How many strings does domra have? This and other issues regarding this musical instrument will be discussed in the article below.
Related Names
The meaning of the word "domra" by many people is not understood correctly. Often, the Kazakh folk musical instrument dombra is so mistakenly called . If we consider this issue from a philological point of view, then there is a definite reason for such a mixture of concepts. Both of these words came from the same Turkic root.
Relatives or not?
This issue has been considered by historians for several years.
Some of them believe that domra stringed musical instruments appeared in medieval Russia thanks to the numerous eastern merchants who often traded on the territory of our country at that time. These people, supposedly, brought their national instrument to Russia, which had two strings and was distinguished by a rather long neck. But this is just one of the hypotheses.
Usually, dombra (it has about a dozen different names, mainly derived from the same Turkic root) was played by hitting the strings with the fingers of the right hand or performing the so-called "tremolo", that is, frequent pinch up and down movements. Such a musical instrument was used to play the accompaniment, while singing.
In the eighties of the twentieth century, Kazakh archaeologists found cave paintings of people with objects that in their appearance strongly resemble a modern dombra. Scientists suggest that these samples of painting are about 4000 years old. Therefore, there is every reason to say that domra - an old folk stringed stringed instrument - appeared long before the advent of a new era.
Another point of view
In the works of other specialists in folk art, you can find a hypothesis that is fundamentally different from that presented in the previous sections of this article. According to them, one of the instruments of the folk orchestra really borrowed its name from an Asian relative, but he himself has nothing to do with the eastern representative of the string family.
Great inventor
Scientists confirm their words with the following fact. By the end of the XIX century, the history of musical instruments of domra, balalaika and gusli almost came to an end. These string instruments are out of fashion.
And it is not known whether people would ever remember that in former times Russia also had its own, unique musical instruments, if not for the composer and art critic Vasily Andreev. This man was a great enthusiast in the art world.
His life's work was the creation of an orchestra of Russian folk musical instruments.
He built his collective on the principle that was adopted in symphonic music. Andreev took the balalaika that existed at that time in Russian everyday life and determined for her the role played by violin in academic orchestras. Like its European counterpart from the string family, the balalaika now has relatives with lower and higher sound registers. For example, balalaika piccolo and balalaika double bass.
The harp began to play the role of harp. There were also Russian folk winds: horns, horns and others.
Interesting find
Andreev was in constant search of means that could diversify and enrich the color of the orchestra he created.
At one point, he managed to find some unknown folk musical instrument. This product had a hemisphere-shaped case of rather small sizes and a thin neck.
The leader of the orchestra reconstructed this instrument and gave it a name.
However, many critics say that his invention was strikingly different from Russian medieval domra.
Why, then, the instrument, which, judging by the numerous popular prints and mentions in the annals, which was very widespread among our ancestors, did not live up to the appearance of the first Russian orchestra?
There were certain reasons for this. The history of the domra musical instrument had both happy moments and times that can be called tragic for Russian folk art.
Ups and downs
It is known that Tsar Ivan the Terrible was distinguished by his love for magnificent feasts.
During these feasts, the rumors of numerous guests should have been appeased by the sounds of music performed by the court orchestra, which consisted of virtuosos who played Russian folk instruments.
In those days, the profession of a wandering artist was not considered appropriate for a decent person. But still, this activity was not prohibited. A lot of buffoons traveled across the boundless expanses of Russia, which amused the audience with songs on acutely social themes performed to the accompaniment of domra. These strings were also distributed on the territory of other European states neighboring with Russia. The musicians who played them were called domraches or domraches.
This root has so far been preserved as part of several Russian surnames.
The beginning of persecution
Clouds gathered over the heads of stray musicians after an era that is commonly called turmoil in our country. Under the tsar of Moscow, Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov, the church life of the Russian state was led by Patriarch Nikon, who became famous for his reform, which resulted in a split among believers. Vladyka did not remain indifferent to the social life of people.
He was indignant that much less people came to church services than to fairs and festivities, where there were performances by buffoons who amused the audience with songs, dances and playing domra.
Therefore, the head of the church turned to the king with a request to somehow influence the current situation. Aleksei Mikhailovich issued a decree according to which the practice of fasting was prosecuted. The official pretext for this was that the lyrics of songs performed at such performances often criticized the authorities that existed at that time. Also, these actions included some elements that were very reminiscent of pagan rites, for example, the lighting of numerous torches and the like.
