See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/333457263

A brief history of tonbak

Preprint · May 2019

CITATIONS READS
0 1,112

1 author:

Peyman Nasehpour

54 PUBLICATIONS   166 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Topological and Geometric Combinatorics View project

History of Mathematics View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Peyman Nasehpour on 17 April 2021.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 A BRIEF HISTORY OF TONBAK

PEYMAN NASEHPOUR

Abstract. In this short note, we discuss a brief history of tonbak and the
important role of Hossein Tehrani, the father of modern tonbak.

“When I started playing on zarb, the instrument had fallen into

disrepute. The zarb player was considered a low-level musician, a
joke; no one dared to want to play zarb. To do so was to give up
all prestige, all respect as a musician. Nonetheless, I began to play
it. Love for the instrument outweighed the derision and scorn. At
this time, I decided that I should change this negative view in any
way possible. To this end, I practiced the zarb incessantly.” - Ostad
Hossein Tehrani from his book, “Amouzesh-e-Tombak” [8]

1. Introduction
Knowing and appreciating the history of the tonbak may not be essential to
being a great tonbak player. For some, it may not even be of interest. Despite all
these, the author believes that understanding and being familiar with the history of
music and its musicians gives one a broader perspective and a more comprehensive
view of what it means to be a musician. The main purpose of this short note is to
give a brief history of the tonbak.
The tonbak (also called tombak or zarb, the Persian goblet-shaped drum) and
the daf (the Kurdish frame drum) are the only national drums of Iran (formerly
known as Persia). Also, the presence of goblet-shaped drums in Asia, North Africa,
and East Europe shows the importance of this class of drums. Unfortunately, the
origin of the tonbak is still in dispute. Etymologists have proved that the Pahlavi
(Persian pre-Islamic language) name of the tonbak is ’dombalag’ [7] and [8], and it
was known to be present in the Zourkhaneh (the Persian traditional gymnasium) [4].
So, we know that it is ancient, pre-dating the Islamic period. Various names for the
tonbak, throughout its history, trace the application of this instrument in different
parts of ancient Persia [8]. There is a very good ancient manuscript with the title
Kanz-al-Tohaf by Hassan Kashani [1] on the theoretical old Persian music, in which,
at the end of the book, Kashani describes the methods of making the various musical
instruments of his time. Unfortunately, he has not included the drums (particularly
the tonbak) in his descriptions. Still, our information about the tonbak and tonbak

Key words and phrases. Persian drums, tombak, tonbak, zarb.

© Dr. Peyman Nasehpour. All Rights Reserved. This edition may be copied for personal
use. Please kindly cite as:
Nasehpour, P.: A brief history of tonbak, preprint, 2021.
If there is any suggestion, comment, and/or question, please email the author at
nasehpour@gmail.com.
1
2 PEYMAN NASEHPOUR

players of the Qajar period is sufficient, thanks to two important books on the
history of Persian art music [2] and [3].

2. tonbak in two Persian paintings

Figure 2. Painted in 1590;

Painter unknown to us
Figure 1. Painted by
Soltan Mohammad in 1519

Mehdi Moghiceh (painter) and the author found the two above paintings to be
painted in 1519 and 1590 that they show the gypsy tonbak platers. So far as the
author knows, these are the oldest visual documents that they show the tonbak
vividly.

3. Hossein Tehrani
The tonbak before Hossein Tehrani was considered as an accompaniment instru-
ment that was played by tasnifkhans (tasnif performers). It is good to explain
that in Qajar period vocalists were of two kinds: avazkhan and tasnifkhan. The
avazkhan’s role was to sing the non-rhythmic compositions of the Persian radif
repertoire and the tasnikhan’s role was to sing the rhythmic compositions of Per-
sian art music [6].
The first person that tried to give an independent role to the tonbak was Hossein
Tehrani. He devoted his life to promoting the tonbak in Iran and Europe. Along
with the help of some other musicians, he also wrote the first instructional book
for the tonbak called “Amouzesh-e-Tombak” (Tombak Rudiment) [8].
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF TONBAK 3

