Rabab is a very ancient instrument found primarily in Afghanistan but
in India it is restricted mainly to northwest India. The mystic poets Kabir
and Krishnadasa have mentioned it.
The rabab is made of a walnut or cedar soundbox that looks like an elongated
half pear joined together along its length. It is a bowed stringed instrument of
53cm length. The
top has an upper part covered with a thin sheet of hammered cooper, decorated
with three small rosettes. The lower part is covered with goat skin. The
instrument also has a peg box, two sheep gut strings that are attached at the
bottom of the instrument and pass over a 4 to 5 cm reed bridge. The bow is very
curved and made of horse hair.
Rabab is either played as a solo instrument or accompanies singing, especially
of long epic poems. The rabab player sits cross-legged, and places the rabab
on his right knee obliquely across his body, with the peg box resting against
his left shoulder. He places his thumb
underneath the strands and uses pressure to control the tension of the bow. The sound produced by the rabab is said to resemble
that of the human voice.