Racy - A Dialectical Perspective On Musical Instruments

A Dialectical Perspective on Musical Instruments: The East-Mediterranean Mijwiz
Author(s): Ali Jihad Racy

Source: Ethnomusicology, Vol. 38, No. 1 (Winter, 1994), pp. 37-57
Published by: University of Illinois Press on behalf of Society for Ethnomusicology
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VOL. 38, No. 1 ETHNOMIUSICOLOGY WINTER 1994
A Dialectical Perspective on Musical

Instruments: The East-Mediterranean Mijwiz
ALI JIHAD RACY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES
he relationship between musical instruments and other aspects of

culture is complex and multifaceted. Studies of musical instruments
usually highlight two general patterns; one adaptational, the other idiosyn-
cratic. Adaptational explanations usually treat instruments as organic entities
that change in response to different ecological and aesthetic realities. As they
migrate or continue to exist in time, they develop in accordance with local
sound ideals, visual symbology, construction exigencies, and preferred
playing techniques. An adaptational explanation tends to take the musical
culture (including performers, instrument makers, listeners, and musical
norms) as a vantage point and to recognize the locally determined attributes
of musical instruments. Indian oboe types, for example, may be studied in
terms of their adaptations to both classical and folk musical idioms, and their
structural modifications as they exist across the Indian sub-continent
(Jairazbhoy 1970 and 1980). Idiosyncratic observations, on the other hand,
take into consideration the stable physical properties of certain types of
instruments, as well as the performers' natural physiological abilities.
Accordingly, an instrument may be borrowed and accepted as a physical and
acoustical "package" that incorporates construction and performance modes,
such as the peculiar "mute and release" technique connected with the
strumming of lyre strings in the ancient Near East (Sachs 1940:79) and also
in parts of modern East Africa and the Arabian Gulf (Racy 1988:5-6 and
1992:7).
These and other studies also show that the two patterns are basically
inseparable and intertwined. For instance, an integration of both culture and
acoustics is implied in a statement explaining the close, but not exclusive,
association between the ancient Greek aulos and the phenomena of
possession and trance: "As played in the Mediterranean manner, let us say,
? 1994 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
37
38 Ethnomusicology, Winter 1994
the double clarinet and the oboe have very vehement intonations, a forceful
and rasping tone, and an emotional intensity enhanced still further by the
fact that the instrument can be played for hours on end without interruption"
(Rouget 1985:216). Such integration can be further observed in the case of
a number of other pan-Mediterranean instrument types (see Racy 1986:6).
In this article I suggest that musical instruments are interactive entities.1
Being both adaptive and idiosyncratic, they are not mere reflections of their
cultural contexts, nor are they fixed organological artifacts that can be
studied in isolation from other social and artistic domains. Instead, instru-
ments interact dialectically with surrounding physical and cultural realities,
and as such, they perpetually negotiate or renegotiate their roles, physical
structures, performance modes, sound ideals, and symbolic meanings.
The double reedpipe, specifically the single-reed double-pipe, some-
times called "double-clarinet," is an aerophone, consisting of two pipes
played simultaneously by the same person, with each pipe fitted with a
single-reed apparatus. Double reedpipes existed during antiquity in Egypt,
Mesopotamia, and Greece, and throughout history they have enjoyed
varying degrees of popularity and use (see Marcuse 1975:651-662). Today
they are widely distributed in the Mediterranean basin, where they exhibit
both variety and consistency in nomenclature, construction and playing
technique. Such instruments often have names that imply or mean "double,"
in reference to the two tubes joined together (mijwiz in Lebanon; mitbaq,
or mitbadj, in Iraq; ?ifte in Turkey; and dhiplopadozira in Crete).2
In this paper I focus on the East Mediterranean world, specifically the
Arab Levant, and investigate the construction and sound qualities of the type
of instrument with two essentially identical melody pipes. The study is
conducted on the basis of available historical and organological information,
and in light of my own insights and experimentations as a performer on the
mijwiz. Central to the study are two related questions: (a) How does the
double reedpipe, as an acoustical apparatus, adapt to the overall musical
idiom of the Levant, and (b) in what ways does it manifest its idiosyncratic
musical characteristics? A basic thesis of this paper is that double reedpipes
not only express their local musical idioms and aesthetic backgrounds, but
because of their complex and peculiar acoustical properties they display
considerable cross-cultural and historical consistency in matters of playing
technique, musical style, and even musical symbolism. My data are based on
samples of double reedpipes that are representative of Syrian, Lebanese, and
Palestinian communities. The specific construction features on these samples
appear to exist on instruments further east, in Jordan, and further north, in
certain parts of Turkey (see Picken 1975:519). Double-pipes found in Iraq
and Egypt (the zummarah), and in Libya and Tunisia (the maqrunah),
although sharing many basic stylistic and organological properties with
A Dialectical Perspective on Musical Instruments 39
those of other regions, are essentially outside the scope of the present
research. The same applies to single reedpipes, such as those occasionally
found in Iraq (Qassim Hassam 1980:56), and also to drone-and-chanter types
of double-pipes, such as the Palestinian yarghul and the Egyptian arghl.
For convenience, I will be referring to the instrument being studied by one
of its familiar East Mediterranean names, that is, the mijwiz.
The mijwiz enjoys a central position in folk music of the Arab Near East.
Played by men, often of a relatively modest social and economic status, it
is associated with rural life, especially with goat herding. It is also considered
an instrument of festivity par excellence and is used primarily for accompa-
nying dances that appear at village weddings (see Figure I). Generally used
outdoors, the mijwiz is most often played without accompaniment on
percussion instruments (unlike the zamr, or double-reed instrument, which
is practically inseparable from the tabl, or large double-sided drum).
Basically its role is very similar to that of the minjayrah, or shabbabah, an
open-ended reed or metal flute also associated with shepherds and typically
used for accompanying dance.
The construction of the instrument follows well-established methods
and also reflects the structural and acoustical idiosyncrasies imposed by the
construction material. As a rule, the mijwiz pipes are made from reed.
Actually, in some villages in Lebanon, the instrument is called qasab, which
literally means "reed," a plant that grows profusely along river banks
throughout the Near East. Reed is fairly accessible, light in weight, and
reasonably durable. It is naturally hollow, except for the closures where the
joints meet, and thin-walled, making it easy to burn in sound holes and to
cut stems in desired lengths. Reed also can split easily, therefore extra care
must be taken when working with it. In some exceptional cases the
instrument is made from bone; according to informants in South Lebanon,
the leg bones of a stork are used.
Each of the two mijwiztubes uses the naturally hollow portion of a reed
stem, without the "knots" or closures which, for example, in the case of the
nay, or urban Arab flute, are included, drilled through, and used as nodes.
As naturally determined, the reed tube is basically cylindrical (rather than
conical). However, at the top of the main tube (the one with pitch holes),
another narrower tube is fitted. The length of this holeless junction is usually
about one-third or one-fourth of that of the main tube. Known among
Palestinians by the name 'arayis (singular 'arus),3 the junction components
give each tube a telescopic, or stepped shape, and function as staples within
which the detachable reed systems are inserted for playing. This stepped
formation on each of the two identical structures is most common, and
appears to have roots in antiquity. On the ancient Greek aulos, each of the
two structures apparently consisted of a cylindrical, slightly flared main tube
Mijwiz player accompanying dabkah dancers at a wedding in Ibl al-Saqi, the