Figure 3. Hossein Tehrani on Tonbak

The skin of the tonbak is quite sensitive to changing humidity. This was a
problem for every tonbak player. Tehrani asked Ebrahim Ghanbarimehr (manu-
facturer and designer of musical instruments) to find a solution to this problem.
In fact, Ebrahim Ghanbarimehr was introduced to Hossein Tehrani by Abolhasan
Saba (multi-instrumentalist). This resulted in Ebrahim Ghanbarimehr designing
the tonbak-e-kouki (tunable tonbak) [5]. Alas, this kind of tonbak had not good
luck. It seems that tonbak players prefer not to use tonbak-e-kouki. Tonbak players
today still tune mostly by the old method, garm-kardan-ru-ye-atash (i.e. heating
4 PEYMAN NASEHPOUR

in front of a fire) or recently, heating the skin by putting the tonbak on electric
heat pads.
Step by step, the tonbak has gained respectability as a serious instrument.
Tehrani’s activities have stirred interest in the tonbak, throughout Iran and Europe.
The efforts of Tehrani and the other tonbak players (particularly Naser Farhangfar)
have assured that the tonbak has a secure place in instrumental music. Before these
artists, the tonbak was little more than a metronome! Fortunately, the author is
able to say that today the public image of tonbak is really very good. Today many
young players promote it.
Some tonbak players have even started integrating tonbak into fusion music
ensembles. Perhaps this type of music is not of interest to those who only like pure
Persian art music, but still, the drum’s use in fusion music can only mean one thing:
more worldwide popularity for the tonbak.
And judging by the number of tonbaks sold by the manufacturers, the number
of books being written on the tonbak, and the number of young people who enjoy
it, it seems that the tonbak has a very bright future indeed.

Dr. Peyman Nasehpour

Figure 4. Peyman Nasehpour on Tonbak

Peyman Nasehpour was born in Tehran, Iran, in 1974. His family introduced
him to Azerbaijani and Persian art music at a very young age. At the age of 8,
he attended the “Child Music Course” and at the age of 9, he began to learn the
tonbak (Persian goblet-shaped drum) under the guidance of Naser Farhangfar.
After the encouragement of Mohammad Reza Lotfi, in 1994, he started learning
the “ghaval” (the Azerbaijani frame drum) under the guidance of Latif Tahmase-
bizadeh. In 1996, he also learned to play on the “Daf” (the Kurdish frame drum)
under the supervision of Mirza Agha Ghosi and since 1997 he started to research
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF TONBAK 5

on Indian rhythm cycles and the tabla.

These cultural influences mixed with his academic mathematical studies made
him an excellent hand drummer; In 1997 and 1999, he completed his education with
a Bachelor’s and a Master’s Degree in mathematics. During the years between 2000
and 2006, he was active in promoting Persian art music on the Internet.
Since 1992 together with his father, Nasrollah Nasehpour, and other musicians,
he has been seen on many important stages in Iran and some European countries
especially in Germany.

From September 2006 till January 2011 Peyman Nasehpour wrote his thesis
under the supervision of Professor Winfried Bruns. On 27 January 2011, he suc-
cessfully defended his doctoral thesis and was awarded the title of dr. rer. nat. in
Mathematics from the University of Osnabrück.

Acknowledgments
A version of this note was published first online at Eric Stuer’s RhythmWeb
website with the title Tonbak (Zarb): A Brief History 1 in 2001. One can reach a
version of this webpage by the Wayback machine here.

References
1. Hassan Kashani: Kanz-al-Tohaf, by efforts of M.T. Binesh, Tehran, 1992.
2. Ruhollah Khaleghi: Sargozasht-e-Musighi-ye-Iran, Tehran, 1974.
3. Hassan Mashhoun: Tarikh-e-Musighi-ye-Iran, Tehran, 1994.
4. Faramarz Najafi Tehrani: Ritm-ha-ye Varzeshi, Tehran, 1991.
5. Peyman Nasehpour, Personal interview with the tonbak maker Fereydun Helmi, Tehran, 2001.
6. Peyman Nasehpour, Rhythmic forms in Persian art music, preprint, 2019.
7. Mehran Poormandan, The Encyclopedia of Iranian Old Music, Tehran, 2000.
8. Hossein Tehrani, Amouzesh-e-Tombak (Tombak Rudiment), Tehran, 1970.

1Right now, it is a dead link.

View publication stats