As a result of the issuance of the decree, not only vagrant artists began to be prosecuted. An interesting fact: domra and its future fate were influenced by the fact that the document signed by the ruler of Russia proclaimed illegal the use of certain musical instruments.
A case is known when several carts with accessories of buffoons were assembled on the territory of Moscow. A huge bonfire was made of domra, gusli, horns and horns. Historians believe that not only these musical instruments were subject to destruction. Along with them, many documents were seized, in which there was a mention of them.
Thanks to this notorious decree, these members of the string family were forgotten for three long centuries.
Rebirth
As already mentioned in this article, at the end of the 19th century, the second occurrence of domra occurred. History forever imprinted the name of Andreev - the man through whom this tool gained a second life. However, we turn to the description of the musical work.
Domra structure
This instrument, like all strings, has two main components: the body and neck. It is about the device and manufacture of domra that will be discussed in this subsection. The neck of the instrument is made of hardwood, and its upper part, the one under the strings, is usually made of ebony. The overlay on the upper part of the body, which is called the "shell", is usually made of the same material. It serves to protect the instrument from damage from blows to it, which often happen during the game.
The resonator part is usually made of spruce, maple or other wood species, which are distinguished by their sound qualities. The tool body consists of its upper part and body. The deck serves to ensure that the acoustic vibrations of the strings that occur during the game are transmitted to the body, which has the function of a resonator. It repeatedly enhances the sound of strings and gives it a timbre more saturated with overtones.
For this purpose, the tool is equipped with two sills (near the head of the neck and on the opposite side - at the bottom of the case, at the thread holders). The strings come in contact with the wood with the help of a special stand, which is located between the lower nut and the resonator holes, of which the domra has seven - one large and six small.
How many strings does domra have?
The largest of the holes is located in the center, and the rest, smaller, are around it. This “socket” is one of the most striking external distinguishing features of this string representative. You can easily recognize domra by six resonant holes of different calibers, just like a violin - by its notch in the form of the Latin letter “ef”.
The lower part of the body is a hemisphere formed by six wooden strips, curved in a certain way and glued to each other. Sometimes their number can be equal to nine.
How many strings does a domra musical instrument have? It can have three or four strings.
Each of these types of this tool has its own advantages and disadvantages. Three-stringed domra has a fairly small range - two octaves, but it has a wonderful melodious sound with a characteristic rich timbre. The range of the four-string variety is much larger, which makes it possible to perform many virtuoso works. However, the large sizes give the timbre of the instrument greater dullness compared to its three-stringed counterpart.
Thus, the question often asked by music lovers about how many strings are domra and balalaika can be answered as follows: their number is four or three in the first and three in the second.
Another origin theory
In addition to the same number of strings, these two instruments are united by another circumstance. Some scholars dealing with the history of music say that the balalaika could well have come from domra. How did this happen?
Under Tsar Aleksei Mikhailovich, when the notorious decree banning comradeship and all its attributes, already mentioned in this article, was published, the people needed a certain trick in order not to be left without musical instruments at all. Since the domra was in disgrace, the craftsmen who had previously made it had to find a way to get around the royal decree. At one point, a solution was found. It is not known for certain who thought of this, but the tool body was made not in the form of a hemisphere, but in the form of a triangle.
All other design features have been retained. So, we can say that the balalaika is nothing but a modified domra.
Over time, it was this instrument that began to be perceived by the Russian people as one of the national symbols. But this hypothesis about its origin is unproven to this day.
The rapid development of the art of playing domra
The question of how many strings the domra has already been covered in this article, and the history of the creation of this instrument and how it was revived at the end of the 19th century was also considered.
Soon after the creation of the first Russian orchestra of folk instruments, domra was rightfully considered one of its main participants.
She took such a position due to the fact that she was often given the right to maintain a melodic line. Such outstanding artists as Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov became connoisseurs of the newly invented instrument.
The student of the last named Ilya Glazunov became a composer, who created the first work for an orchestra of folk instruments.
Winning year
Despite the fact that domra almost immediately took its rightful place among other instruments of the folk orchestra, the musicians playing it began to perform solo much later. In this sense, the victorious year of 1945 is significant, when several records were released at once with recordings of works performed by domrist virtuosos.
Currently, the role of this musical instrument in folk art is often compared with the value of violin for academic music. It is no coincidence that Domrist Alexander Tsygankov is called "Nicolo Paganini Domra."
By the way, the violin, having appeared for the first time in a folk environment, went no less complicated way from an instrument that was considered rustic among European nobility to a leader in performing solo parts in a symphony orchestra.