The
Riq (Arabic: رق)
(also spelled riqq or rik) is a type of tambourine used as a traditional
instrument in Arabic music. It is an important instrument in both folk
and classical music throughout the Arabic-speaking world. It
traditionally has a wooden frame (although in the modern era it may also
be made of metal), jingles, and a thin, translucent head made of fish or
goat skin (or, more recently, a synthetic material). Although in the
West the tambourine is generally considered to be a simple rhythm
instrument suited for unskilled performers, riq players are capable of
great subtlety and virtuosity.
The riq is used in Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Sudan, and Syria; in
Libya, where it is rare, it is called mriq. It is between 20 and 25 cm
in diameter and is now effectively a man's instrument. Descended from
the duff (see Daff), like the tar, the riq acquired its name in the 19th
century so that it could be differentiated.
Essentially an instrument of music for the connoisseur, the riq, which
is also called daff al-zinjari in Iraq, is played in takht ensembles
(Egypt, Syria) or shalghi ensembles (Iraq) where it has a particularly
clearcut role, going beyond the simple rhythmic requirements of the daff,
tar, or mazhar, and exploding in a burst of imaginative freedom to
colour the orchestra with gleaming sounds: this is quite unlike the role
of the daff. In Sudan, where it seems to have been introduced recently,
the riq is also related to worship, as in upper Egypt.
The frame of the riq can be covered on both the inner and outer sides
with inlay such as mother-of-pearl, ivory or decorative wood, like
apricot or lemon. It has ten pairs of small cymbals (about 4 cm in
diameter), mounted in five pairs of slits. The skin of a fish or goat is
glued on and tightened over the frame, which is about 6 cm deep. In
Egypt the riq is usually 20 cm wide; in Iraq it is slightly larger.
Traditionally, frame drums have been used to support the voices of
singers, who manipulate them themselves; but the player of the riq, like
that of the doira of Uzbekistan, plays without singing. While the daff
and the mazhar are held relatively still, at chest or face height, with
the player seated, the riq, because of the use of different tone-colours,
may be violently shaken above the head, then roughly lowered to the
knee, and played vertically as well as horizontally. The player
alternates between striking the membrane and shaking the jingles, and
his need for freedom of movement necessitates that he stand up. Students
of the instrument are required to master the technical problems imposed
by the timbre of the membrane and the jingles, both separately and in
combination; aside from developing a virtuoso technique they also need
to learn the many rhythmic cycles and the techniques of modifying them
through creative invention.