author's village of birth in southern Lebanon
(bombyx), connected with a narrower piece (holmos), which served as a

staple for the reed, although sometimes another piece (hypholmion)
intervened between this staple and the main tube (see Michaelides 1978:43
and McKinnon 1980:699).4
The two tubes of the mijwiz are parallel to one another (rather than
divergent in a V shape, as typical, for example, of the ancient Egyptian
double-pipes, the Greek aulos, and the Sardinian launeddas). Conjoined in
a permanently-fastened form, the two tubes are most often tied together
firmly with a tar-dipped piece of thread. Usually several turns of thread are
wrapped around the main tubes near the upper and lower ends (perhaps
protecting them from cracking at their weakest points) and toward the
upper, or proximal, ends of the junction pieces. Most often the tubes are
further connected by filling the narrow gap between them with tar or
beeswax. Also sometimes the two junctions and the upper tips of the main
tubes are entirely coated with tar. Such a treatment helps curtail air leakage
at the point where the junctions fit into the main tubes. Here too a contrast
can be drawn between the mijwiz and the laudeddas, on which one of the
pipes (the smaller chanter) is usually left untied and held separately (see
Bentzon 1969:14). The mijwiz has no bells, horns, or similar devices, unlike
some of its counterparts in North Africa, such as the Tunisian maqranah,
which ends in two buffalo horns.5
Each of the two identical reed-systems, or sound generating structures,
of the mijwiz employs a single percussive beating reed (Wachsman
1980:218) and consists of a reed-stem internode. In other words a reed joint
that includes two unopened nodes is cut at midpoint while leaving the upper
node, or extreme closure on each half, intact and using it as a natural
"stopper." The reeds are idioglots. On each of the reed-systems, known in
Lebanon as salalib (singular sallub) and in Palestine as bnayyat (singular
bnayyah),6 the vibrating tongue is split from the same reed tube with a sharp
knife, and left connected to it at one end (as opposed to a heteroglot reed,
which is separate from, but fastened to, the apparatus, as in the case of the
European clarinet or saxophone).7 The reed is upcut, or slit from the central
point toward the upper, or proximal end, that is the side of the node. In
contrast, a reed is downcut if the slit is made from the upper, or extreme
side-from the side of the node-toward the bottom, or open end that goes
into the staple.8 Each reed apparatus is tied toward its terminal point, or
upper end, with two or three rounds of tar-dipped or waxed thread with the
two ends of the thread pieces tied to the thread that binds the main tubes
together. As such, the detachable reed-systems can be safeguarded from
loss. Furthermore, the thread rounds can help adjust the tuning of each of
the vibrating lamellas.
The reed-systems are completely inserted in the player's mouth during

performance. Therefore the reeds are technically exposed, not being
enclosed within a chamber, as we encounter in instruments such as the
Rauschpfeife, or the German Renaissance shawm family; the so-called
hornpipes of Eastern Europe; and the Indian and Pakistani bungi, which
features a gourd casing for the reeds and is typically used by snake charmers.
Moreover, in contrast to the reed of the clarinet or saxophone, that of the
mijwiz is unlipped, activated through mere air pressure without the
intervening manipulation of the lips or the tongue.
The main tubes of the mijwiz usually have six holes each. The holes on
each tube are basically identical to those on the other. The top three pairs
of holes are usually covered by the first three fingers of the left hand (index,
middle, and ring), using the first and second finger-joints. Each finger
extends laterally, thus covering two adjacent holes simultaneously. The
bottom pairs of holes are similarly covered by fingers of the right hand.9 As
a rule, the mijwizhas no small "vent-holes" or "tuning," rather than stopped,
or nodal, holes below the bottom hole-set, additions found, for example, on
the Near Eastern double-reed zamr or mizmar.10
The peculiar organological structure of the mijwiz is closely linked to
its sound quality and the manner in which it is performed. To begin with,
the stepped, or telescope-shaped formation created by the three suddenly
increasing diameters (that of the narrow tube constituting the reed system,
that of the slightly wider junction, and that of the widest main tube), gives
the instrument distinctive and significant tonal and acoustical properties. A
suitable way to physically extend the length of the instrument, the inclusion
of a junction can offer physical convenience. As one performer suggested,
the existence of a staple makes the instrument easier to activate, or enables
it to "speak" better.11 Part of the reason is that the narrowing achieved by the
intervening extension offers the advantage of using smaller reed systems,
ones that require less breath to activate.
Meanwhile, one of the fundamental effects of stepping is acoustical. The
structure of the single-reed systems, specifically the closure of the upper end,
may give the instrument some of the acoustical properties of closed
cylindrical pipes. However, the stepped configuration of the instrument
creates the basic properties of conical bores, such as those of the Hungarian
tdrogat6 or the modern soprano saxophone. The relationship between
stepping and acoustical conicity, although not widely discussed by
organologists, has been acknowledged, for example, in the case of some
Turkish double or single-reed pipes (Picken 1975:481)12 and the African and
Indian telescope-shaped oboes: "Occasionally the oboes are made of two
pieces of bamboo, a thinner piece fitted into the thicker, creating a stepped
cylindrical tube. This may be an attempt to create the effect of a conical bore"
(Jairazbhoy 1970:384). Furthermore, acoustical conicity as a function of

