.Kerimov. Baku. 1984

The rubab is a plucked string instrument (photo 27-28) that is played with a plectrum. It was widely used during the Middle Ages in Azerbaijan. The rubab was described by Nizami, Nasimi, Fuzuli, S.A. Shirvani and many other classical poets. According to Al-Farabi, a prominent Arab scientist living in the 1 Oth century, the rubab is of ancient Eastern origin.17 It was very popular among the peoples of Central Asia under the names "Kashghar rubab" and "Tajik rubab". Nizami compares the gentle, delicate sound of the rubab with the voices of singing birds.

The rubab was very popular in Shirvan musical gatherings (majlises). It was highly praised in Khagani Shirvani's works:

The Rubab is intoxicated with wine,
It has lots of veins on its arm.
It has experienced so much suffering
And its singing is as a dry reed.

In the 17th century, Givami Mutarzim wrote about a duet of a chang and a rubab:

Wine and beauty fog his eyes,
Chang and rubab are ringing in his ears.

Beginning in the 1 8th century, the rubab was used less and less in Azerbaijan, and is no longer used today.

Rubab Maker - M.Kerimov. Baku. 1983

This instrument, which played a significant role in the history of Azerbaijan's musical culture, has recently been restored and returned to our culture.

The body of the rubab is made of mulberry wood, walnut and beech, and the neck is made of nut wood. Fish skin or film from a bull's heart is stretched over the face of the body. Two pairs of strings and one individual string are made by twisting silk or gut, which is then fastened to the instrument.

There are 18 frets on the neck of the instrument. The total length of the rubab is 910 mm. The body is 210 mm wide and 80 mm tall. Its range goes from the "si" of the great octave to the "mi" of the second octave.