The Turkish Riq

The Riq (Riqq)

    This intrument is more or less a traditional tambourine that originated in turkish and arabic roots.  It is made from a wooden frame which is usually around nine inches in diameter, and uses either goat or fish skin for the drum head.  There are also five sets of jingles made from some metal for the desired effect. These instruments are typically played in Takht ensembles and serve the role of primary time keeper.

The following is a great  example of how the riq fits into the ensemble:
 
      Aside from the riq player being the time keeper of the group, he/she also has an astounding amount of tonal flexibility with the instrument and can shine through the ensemble and take improvised solos when necessary.  The number of techniques that can be applied is just incredible.

This video is a solo riq performance that i think shows the range of the instrument very well:


     This next performance shows a bit of the folk side of the music and style.  The drum of course is traditionally performed in a full ensemble but is often paired with only one or two other instruments in a much less formal way. In this case there only an oud and riq player.



     Now on to actually playing the instrument.  Like a lot of traditional drums across the world, the riq uses a vocal system to learn how to play the instrument. These vocalizations each represent a different strike on the drum. The "Doum" stroke is played towards the edge of the drum with the pointer finger and has a very full tone. The "tak" stroke is played by rotating the hand and playing the edge of the head with your ring finger and is supposed to have a higher tone. The "Pa" stoke is played with all four fingers striking and dampening the drum near the center of the head. The most interesting though is the "Tek" stroke which is played with the ring finger on the jingles themselves. Different cultures do use different syllables to notate the strokes but every student must learn to say the rhythms that they play before they even attempt them on the instrument.

The following video is an incredible performance of a player performing this tradition even though she uses a different set of words:

     The last example I found is my favorite solo performance.  It definitely doesn't follow the traditional techniques I mentioned before but rather highlights many "new-school" approaches to the instrument.  Things like rolling the jingles, scratching the head and thumb rolls. All in all, its just a cool performance.


References

http://www.rhythmweb.com/handson/riq_lessons.htmturkish riq 5 1
http://worldpercussion.net/instruments/riq/