stepping is best illustrated by the structure of the Near Eastern double-reed
zamr, or zurna. On these instruments conicity is created by the thinner "U"
shaped loop, or tongue, inserted partway into the cylindrical stem, which in
turn terminates in a widening bell, an overall design in essence similar to the
stepped formation found on the mijwiz and some other wind instruments.
In fact, in Near Eastern culture at large, cylindrical closed-pipe instruments
are relatively rare, although in Turkey and Central Asia such characteristics
apply to the double-reed mey, which sounds more like a clarinet in the
fundamental register than an oboe. Basically, idioglot single-reed cylindrical
pipes, on which both the reed blade and the sound holes are carved appear
to exist sporadically (see Jenkins and Olsen 1976:59,60), but at least in the
Levant region such an instrument type is quite rare and tends to exist in the
form of perishable children's toys made from green straw stems. I have not
encountered any mijwiz examples made in that fashion.
"Conicity" with respect to the mijwiz also has pitch implications.
Conicity simulated by stepping formed through dimensional bore shifts from
the reed system to the main tube (even in the absence of an intermediary
junction piece) enables the mijwizto play in a relatively higher register.3 The
higher tessitura created by stepping is comparable to the result of using
uniformly conic bores on wind instruments such as the oboe, whose
fundamental is about an octave higher than that of a uniformly cylindrical
clarinet bore of the same length (Backus 1969:195).14
Meanwhile, the stepping of the mijwiz tubes contributes most signifi-
cantly to the timbral quality of the instrument. As it simulates conicity,
stepping increases the total harmonic distortion and enhances the upper,
including the even partials, thus embuing the tonal quality with a distinctive
shrillness, nasality and brilliance (Helmholtz 1954:69 and Backus 1969:101).
Indeed, the tonal quality of the mijwiz is characterized by distinct promi-
nence of the first overtone to such an extent that occasionally the octave
above can be noticed very clearly and at times even confused with the
fundamental. Incidentally, because of such harmonic properties, the mijwiz
is closer in matters of acoustical behavior, including frequency, sonority and
timbre, to double-reed instruments, specifically those that are conic or
stepped, than to cylindrical single or double-reed instruments in general.15
In strict organological terms reference to the mijwiz and similar instruments
as "double-clarinets" is technically a misnomer. The epithet "double-
saxophone" would be acoustically more accurate, unless other less Eurocentric,
yet more generalized and verbally cumbersome terms such as "double
single-reed," or "single-reed double-pipe" were to be used.
Furthermore, the harmonic complexity is enhanced when the two tubes
and their respective reed-systems are played simultaneously. This pairing
leads to the creation of a beat, a "richer" tonal quality, or "chorus effect"

resulting not only from the two almost identical fundamentals, but also from
the other closely pitched harmonics (Backus 1969:101). The beating effec
"a tone quality favored over a wide area, extending from Vietnam to the
Mediterranean" (Marcuse 1975:664) is basic to the dualistic structure of the
mijwiz. Since the two essentially identical tube complexes are permanently
geminated, or conjoined in a parallel format, the fingers can easily perform
the near unisons on all hole-sets, and thus produce consistently "beated"
melodies, as compared for example, to the drones and polyphonies
produced by the partly disjoined divergent tubes of the launeddas. As such,
beating requires keeping the reeds in certain tonal synchrony with one
another, thus making it necessary that the two highly sensitive reeds play
while being kept equally free, through the traditional unlipped style. In any
case, oral interference, such as the exertion of uneven lip pressure, is by
definition incongruous with the activation of reeds that are upcut, facing
upward, and inaccessible to the player's tongue.16
The structure and acoustical properties of the reeds explain the basic
importance of "circular breathing." This technique ensures the consistency
in the airflow and air pressure needed for maintaining a clear sound, since
air disruptions can cause the sound to suddenly lapse into distortion. As
applied, the technique also makes it possible for the reeds to vibrate freely
within the player's mouth. Known in Lebanon as qalb nafas, literally
"reversing," or "shifting breath," circular breathing requires that the mouth
cavity be stretched out and used intermittently as an air reservoir. The
process itself lasts for a few seconds and occurs when the player runs out
of breath. In order to keep the reeds activated, the player quickly "stores"
air in the mouth and uses the cheek-muscle pressure to push that air out into
the instrument, at the same time quickly inhaling through the nostrils to
replenish the air within the lungs. The somewhat noticeable effect of
occasionally "shifting" from lung pressure to mouth pressure perhaps like a
gear shift of a car engine, appears to create an acceptable diversion from
otherwise uniform sound intensity. Furthermore, although dictated by the
need for respiration, the shifts seem to require some inspiration in the sense
of timing in order not to disrupt the flow of the melodic or rhythmic motif
being played, and in some instances, perhaps to give such a motif more
emphasis.
The tonal system of the mijwizis shaped by the acoustical idiosyncrasies
of the instrument, as well as by the number and spacing of the tone holes.
Due to the peculiarities of the bore structure and the way in which the reeds
are designed and activated, the instrument does not lend itself to overblowing,
or playing clearly and correctly in different registers through the same tone
holes (see Backus 1969:198), particularly while attempting to keep the beat
effect consistently present. Played only in the fundamental register, the

