15th April 2011 at Royal Festival Hall (Bar level 2), London SE1.
The Kabuli Rubab (or Rabab) is found in Kashmir as well as Afghanistan. It is a different instrument from the Seni or Dhrupadi Rubab, popular in North India during the Mughal period, but now less common.
Rubabs are assigned the number 321.321-6 in the Hornbostel-Sachs classification of musical instruments (
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornbostel-Sachs ), indicating:
3 = Chordophone. Instruments where the sound is primarily produced by the vibration of a string or strings that are stretched between fixed points.
32 = Composite Chordophone. Acoustic and electro-acoustic instruments which have a resonator as an integral part of the instrument, and solid-body electric chordophones.
321 = Lutes. Instruments where the plane of the strings runs parallel with the resonator’s surface.
321.3 = Handle Lutes. Instruments in which the string bearer is a plain handle.
321.32 = Necked Lutes. Instrument in which the handle is attached to, or carved from, the resonator, like a neck
321.321 = Necked Bowl Lutes. Instrument with a resonator made from a bowl, either natural or carved.
321.321-6 = Strings vibrated by a plectrum.
