What Do You Know About The Dotar Instrument?

History of the Dotar:

The dotar has a history of several thousand years. Today, the areas where the dotar is played include northern Khorasan in cities like Quchan, Bojnurd, Shirvan, Esferayen, Farooj, Dargaz, Ashkhaneh, and southern and eastern Khorasan in cities like Torbat-e Jam, Taybad, Torbat-e Heydariyeh, Nishapur, Ferdows, Birjand, Bajestan, Bardaskan, Qaenat, Kashmar, Nardin, Khaf, and Sarakhs, Gonabad, and Sabzevar, as well as the Turkmen regions in the northeast, including Golestan province and the Aliabad Katul district, and some parts of Mazandaran province. In different regions, the instrument appears with slight variations in shape and playing technique. Types of dotars within the geographical boundaries of Iran are divided into 'Khorasani dotar' with two types, northern and eastern, 'Turkmen dotar,' and 'Mazandaran dotar.' The shape of the instrument, the way it is held, and the style of playing in northern and eastern Khorasan differ. People in Khorasan have passed on their tales and stories through beautiful melodies, passing them down from generation to generation. The center of dotar music in southern and eastern Khorasan is in the city of Khaf and Torbat-e Jam, and somewhat in Taybad, while in northern Khorasan, the city of Quchan is the center. However, in cities like Ferdows, Torbat-e Heydariyeh, Qaen, and Birjand, the dotar is played due to the influence of skilled artists from eastern Khorasan. The Salur Turkmen tribe of Torbat-e Jam in eastern Khorasan also plays the Turkmen dotar.

Comparison of Dotar and Tambur:

Both the dotar and tambur have a pear-shaped resonating body made from mulberry wood. The dotar, like the tambur, has a long neck made of walnut or apricot wood. The dotar has two strings, while the tambur has three strings because an additional string was later added. In ancient times, silk was used instead of strings, but later, metal strings replaced silk. The dotar has two tuning pegs, whereas the tambur currently has three. Other parts of both the dotar and tambur include the bridge, nut, and saddle.

Old dotars are all unpainted because they are made from mulberry wood, which has tiny bubbles. These bubbles affect the sound of the instrument, and painting them would fill the holes, damaging the sound. Tamburs also have millimeter-sized bubbles that significantly affect their sound. The dotar is a simple instrument, and its decoration uses natural materials. These decorations are most noticeable on the neck of the instrument, which is adorned with precious stones, especially turquoise, or camel bone.

The dotar is commonly played in northern, eastern, and southern Khorasan, the Turkmen settlement areas in Golestan province, and southeastern Iran. However, the tambur is more commonly played in the provinces of Kermanshah, Kurdistan, and northern Lorestan. The tambur has a mystical and heroic character and is used for playing heroic pieces.

Playing the Dotar:

The dotar is played not with a plectrum (like the tar) or with nails (like the setar), but with the fingers. The style of playing varies in different regions, but in most areas, it is played using the index finger and thumb. Sometimes, other fingers are also used. Single-string playing is rare, and the majority of playing involves both strings. Especially in the dotar playing of northern Khorasan and Turkmen Sahra, this type of playing is very common, and a two-voiced music is heard, which actually has harmony. In this way, the second string is continuously played along with the first, creating harmony.

In fact, the dotar player demands at least two different and distinct sounds from the instrument: one, a soft sound produced by the fingers strumming the strings without touching the body of the instrument, and the other, a sound produced by simultaneously strumming the strings and the body of the instrument, creating a unique sound. This type of playing is one of the distinctive acoustic and character traits of the dotar.

The dotar has a wide cultural range, and in different regions, from the north to the east of Iran, it appears in different forms and structures, such as:

• Mazandaran dotar (from Sari to Behshahr)

• Katuli dotar (in the Aliabad Katul region)

• Turkmen dotar (in the Golestan province and Turkmen Sahra)

• Khorasani dotar, which is further divided into eastern (Torbat-e Jam, Taybad, Khaf, and Kashmar regions) and northern (Nishapur, Quchan, Dargez, Shirvan, Bojnurd, and Esferayen regions) categories.

One of the differences between the eastern and northern dotars is the number of frets on the neck. In the Torbat-e Jam region (eastern Khorasan), there are eight frets, while in the Quchan region (northern Khorasan), there are eleven frets on the neck of the instrument.

Dotar or Tambur?

Some believe that the Khorasani dotar is the same as Farabi's tambur; however, a thorough investigation into the history and ethnic roots of the region reveals that the northern Khorasan dotar is specific to the Kurdish people of the region, and during Farabi's time, these people had not yet migrated to this area. These tribes moved to this region between the Safavid and Afsharid dynasties. The history of this type of dotar dates back more than two thousand years, and according to the research of Henry George Farmer, it dates back to the time of the Assyrians.

Some of the renowned masters and musicians of this instrument in recent decades include Mohammad Hossein Yeganeh and Haj Ghorban Soleimani (in northern Khorasan), Mohammad Soleimani and Noor Mohammad Dor Poor (in eastern Khorasan), Majid Takeh and Gholich Anvari (Turkmen musicians), and Mohammad Reza Esmaili (in Mazandaran).