instrument has a relatively narrow compass, a functional range of about a
fifth or a sixth. The scale, specifically from the lowest, or bottom, hole-set
upward, moves mostly in intervals that are approximately whole-steps and
"neutral," or slightly flattened, whole-steps. As a rule, the hole sets or pairs
are equidistant. According to Palestinian mijwiz and yarghul maker and
player (zammar) Mu'in Husayn Khaliliyyah, measuring the distances
between the hole-sets traditionally follows a rule of thumb, by literally
leaving a distance between the individual sets equal to one qirat (plural
qarart), or the length of the upper, or extreme, joint on the maker's thumb.
Stating that such a rule has been learned from previous generations, he adds
that the distance between the highest pitched hole-set and the upper
extremity of the main tube, where the junction fits, is that of a shahid, which
he describes as a small finger-width distance (see Figure 2).17 Naturally, the
uppermost intervals tend to become a bit wider as the uppermost hole-set
often sounds distinctly high pitched.
A striking and highly significant feature of the mijwiz is the relatively
long distance between the lowest hole-pair and the distal, or bottom,
extremity of the instrument. This distance is typically over twice the distance
between any two hole-pairs on the same instrument. According to Khaliliyyah
the rule has been to make the length of the retention from the lowest hole-
set to the bottom end equal to three qararit or sometimes four, depending
on the size of the instrument. Accordingly, the distance should match the
length of the juncture pieces, whereas the exact length of the reed system
is less important as long as both systems are of the same diameter and length.
This retention, or the closing of all the hole-pairs, produces a distinct melodic
leap below the pitch of the second hole-pair. In most specimens I have
examined, and on recordings I have analyzed, this interval is approximately
a major or neutral third.18
Since this bottom retention is so consistently maintained, even on some
older specimens from the area (see Figure 3), we may ask what function it
serves, and how it fits the characteristic mode of playing the mijwiz. An
analysis of representative musical performances provides strong evidence
that the holeless bottom-retention has an essential tonal function. It makes
possible the production of an ornamental pedalling effect fundamental to
mijwiz playing, as we shall see below.19
On the mijwiz, the possibilities for melodic and rhythmic ornaments are
dictated significantly by the physical and acoustical properties of the
instrument. The absence of tongue and lip articulation and the exigencies
of circular breathing relegate the roles of accentuation and ornamentation
ostensibly to the fingers. At the same time, the fingering is controlled by
certain acoustical realities. Partial stopping is almost impossible to execut
3 qarian 3 qarara
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A mijwiz with an extra set of reeds, in a photographic plate titled "Shepherd's

