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iron chickpeas; three strings classical kemenche
Tanburi Cemil Bey on the left, İhsan Özgen on the right
When we say kemanche, although the first instrument that appears in our minds is the Black Sea Kemenche, there are 3 different types of kemanche played in our country. These are, three stringed classical kemenche (Istanbul kemenche), Kastamonu kemenche and Black Sea kemenche. These three kemenches are quite different from each other in terms of sound, performance, form and materials. If we examine the three stringed classical kemenche, which was recently called the Istanbul kemenche, it is an Istanbul instrument as befits the name, it is an instrument of Istanbul culture.1 Classical kemenche is also called Armudi kemenche (due to its form). This instrument, also known in Greece as “Political Lyra”. This instrument is one of the most difficult instruments to perform in Turkish music. The reason for this
is that it is played with nail contact and its keyboard is small and missing any frets. Going back to the history, in the 19th century, it was actually in the group of rough reeds, as a result of the works of Tanburi Cemil Bey’sa teacher Vasilb, it was treated under the palace music at the end of the 19th century and joined the thin reeds family and gained its main techniques with Vasil.2 The name that introduced us to the performance, playing, technique and style of the classical kemenche is Tanburi Cemil Bey. The classical kemenche’s previous performance is unknown. Primary kemenche players which continued after Cemil Bey are; Ruşen Ferit Kam, Fahire Fersan, Haluk Recai and İhsan Özgen etc. It is about 50 cm tall in terms of its classical kemenche structure. It consists of three wires, chest,
