The santur (pronounced /san-TOOR/; Persian: سنتور [sænˈt̪ʰuːɹ]) is a type of hammered dulcimer that comes from Iran.

History

The santur was invented and developed in Persia and its surrounding regions. The earliest evidence of the instrument comes from Assyrian and Babylonian stone carvings dating back to 669 B.C. These carvings show the instrument being played while hanging from the player's neck.

Over time, the santur spread across different regions of the Middle East. Musicians changed the original design, leading to many different musical scales and tunings. The first santurs were likely made of wood, possibly with stone parts, and used strings made from goat gut.

According to Habib Hasan Touma, the Babylonian santur was the ancestor of the harp, the yangqin, the harpsichord, the qanun, the cimbalom, and the hammered dulcimers.

Name

The name 'santur' comes from the Persian word sanṭīr, which is connected to the Greek word ψαλτήριον, meaning 'psalterion'. The Biblical Aramaic form psantērīn appears in the Book of Daniel 3:5.

Description

The oval-shaped mezrabs (mallets) are very lightweight and are held between the thumb, index, and middle fingers. A typical Persian santur has two sets of nine bridges, which allow it to play a range of about three musical octaves. The mezrabs are made of wood, and their tips may or may not be covered with cotton or felt.

The strings on the right-hand side of the instrument are made of brass or copper, while the strings on the left-hand side are made of steel.

A total of 18 bridges divide the santur into three sections. Over each bridge, four strings are stretched across the instrument and are tuned to the same pitch, covering both the right and left sides. There are three groups of nine pitches: one for the bass, one for the middle octave, and one for the higher octave. These sections are located behind the left bridges and include 27 tones in total. The highest "F" note is repeated twice, resulting in 25 unique tones on the santur. The Persian santur is usually tuned to different diatonic scales that include 1/4 tones. These scales are organized into 12 modes (dastgahs) used in Persian classical music. These 12 modes make up the Radif, which is the collection of music in Persian classical tradition.

Derivations

Similar musical instruments have been around since the medieval period in areas where Persian culture has had an influence, such as Armenia, China, Greece, India, and others.

The Indian santoor, which is based on the Persian santoor, is wider, more rectangular, and has more strings. The mallets used to play it are held in a different way and played using a different method.

The eastern European version of the santur, called the cimbalom, is much larger and can play all the notes in the musical scale. It is used to support Hungarian folk music, Eastern European Jewish music, Slavic music, and Romani music.

Iraqi santur

The Iraqi santur (also called santour or santoor) (Arabic: سنطور) is a hammered dulcimer from Mesopotamia. It has a trapezoid-shaped box body made of walnut and 92 strings made of steel or bronze. The strings are grouped into sets of four, each set tuned to the same pitch. They are struck with two wooden mallets called "midhrab." The tuning of the 23 string sets ranges from the lower yakah (G) to jawab jawab husayni (A). The bridges, called "dama" (meaning "chessmen" in Iraqi Arabic), resemble pawns. The instrument is found in Iraq, Syria, India, Pakistan, Turkey, Iran, Greece (along the Aegean coast), and Azerbaijan.

The Iraqi santur and the joza are the main instruments used in the classical Iraqi Maqam tradition. The instrument was brought to Europe by the Arabs through North Africa and Spain during the Middle Ages and also to China, where it was called the "foreign qin."

The Iraqi santur has always been fully chromatic, meaning it can play all notes in a musical scale. It has 12 bridges made of steel strings on both sides. Three of these bridges can be moved: B half flat qaraar, E half flat, and B half flat jawaab. A non-standard version of the santur includes extra bridges, so the three movable ones are not needed. However, playing this version is slightly more difficult than playing the standard 12-bridge santur.

Notable players

Important musicians who play the Iraqi santur include:

Important musicians who play the Greek Santouri include:

• Tasos Diakogiorgis
• Aristidis Moschos
• Nikos Kalaintzis
• Marios Papadeas
• Ourania Lambropoulou

Important musicians who play the Indian santoor include:

• Ulhas Bapat (1950–2018)
• Tarun Bhattacharya (b. 1957)
• Rahul Sharma (b. 1972)
• Shivkumar Sharma (1938–2022)
• Abhay Sopori
• Bhajan Sopori (1948c2022)
• R. Visweswaran (1944–2007)
• Varsha Agrawal (b. 1967)
• Mohammad Tibet Baqal (1914–1982)
• Harjinder Pal Singh (b. 1953)
• Sandip Chatterjee

• Bee Seavers, student of Shivkumar Sharma (see above)

• Jarosław Niemiec

• Santuri Ethem Bey, composer of Sehnaz Longa

• Hayaf Yassine
• Bilal Bittar
• Issam FAYAD
• Marcel Ghrayeb
• Hady Zaccour
• Ashraf Yassine

From around the world

Different types of the santur, also known as the hammered dulcimer, are played in many countries around the world. In Eastern Europe, a larger version of the hammered dulcimer called the cimbalom is used. Many classical composers, such as Zoltán Kodály, Igor Stravinsky, and Pierre Boulez, have included the cimbalom in their music. More recently, the group Blue Man Group has also used it in their performances. In Thailand and Cambodia, the instrument is called the khim. The Chinese instrument yangqin is a type of hammered dulcimer that came from Persia. The santur is played in the Middle East, while the santoor is used in India.

Gallery

• Images of santur instruments
• Ali Bahrami-Fard performing at Vahdat Hall
• Chalghi santur player using an unusual Iraqi santur
• Santur hand placement
• Santur playing techniques