Pipes, Sling and Scrip" from an early twentieth-century book of photographic
illustrations of the Holy Land (Elmendorf 1912, plate 20)
The other, perhaps more important pedal is simply the lowest note,
produced through the bottom retention, with all holes closed. Similarly here,
performers make frequent allusions to the low pedal tone, thus creating
poignant and almost percussive "interruptions" that punctuate the melody,
particularly in metric dance music. Khaliliyyah, who refers to this pedalling
effect as jawab, or radd, both meaning "answering" or "responding," stresses
that the retention constitutes a crucial component of the instrument and
makes a primary contribution to the sweetness and moving affect of mijwiz
playing.20 By allowing for a retention that produces an interval of roughly a
neutral or a major third below the lowest "melodic" hole-set through
convenient rule of thumb measurements, mijwizmakers seem to settle upon
a happy acoustical and musical medium. The low pedal has a pitch that is
somewhat discordant and too remote to fit into or tonally confuse the main
melody. Making it shorter, for example at the distance of a second, may
extend the main scale by a step, but would also cause the retention to gain
an equivocal melodic function, and to lose somewhat its "neutral" role as a
separate pedal tone. If the bottom is too long, sounding, for example, a fifth
or sixth below, it might interfere with the melody proper by reinforcing, or
clashing with, one of the active melodic notes at an octave below. An
excessively long retention also tends to create excessive air resistance, thus
causing the reed to overblow or clap.21
In a certain sense, the mijwiz adapts very well to its aesthetic
environment, as it exemplifies the folk musical idiom of the Levant region.
Continuity of sound produced by circular breathing is somewhat compa-
rable to the sound of the Bedouin rababah, a single-string fiddle. When
accompanying himself, a sha 'ir, or poet-singer, usually creates a somewhat
continuous background effect through active bowing, or jarr, literally
"drawing" or "pulling" of the bow. Like the mijwiz reeds, the thick horse-
hair string of the rababah requires steady and firm pressure to activate.
Replete with overtones, the fundamental sound of the horse-hair string can
suddenly lapse into overtone distortion and decay. Continuity through
circular breathing also applies to the style of playing the zamr, which in the
rural Arab Levant is much less prevalent than the mijwiz, and is associated
more with itinerant Gypsy musicians than with sedentary village culture.
The lavish ornamentation produced on the mijwiz is also typical of the
instrumental idiom of the Levant. The raababah produces a generous amount
of ornaments primarily through the fingers of the left hand. Occasionally, the
open-string note is alluded to in a manner reminiscent of the role played by
the lower pedal tone on the mijwiz. Also very highly ornamented is music
of the minjayrah, whose sound incorporates a breathy and clearly audible
mixture of overtones. The minjayrah player sets the upper end of the
instrument either against his lips or inside his mouth between two teeth (a
playing technique comparable to that used on the Persian ney). The highly
ornamented mijwiz style is also consistent with the highly ornate quality of
singing in the rural areas of the Levant.
Like Near Eastern folk music in general, mijwiz music exists in two
distinct styles. One is basically nonmetric and can be described as a rubato
style. This fluid and ornate style, played either for mere listening or to
introduce a dance performance and possibly to accompany singing,22
basically emulates the rubato vocal style, especially the love song genre
known as 'ataba. The other more common style of playing is metric and is
performed in conjunction with dancing. In turn, this dancing style exists in
two variants that differ slightly in their tempi and metric accentuations. One
demonstrates a recurring, somewhat slow pulse and accompanies the male
or female raqs, or solo folk dance, which in turn may be accompanied by
regular clapping. The other, more prevalent variant, accompanies the
dabkab, or line-dance, literally "stomping," and its accentually varied song
repertoire. The mijwiz player, who stands in the middle of the semicircle
formed by the line of dancers, holds the instrument more or less at a right
angle to his head, which is tipped slightly forward and downward during the
performance. He tends to move in space, in order to remain facing the
counterclockwise moving line of dancers, and may also move his body
slightly to match the rhythmic accents of the music and dance.
Mijwizmusic, particularly in the dance (raqs and dabkah) style is highly
motivic. Rendered in countless variations, short motifs can be best heard
during the climactic (zakhkhah, or rabtah) phase of the dabkah dance cycle.
Alternating with the (tal'ah) phases, in which the instrument accompanies
the solo-chorus singing by the dancers themselves, the climactic segment
features animated dance steps and highly accentuated motivic creations by
the mijwiz player. Such active motivic reiteration is typical of other
instruments, such as the minjayrah in similar dance contexts, and the
rababah when "filling in" between the vocal stanzas.
Melodically and tonally, mijwiz music conforms to the folk idiom. The
intonation of the instrument, primarily its scale of basically whole and neutral
steps is perfectly suited for rendering the village dance-related songs. Its
narrow range, practically a little over a fifth, matches the overall range of
dabkab music, including the basic dal'una song genre.23 Its relatively high
tessitura fits the most comfortable and brilliant pitch level of the male singers,
whom the instrument most typically accompanies, at an octave higher.
In another sense, the mijwiz possesses a distinctive character, even
within the folk musical culture of the East Mediterranean Arab world. The
instrument stands out for its binary construction and its peculiar timbral
quality. It is recognized for its strikingly continuous sound created through
circular breathing and constant activation of unlipped reeds. Also notewor-
thy is the driving energy created through frequent pedalling, indeed one of
the trademarks of mijwiz playing.
Also peculiar are the symbolic and emotional connotations of the
instrument. To begin with, the performer of the mijwiz possesses a certain
mystique partly because of his extraordinary and rather intriguing ability to
circular breathe. A further aspect of the mijwiz ethos is its unmistakable
association with the rustic, the wild and the mysterious world of shepherding
(see Figure 3). In Lebanon, many villagers express the belief that when a
shepherd plays his mijwiz in the pastures or on mountainsides the goats
become mesmerized and listen without moving, a belief reminiscent of the
charms of the ancient wind instrument associated with Pan, "the pastoral
god, protector of woods, flocks and shepherds" (Michaelides 1978:315).
Moreover, the instrument is known for its irresistible influence upon
humans. Abf Yusuf al-A'war, a mijwizplayer from Qirnayil, a town in central
Lebanon, informed me that when he used to play his mashurah (one of the
local terms for the small mijwiz) alone in the forest near his village he used
to spend hours at a time and become totally spellbound to the extent of
losing all sense of place and time.24 It is significant that the word mashurah,
related to sibr, or "magic," literally means "charmed," or "spellbound." The
efficacy of the mijwiz is also confirmed by Palestinian mijwiz and yarghul
maker Mu'in Husayn Khaliliyyah, who explains that while the yargbhl has
a soothing, and sentimental quality,25 the mijwiz commands an air of
compelling enthusiasm. Referring to it as barbafi ("war-like"), he describes
it as an instrument with a driving force and ability to agitate. Such
characterization agrees with the belief held by some Lebanese informants
that in past centuries the instrument led war-related processions along with
poet-singers and choruses.
Near Eastern Arabs describe the power of the mijwizin a variety of ways.
Many state that when they hear it they lose their inhibitions and feel an
overwhelming urge to dance. Others describe their vivid reminiscence of
rural life, earlier adolescent years, tumultuous village weddings, sensuous
love songs, frantic and animated dancing, and passionate indulgence in
festivity. To some the mijwiz sound invokes a state of elation and
psychological transformation and brings to mind sensations resulting from
extensive body movement and intake of 'araq, a distilled alcoholic beverage
made from fermented grapes and flavored with anise. After hearing a mijwiz
performance I had given, one middle-aged Lebanese university professor
who grew up in a rural mountain village described his intense emotional
feelings metaphorically by saying: "the instrument killed us."26 In short, the
mijwizinspires strong passions and exerts compelling powers and energies.
Its connotations are unmistakably rustic, festive and ecstatic.
Conclusion
This article has explored the dialectical relationship betw

