Libya is a country in North Africa. Most people there speak Arabic, and the music has a long history shaped by many cultures, including Arab-Andalusian traditions, Ottoman rule, and local Bedouin and Amazigh traditions. Popular music styles include Andalusi music (called Malouf in Libya), Chaabi, and Arab classical music.
Qraqeb or garagab (Arabic: قراقب), often written in English as krakeb, are large iron musical instruments shaped like castanets. They are used to create rhythm in Gnawa music. Gnawa is a type of music that is an important part of North African culture and is a key feature of the Maghrebi soundscape.
The sintir, also called the guembri, gimbri, or hejhouj in Hausa, is a three-stringed instrument with a skin-covered body used by the Gnawa people of Morocco. It is about the same size as a guitar, with a body carved from a single log and covered on the playing side with camel skin. The camel skin works like the stretched membrane on a banjo to help the instrument make sound.
According to the research of Egyptian music expert Samha El-Kholy, the first group of Egyptians to write music in the modern Egyptian style were born around the beginning of the 1900s. Some of the most well-known composers in Egyptian history who lived during the 1900s include Sayed Darwish, Mohamed El Qasabgi, Baligh Hamdi, Mohamed Fawzi, Zakariya Ahmad, Mohamed Abdel Wahab, Riad El Sunbati, and many others.
Agarwood, also known as aloeswood, eaglewood, or gaharuwood, is a fragrant, dark, and resinous wood used in incense, perfume, and small carvings. It forms in the heartwood of Aquilaria trees after they become infected with a type of mold called Phaeoacremonium parasitica. To fight the infection, the tree produces a resin.
Arabic music (Arabic: الموسيقى العربية, written in the Latin alphabet: al-mūsīqā l-ʿarabiyyah) is the music of the Arab world, which includes many different types of music. Countries in the Arab world have a wide variety of music styles and many different ways of speaking, with each country and area having its own traditional music. Arabic music has a long history of sharing and combining with other musical styles from different regions.
The santur (pronounced /san-TOOR/; Persian: سنتور [sænˈt̪ʰuːɹ]) is a type of hammered dulcimer that comes from Iran.
Persian traditional music, also called Iranian traditional music or Persian classical music, is the classical music of Iran, which was historically known as Persia. This music has features that developed over many years, including classical, medieval, and modern times. It also influenced areas that are part of Greater Iran.
The rubab (UK: /rʊˈbæb/, US: /rʊˈbɑːb/) or robab is a musical instrument similar to a lute. It comes from Central Asia and is the official musical instrument of Afghanistan. People also play it in India and Pakistan, mainly among the Balochi, Kashmiri, and Punjabi communities.
The music of modern nomadic and rural Turkmen people is closely connected to other Central Asian folk traditions and has roots in Arab and Persian music from the Middle Ages. Important musical traditions in Turkmen music include traveling singers and spiritual leaders called bagshy, who serve as healers and magicians. They sing without instruments or with a two-stringed lute called the dutar.