DOUMBYRA

DOUMBYRA, a Bashkir plucked string folk instrument. Wooden case of pear­shaped­ hemispherical or oval­plane shape (hollowed or glued). The length of the instrument is about 800 mm with a neck and 19 mortise frets. It has 3 strings (nylon or metal); the mode is fifth and fourth. The sound is extracted by hitting the fin­ gers or the mediator simultaneously on all the strings. The upper string leads the melody; the lower strings emit a bass sound. In the late 19th – early 20th centuries, it went out of use. In the early 1980s, it was reconstructed by V.Sh. Shugayupov. Later, he and other craftsmen cre­ ated the orchestral varieties of the instrument (soprano, viola, bass). Since the late 1980s, D. was made by G.S. Kubagushev, R.M. Galimov, A.Ya. Yanguzhin; since the early 1990s, I.Kh. Baybuldin, S.U. Baymukhametov, A.N. Vladi­ mirov, G.R. Galimova, D.A. Minko, A.A. Ov­ chinnikov. It is an instrument to accompany the performance of tales (see. Epic), aityshes, and kubairs. In professional music, the instrument is used for solo, ensemble, and orchestral per­ formance. Similar instruments are used by many Turkic peoples.

A.M. Kubagushev