peculiar and widely encountered type of instrument and other
physical and artistic realities in the East-Mediterranean world, demo
that both aspects of idiosyncrasy and adaptability characterize the m
in which the mijwiz seems to interact with its surroundings. In the
this Near Eastern single-reed double reedpipe, we observe distinctive
of construction and methods of sound production and performan
the natural qualities of the reed plant, the structure of the vibrating r
shapes of the stems and the sound-holes, the use of circular breathin
the reliance on finger-produced ornaments, can all be viewed as
nents of one specific acoustical aesthetic complex. Also part of this c
is the symbolic meaning of the instrument. Reports by mijwiz playe
makers establish a correlation either implicitly or explicitly betw
emotional power of the instrument and its essential timbral and perfo
characteristics. Included in the latter are the nasality and the pen
sound quality resulting from stepped tubing, the continuous soun
generated through circular breathing, the beating effect created
playing in near unisons, and the driving dynamic energy resulti
pedalling.
From an ethno-acoustical perspective, it appears likely that members of
various Mediterranean communities have since antiquity associated these
sound ideals with such phenomena as passion, festive rituals, sensuousness,
magic, goat-herding and herding-related cults. Some of these sound qualities
may have provided a substructure for a widely shared and deeply rooted lore
ranging from the Dionysian connotations and uses of the aulos in Ancient
Greece (Michaelides 1978:42) and the intimate relationship between this
instrument and possession (Rouget 1985:216), to the legendary charming
power of the launeddas in modern Sardinia (Bentzon 1969:77) and the
overwhelming impact of the double-chanter droneless bagpipe in present-
day Turkey (Rouget 1985:216). Occasionally, Lebanese urban composers
attempt to capture such acoustical "charm" by replicating the mijwiz
aesthetic on other instruments and in orchestral compositions, through
frequent allusions to a low pedal-tone. Some Near Eastern violinists have
attempted to produce such an effect through bowing the two higher violin
strings drawn closely together as a single course and tuned basically in
unison, using the note produced by these strings unstopped as a lower
pedal.27
This study also shows that, despite having striking peculiarities, an
instrument can exhibit a remarkable level of adaptability. As an organological-
acoustical complex the mijwiz essentially conforms to the musical norms of
the Levant region and accommodates the practical considerations of the

