Plausible combination for a belly dance trio

[Ælfscine]

Hi...

I am gathering information for a story I'm trying to write and could use some help in choosing components for a plausible belly dance trio that will fit in with the characters.

Right at this moment I am wondering:

1. voice, veena, tabla
2. voice, rababa, tabla
3. voice, oud, ney
4. voice, ney, daf/tonbak
5. voice, sitar, tabla
6. voice, sney, tabla

I would think that you would want at least one percussion but the other could be nearly anything at hand but if I'm going to have a vocalist, I would need a combination I would think that will not overpower her. In addition, the belly dancer will have sagat.

Anyway, I'm open to suggestions.

Thank you all kindly,

Ælfscine

 

[gisela]

I didn't know what a veena is, but google tells me it's an indian instrument, so therefore not really good for an arab music trio. Same goes for sitar.

I think tabla, oud and voice would make a nice trio. IMHO the oud nicely bridges the difference between voice and tabla.

 

[Safran]

Tabla, Oud and Qanun would be my pick if I had the luxury of choosing musicians/instruments

 

[Ælfscine]

The qanun may be too complex

Tabla, Oud and Qanun would be my pick if I had the luxury of choosing musicians/instruments

Hi Safran…

Thank you for your suggestion. I'm sure that a qanun would make a wonderful addition to my trio but I have to consider my character. Levina is a beautiful singer but musical instruments are not her strong suit. She would look at a qanun and wonder how it would work as a cheese grator or some such. She does play the bodhrán at home and is competent with that so perhaps she would not find the daf too great a leap. Perhaps the bodhrán could be used in lieu of the daf – what do you think? In addition to that and the oud and tabla, Ishandra will be playing sagat as she dances. I am wondering now if that is going to be too much. I still think something can be worked out among them.

Thank you all for your help,

Ælfscine

 

[Zorba]

We usually end up with a (bad) Tabla, a (worse) Flute, and a (who can tell?) Sitar!

 

[Ælfscine]

Thus says Ælfsine

We usually end up with a (bad) Tabla, a (worse) Flute, and a (who can tell?) Sitar!

Hi Zorba...

I guess in many cases it is use whatever is around and hope that the player can do a decent job of it. But I can well see that it is often bad this, worse that and unbearable the other thing -- a cookig pot, a ram's horn, a plucked bow string and a blade of grass.

Well, I hope the next time will be better,

Ælfscine

 

[Zumarrad]

If your character is already a drummer then another drum makes sense, though bodhran and daf are not played the same.

I'd say voice, oud (though there is nothing stopping an oudist from singing at the same time and lots do) and tabla or daf or even better *riqq* which is classical and not very loud, so not likely to overpower your singer.

You say "belly dance trio": do you mean a trio of musicians AND a dancer, or one of these people is also the dancer? Because that's going to limit who plays what too.

 

[Ælfscine]

Bodhran, daf and riqq

If your character is already a drummer then another drum makes sense, though bodhran and daf are not played the same.

I'd say voice, oud (though there is nothing stopping an oudist from singing at the same time and lots do) and tabla or daf or even better *riqq* which is classical and not very loud, so not likely to overpower your singer.

You say "belly dance trio": do you mean a trio of musicians AND a dancer, or one of these people is also the dancer? Because that's going to limit who plays what too.

Hello Zumarrad...

By "trio" I mean three instrumentalists. Two of the trio, Meera and Musa, are professional musicians so I have no trouble with them switching instruments. The third, Levina, has a beautiful singing voice but not so great with musical instruments so I have to keep it simple for her. I also have to take into consideration that she's of Celtic background so she's not too likely to know about the riqq. I know that the bodhran is played differently from a riqq or a daf but you can set up a pretty good dance rhythm with it and it might work well to counterbalance the tablas. The dancer, Ishandra, will be playing the sagat as she dances which may be considered to be another musical instrument.

If you wish to have a look at a graphic of Ishandra in her costume, it is in my profile -- the only picture there. Oh yes, she's a witch and she's nasty.

