How the baglamas makes its sound
In the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which classifies instruments by how they produce sound, the baglamas belongs to the lutes: strings run parallel to a soundboard and along a neck – the family of the guitar, violin, sitar and oud.
More broadly it is one of the chordophones (string instruments), where sound comes from vibrating strings, amplified by a resonating body.
Its timbre – the colour that lets you tell it apart from other instruments playing the same note – comes from the mix of overtones its body and resonator emphasise.
From Wikipedia
The baglamas (Greek: μπαγλαμάς Turkish: bağlama), plural baglamades) or baglamadaki (μπαγλαμαδάκι), a long necked bowl-lute, is a plucked string instrument used in Greek music; it is a smaller version of the bouzouki pitched an octave higher (nominally D-A-D), with unison pairs on the four highest strings and an octave pair on the lower D. Musically, the baglamas is most often found supporting the bouzouki in the Piraeus city style of rebetiko.
The body is often hollowed out from a piece of wood (skaftos, construction) or else made from a gourd, but there are also baglamades with staved backs. Its small size (typically 21.5in, 55cm in total length, but only 4.5in, 12cm wide) made it particularly popular with musicians who needed an instrument transportable enough to carry around easily or small enough to shelter under a coat. During parts of the 20th century, players of the bouzouki and baglamas were persecuted by the government, and the instruments were smashed by the police.
Other lutes
Frequently asked questions
What does a baglamas sound like?
As one of the lutes, its sound comes from the way strings run parallel to a soundboard and along a neck.
What type of instrument is the baglamas?
It is classified as lutes (Hornbostel–Sachs 321.321-6).
Sources & credits
- Wikidata Q528239 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Baglamas – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Image by No machine-readable author provided. Arent assumed (based on copyright claims). – CC BY-SA 3.0