people who play it. As traditionally performed, the mijwiz produces highly
ornate "unisonal" (non-polyphonic) melodies in continuous sounding
formats, renders local folk tunes and reiterates variegated short motifs within
a relatively narrow melodic range, performs in a relatively high tessitura
convenient for the accompaniment of the male voices, and plays in a scale
of roughly diatonic and microtonal intervals. For all these reasons the mijwiz
exemplifies the indigenous musical cultures of the East Mediterranean
Asiatic world, as other variants of the instrument in other geographical areas
are expected to represent their local musical contexts respectively. In 1986
I met an elderly and highly accomplished Sardinian performer of the
launeddas. Given the resemblances between his instrument and double
reedpipes in other parts of the Mediterranean world, I thought that m
playing the mijwizfor him might fascinate him or at least arouse his curiosit
After my brief demonstration, the Sardinian artist, with whom I did not sha
a language of communication, displayed verbal and hand gestures th
seemed to indicate his lack of satisfaction with the type of instrument I pla
Interested, as I gathered, in showing me what he thought was a "bette
instrument type, he pulled out one of several launeddas he had kept in
cloth bag and played it for me, naturally in the idiomatic texture and styl
of Sardinian music.28 Carrying the same overtones of cultural particularis
were the reactions of a group of Arabian Gulf performers and dancers. Th
habban, a bagpipe consisting of a large skin bag and two unisonally formed
"chanters" closely resembling the mijwiz, accompanies dancing and in turn
is accompanied by a number of cylindrical drums. After hearing my brief
demonstration the musicians and dancers from one habban and drum grou
seemed both fascinated and impressed especially seeing me circul
breathe, but strongly recommended that I save myself needless effort and
use "an instrument with a bag." In fact, they offered me their instrument
try and find out the difference for myself.29
Such reactions on the part of musicians, although not without empiric
foundations, must be understood in relative cultural terms. The case of th
mijwiz shows that, contrary to earlier evolutionary theories that trace the
development of the reedpipe from a "simple" directly blown instrument in
an instrument with an encasing for the reeds, then into a "more advanced
instrument with a bag and so on (see for example Marcuse 1975:674), t
use of an instrument in its conventional form stems from complex a
diverse factors, including the musicians' own artistic and practical prefer-
ences.30
At the same time, adaptations are patterned and even challenged by the
acoustical idiosyncrasies of the instrument. In recent decades, there have
been attempts to urbanize the mijwiz in terms of construction and playing
style. In some Lebanese city ensembles the instrument has been played with
its tessitura adjusted to the standard pitch levels of urban ensembles. One
mijwiz and nay player employed at the Lebanese radio station once
demonstrated to me how masking tape could be used for temporarily tuning
and retuning the holes to different maqamat, or melodic modes. Further-
more, the bottom retention has been shortened in order to "gain" an extra
whole-step at the lower end. Pedal effects are avoided and the continuous
effect of circular breathing is discarded in favor of short intermittent solos
within lush orchestral formats, as we hear on a number of modern
recordings, including one cassette of Maronite Christmas hymns accompa-
nied by an urban orchestra.31
It could be easily argued that the urbanized instrument, the timbral
quality of which is intended to provide sporadic allusions to the local folk
ambiance, lacks some of the most basic features of traditional mijwizplaying
and for that matter provides only a faint hint of the ecstatic and emotional
powers the instrument appears to inspire in its rural context. The instrument
may be just too idiosyncratic to lend itself to the markedly different urban
idiom without significant acoustical, organological and stylistic modifica-
tions, or in subjective terms, serious compromises. On the mijwiz, adapta-
tional ideals such as expanding the range either through adding more holes
or through overblowing, producing accidental notes in the middle of a
performance, and playing discrete phrases with pauses and with dynamic
variations, become serious performance challenges if not technical impos-
sibilities. By the same token, it is most likely that the musical peculiarities
of the instrument and the challenges of playing it effectively, in combination
with the overriding forces of Westernization and urbanization have all been
contributing to the gradual disappearance of the mijwiz and the apparent
decline in its cultural lore.
In short, musical instruments can be seen as active players in a dialectical
process that shapes both the musical expression and the instruments
themselves. Through this process, instruments may become vulnerable,
marginalized, or even irrelevant. They may also readjust or reaffirm their
positions as they respond to, and act upon, a complex network of personal
demographic, political, musical, physiological, acoustical and ideological
factors. As illustrated by the East-Mediterranean mijwiz, musical instruments
represent a creative and subjective mode of integrating musical means and
intentions.
Notes
1. I wish to thank Jay Keister and Guangming Li for their assistance in the prepar
this research paper, also Roger Kendall for his acoustical suggestions and George Sa
advice on various aspects of the research. I am grateful to Barbara Racy for her pho
assistance. I am also thankful to Nabil Azzam for allowing me to quote from a recorded interview
he had conducted with a Palestinian musician and instrument maker on February 28, 1980.
Mijwiz music from Lebanon can he heard on an LP titled Yusuf AzarIlyas, 'Azifal-Mijwiz, Ibn
al-Qasab waJawqatuhu; YoussefAzarElias, Ebn elAssab, alMejwez. (Voix de l'Orient Series,
produced by A. Chahine and Fils, P.O. Box 11-1729 Beirut, Lebanon; EMI, P.O. Box 944 Central,
Athens, Greece, Stereo 03GVDL 314). This LP can be obtained from Rashid Sales Co. 191 Atlantic
Ave., Brooklyn, N.Y. 11201, and a cassette copy of the album is in the UCLA Ethnomusicology
Archive.
2. The word mijwiz is a colloquial form of the classical Arabic word mizwijor muzdawij,
which means "doubled" or "coupled." In the tenth century, al-Farabi described single and
double reedpipes, including one example in which air entered into the two tubes through one
common pipe open to both, and two other examples of parallel and divergent forms
respectively. Among the names he used to describe such instruments were al-mizmar al-
muthanna, the muzawaj, and the dunay. The first two words, in Arabic, and the third, in
Persian, all refer to the binary structure of the instrument (Khashabah ed. N.d.:795).
3. The term 'arayis, which is used by Palestinian Mu'in Husayn Khaliliyyah, literally means
"brides," or "young unmarried women." Another Palestinian yarghul player, Mustafa 'All Abu
Hijab, whom I interviewed in San Francisco in the late 1970s, referred to the junctions on his
instrument as 'izbct, which roughly means "female bachelors."
4. Double reedpipes without junctions can be found outside the Levant region. I have seen
Iraqi and Iranian samples on which the reed systems fit directly into the slightly wider main
tubes. This can also be seen in an illustrative drawing of an Iraqi example (Qassim Hassan
1980:56).
5. It is interesting that in Arabic the word maqrunah, which roughly means "coupled with,"
"betrothed," or "joined together," is also linguistically and probably semantically related to the
word qarn, which means "animal horn," thus alluding to the phenomenon of fitting the
instrument with horns.
6. The word bnayyat means "daughters," or "little female children," either in reference to
the high pitch and the timbre of the reeds or in an attempt to employ folk etymologies related
to sex, age, and marital status (for example calling the intermediary holeless junctions as
"brides") to symbolize the gradual progression of the individual components. The meaning of
sallub is similarly open to speculation. In Edward Lane's ninteenth-century classical-Arabic
dictionary we read, for example, that sawt salib means "a vehement sound or cry or voice"
(1984:1712) and that the sulbub of the mizmaror qasabah (both meaning "reed-pipe") refers
to its head, or mouthpiece (ibid.: 1713). Lebanese villagers sometimes liken screaming, such as
the shrill crying of a child, to the sound of a sallub (or mijwiz reed), but it is not clear whether
the sound is named after the reed or the opposite.
7. I have encountered one attempt by an urban mijwiz player and skilled machinist in
Beirut to experiment (rather unsuccessfully) with making a heteroglot mijwiz system from a
reed blade and a metal tube with a rectangular aperture.
8. I have not found any trace of downcutting in the Levant region, although in neighboring
areas, for example in Egypt, a version of the instrument reportedly employs that method.
According to Marcuse, "The mashura's (heteroglot) downcut reeds favor the production of high