Thank you for your help,

Ælfscine

 

[Amanda (was Aziyade)]

Your standard dancer's takht in upper Egypt is frame drums, tablas, and mizmar, although the ghawazee usually seem to find a tabl baladi bass drum thing. The dancers may sing, but the singer who performs at moulids as usually hired separately from the dancers, if I recall correctly. Different social class and all.

Consider the portability of your instruments and determine if they fit the scene you've created. Oud is relatively portable, but still much bigger than your standard frame drum. Professional musicians would have proper instruments, but nonpros would use whatever might be handy.

Consider also borrowing from Bedouin and featuring voice and clapping.

I'm not sure I understand the bodhrán -- it doesn't quite seem to fit, culturally. Maybe if you just called it a hand drum? Just a thought.

 

[Amanda (was Aziyade)]

I think tabla, oud and voice would make a nice trio. IMHO the oud nicely bridges the difference between voice and tabla.

I work with a bouzouki player (sort of like an oud, although not really) and he can actually "pick" and play so that it sounds like I also have a drummer. John Bilezikjian (sp?) does something very similar. So if you end up not having a tabla player and only have frame drums, the oudist can pick up the "slack."

Can't wait to read this story! Are you going to let us OD members read it first?

 

[Ælfscine]

A first draft

I work with a bouzouki player (sort of like an oud, although not really) and he can actually "pick" and play so that it sounds like I also have a drummer. John Bilezikjian (sp?) does something very similar. So if you end up not having a tabla player and only have frame drums, the oudist can pick up the "slack."

Can't wait to read this story! Are you going to let us OD members read it first?

Here is a link to a draft version. It has been made part of one of my brother's fan fictions so the names are somewhat different. However, nothing about this is set in stone so it may be revised or changed at anytime. Once it has been polished, I shall work it into my own story.

Shego And The Trix, Part 2 Chapter 11: A Concert, a Kim Possible + Winx Club Crossover fanfic | FanFiction

Enjoy,

Ælfscine of the Ælfscine-Ælfstangard Writing Team

PS: There is also a review function at FanFiction if you wish to leave comments there.

 

[Zumarrad]

I also have to take into consideration that she's of Celtic background so she's not too likely to know about the riqq.

I'm of Celtic background and I know about the riqq. I would imagine anybody involved in a band for a bellydancer would have to know about Arabic music and therefore the instruments used in it. If she's singing it, it doesn't matter how beautiful her voice is or how naturally talented she is, she's moving into an unfamiliar modal system and she would have to listen and practice.

I can sing Irish songs easily, but it's really hard for me to sing Arabic ones without going all flat or sharp or crazy, and I have a good ear and a reasonably good though underused singing voice, AND I listen to Arabic music a lot. I have to train myself to get the singing right.

But the riqq is very hard to play, and hand drums are so different to the bodrhan so you could have some kind of fusion thing happening with the bodhran to be honest.

 

[Ælfscine]

Hi Zumarrad...

I can imagine how difficult it is going from one language to another when singing. But if you are trying to learn a new language, singing in the target language helps a lot because of the repetition and the use of high-frequency words. For the story, I have side-stepped the problem by saying that Levina is singing in Ancient Witchspeak and the audience hears a translation through an interpreter spell. Levina's first language, though, is New Witch Haven Gaelic which is like a Gaelic based Esperanto.

Thanks for your help,

Ælfscine

 

[Zumarrad]

No, I mean the notes are different, so the interpreter spell might also require some kind of mystic autotune involved as well.

But it doesn't sound like this story actually has much need to have anything to do with actual Arabic music or real-life language or music, so you can pretty much invent what you want, even down to the instruments if you so choose.

 

[Shanazel]

Zummarrad has an excellent point. If language evolves, instruments ought also to be evolving. At one point in time, Irish evolved so quickly that grandparents were hard pressed to understand the language their grandchildren soke. Mozart would be amazed at modern orchestral instruments,

Why evolve Witchspeak and not evolve musical instruments to match?

 

[Aniseteph]

I agree - excellent point.

Unless you want to evoke a very specific time/location/style of music and dance, for which the whole package would need to be consistent, why not embrace the intrinsic fusion-ness of it? Plenty of people who call themselves belly dancers do.