tones; those of the zummarah, upcut, favor the low tones" (1975:663). The confusing statement
in The New Grove Dictionary that the mijwiz has downcut reeds appears to stem from the
author's own reversed conception of downcutting (Poche 1980:661).
9. In my research I have never encountered any evidence whatsoever to substantiate what
the Grove article on the mijwiz describes as a "thumb-hole at the back" (Poche 1980:661).
Furthermore, I have found no evidence to support the statement that on this type of instrument
tar or beeswax is used for closing off some holes temporarily (see, for example, Malm 1967:42).
This statement seems to stem from the false impression that the four finger tips of each hand
cover the holes of each tube separately (ibid.:42). Also contrary to some speculations in the
above source, traditionally the mijwizplays in parallel "unisons" rather than melody and drone,
or for that matter polyphony.
10. Exceptions to this description are mitbaq samples I saw in a music shop in Iraq.
Reportedly, these have been made and sold by Gypsies. On each there was one or more very
small extra holes on the lateral side toward the bottom end of each main tube.
11. From an interview I conducted in Baghdad in September 1989 with 'Abd al-Karim
Harbud, who performs with a national folk ensemble in Iraq.
12. Citing the acoustical analysis of Nederveen (1969:56-60), Picken specifically discusses
the conic harmonic behavior of "reed-pipes with an expanding bore with double (or single)
reeds." These folk instruments have conic bores or bores that are "stepped" instead of being
smoothly conical.
13. On one typical specimen, the length between the top of the reed-system and the
bottom hole set is approximately 26 cms; the diameter of the melody tube is about 6 mms. The
pitch, when closing all hole-sets except the bottom one is roughly fabove middle c.
14. The relatively high pitch of a triple-stepped mijwizstem was demonstrated empirically,
albeit under imperfect conditions. I was able to compare among three structures of approxi-
mately the same length: a mijwiz reed-system connected to a cylindrical "coke-straw" stem that
roughly matched it in diameter; the same reed in the (stepped) mijwizpipe; and finally the reed
in a conic stem of a small Chinese sona. Based on the overall bore configurations, the roughly
cylindrical structure produced a tone about a perfect fourth lower than that produced by the
stepped format and by the largely conic composite. The later two produced roughly the same
pitch.
15. The fact that mijwiz stems can overblow roughly the first (octave) overtone was
verified in another empirical trial. When blowing a mijwiz reed system into a cylindrical pipe,
I noticed that the overblown note skipped the first overtone and went from the fundamental
to the second overtone (a fifth above the supertonic), in a manner characteristic of closed
cylindrical tubes. When I returned the reed into the stepped bore of the mijwiz and tried to
overblow (with all holes closed), the note produced was a wavering "squeak" at a slightly
flattened major second above the supertonic, or roughly speaking, the first (octave) overtone
above the fundamental, as typical of conic structures. These rough data were consistent with
results from the same experiment performed on other mijwiz stems.
16. Experimenting with reed tuning, I suspect that beating, perhaps analogous to the
flywheel principle in power-driven machinery, provides added but consistent air resistance, and
functions as a pressure regulator that makes the air consumption more steady.
17. From Azzam's interview 1980.
18. Two mijwiz performances from South Lebanon provide examples of this phenom-
enon. In one, the low pedal is g while the next note higher is a slightly raised b flat (the natural
leap being almost a neutral third). In another, it is an fsharp while the next note higher is a
b flat (roughly a major third). These performances appear on two commercial cassette tapes
I purchased in Beirut from 'All Mahmud, a mobile cassette vendor who reportedly in 1979
recorded his father Khalil Mahmud Hamadah performing at weddings in Dayr Kifa, a small
village in southern Lebanon.
19. The retention may have other effects. Like the bottom tube-extension on the Bulgarian
kaval, it may contribute to the timbral consistency of the notes produced by the different holes.
By providing a note of much lower frequency, it may also provide additional air resistance and
convenient overall air economy.
20. From Azzam's interview 1980.
21. I encountered exceptions to these features in Iraq in 1989, in the case of the mitbaq
played by 'Abd al-Karim Harbod. On his instrument the bottom was cut off to produce the
bottom step of a diatonic scale. On such an instrument pedalling was realized to some extent
through using the bottom note of the scale.
22. The mijwiz player and maker Mu'in Husayn Khaliliyyah referred to the first style as
taqasim (nonmetric improvisation), apparently borrowing the term from urban music, and the
second style as lu'b, literally "play." From Azzam's 1980 interview.
23. The various songs of the dabkah tend to either conform to or use some of the notes
of a scale roughly resembling the lower pentachord of the urban Bayyati maqam, or mode, in
relative pitch, roughly the notes d, e half-flat, f, g, and a.
24. From an informal conversation in Costa Mesa, California, on 29June 1990. Incidentally,
the small mijwiz is also sometimes called nahlah, literally "bee," a term apparently suggested
by the high-pitched buzzing sound of the instrument.
25. Such a characterization of the yarghul seems compatible with the suggestion that in
Egypt the arghul may be used to express pathos (see Alexandru 1967:11).
26. The performance took place at a conference of the Middle Eastern Studies Association
in San Francisco, 1984.
27. The early twentieth century violinist Sami al-Shawwa, originally from Aleppo, Syria,
is known to have occasionally played in this fashion. Also this technique was described in
practical terms to violin students in a theoretical manual published in 1950 by the renowned
violinist and composer from Aleppo, Tawfiq al-Sabbagh. According to this author the double-
course on the violin may also be tuned in octaves, although he stated that the unisonal method
is superior, adding that when bowing the double-course while metrically plucking the lower
two strings, the violin then becomes like a "tabl and zamr' (al-Sabbagh 1950:133). Violin
recordings simulating the mijwiz(sometimes also referred to as zamr) were popular in America
among early Lebanese and Syrian immigrants, who came largely from rural backgrounds and
found nostalgic appeal in such recordings (Rasmussen 1991:226).
28. I had met this performer in Manhattan, New York, during the celebrations of the Statue
of Liberty Centennial, July 4 through 6, 1986. Both he and I were participants in the ethnic
musical performances representing different imigrant cultures.
29. This took place in the spring of 1988 in Doha Qatar, during my six month research
period in the Arabian Gulf under the auspices of the Arab Gulf States Folklore Center in Doha.
30. The bagpipe, perhaps comparable to the type used in the gulf, or to the Turkish tulum
or the Tunisian mizwid, is not totally unknown to the Levant people. Recognized in Lebanon
by the name 'innayzah, from 'anzah, or "goat," in obvious reference to the goatskin bag, the
instrument may have been played earlier in the area. According to some Lebanese informants
the instrument did exist, but unlike the mijwiz gradually become obsolete.
31. This is a 1982 special cassette release of multi-denominational church music produced
in Lebanon in collaboration with the Council of Churches of the Near East.
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1 (Acta Ethnomusicologica Danica 1). Copenhagen: Akademisk Forlag.
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Scribner's Sons.
Helmholtz, Hermann. 1954. On the Sensations of Tone: As a Physiological Basis for the Theory
of Music (a translation and expanded revision of Die Lehre von den Tonempfindungen,
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Racy - A Dialectical Perspective On Musical Instruments

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A Dialectical Perspective on Musical Instruments: The East-Mediterranean Mijwiz

Author(s): Ali Jihad Racy

A Dialectical Perspective on Musical

ALI JIHAD RACY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES

he relationship between musical instruments and other aspects of

? 1994 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Mijwiz player accompanying dabkah dancers at a wedding in Ibl al-Saqi, the

(bombyx), connected with a narrower piece (holmos), which served as a

The reed-systems are completely inserted in the player's mouth during

(Jairazbhoy 1970:384). Furthermore, acoustical conicity as a function of

leads to the creation of a beat, a "richer" tonal quality, or "chorus effect"

effect consistently present. Played only in the fundamental register, the

A mijwiz with an extra set of reeds, in a photographic plate titled "Shepherd's

This article has explored the dialectical relationship betw

the Levant region and accommodates the practical considerations of the

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