Balochi music

Culturally, from a musical point of view, two areas can be distinguished:

- the North, including the northern regions of Pakistan - Quetta and Mary, the Brahu’is mountains, as well as a mountainous region called Khorâsân (unrelated the region in Iran and Afghanistan bearing the same name), and the Iranian region of Zâhedan and Sarhadd;

- the South: from the Makrân (in Iran and Pakistan) to Karachi, an area where the styles of Kulwa, Dashtiâri and Karachi coexist. The tradition of the Makrân, which is presented here, may be considered to be the richest and most elaborate, and the least Urdu-influenced. However, most musicians tend to include melodies in the repertoire which originate from other regions.

The genres in professional music from the Makrân are:

- the shervandi, or bardic art, sometimes simply called “Baluchi classical music”, since it is the most sophisticated type. This is represented by a small elite of artists in the Southern centre of the country (Dashtiâri in Iran, and the region of Gwâdar in Pakistan);

- the nâzink (traditional wedding songs) and sowt, noqte and ghazal (songs);

- the guâti-damâli-shiki, which is a kind of trance music, with two or three types of repertoire corresponding to the various rituals.

For the most, Baluchi music owes its extraordinary development to a caste, or ethnic group, called ostâ, a word meaning “masters” (i.e. in the field of crafts or arts). The origins of this group are still unknown; it probably merged with Baluchi tribes (the Rend Zangeshâhi, Surizehi and Dâvudi, amongst others), and thus contributed its ancestral musical skills. A young master puts it this way: “The members of the tribe used to be idle and aggressive; apart from boasting about being Baluchi, they would do nothing. The ostâ are the ones who really created Baluchi culture”.

Almost all musicians belong to the ostâ social category, as do blacksmiths, goldsmiths and carpenters. Even though their social rank may be modest, they pride themselves on prestigious lineages. Many a musician proudly claims that he has “seven antecendents” haft posht - a ready made formula meaning seven previous generations of musicians. It is true that any good Muslim is supposed to be able to mention the names of seven of his ancestors; but these musicians could probably even trace their skills back tens of generations. As a matter of fact, there are reasons to suppose that the name luli, given to the masters of these musical techniques, refers to the nomadic group of the same name, which came from the East, and was mentioned in the ancient chronicles. Of course, no artist or craftsman would call himself a luli, yet, he cannot escape the social implications linked to this name, unless he has risen to the rank of the greatest epic singers (shervand, shergu), who are objects of public veneration.

On the whole, Pakistani and Iranian officials and institutions have no interest whatsoever in professional music, neither Baluchi nor any other, or in the fate of its representatives. There are no schools, conservatoires or waged music groups. The reason for this, in the first place, is that the Baluchi are a people without a state, a stubborn, uncontrollable people towards who the Penjâbi rulers of Pakistan feel a mixture of contempt and fear.
 

Besides this, the Pakistani province of Baluchistan is ruled from Quetta, in the North, which has a different musical tradition. In addition, there is the inferior status suffered by the artists, the archaism of social and cultural structures, the abdication of responsibilities on the part of the elite and sponsors, the harsh nature of the country, etc. On the Iranian side, the Baluchi have the status of a colonised people. Therefore, they avoid contact with urban people, who consider them as a distant, and somewhat dangerous, minority. As a result, the Baluchi, although they are a people of Iranian origin, fairly close to the Kurds, turn rather to the East and South than towards Teheran. Famous masters such as Rasulbakhsh or Gholâmqâder, for example, have never played in Teheran, where musicians for all the other provinces of the country are regularly invited. The ultimate reason for this situation, rather than the difficult living conditions and inferior status of the musician, or of Baluchi people as a whole, could be their peculiar Gypsy mentality, being nomadic freedom-lovers, living from hand to mouth and always on the move.

The sorud


The doneli is a double end-blown flute. It is also played in Sindh (algoza) and in Rajasthan (satara). The Sindhi masters of this instrument are said to all be of Baluchi descent, as is Khamisu Khân. But still, the doneli is a rare instrument. It is usually played solo, and is used for the whole repertoire, both profane and ritual, with the exception of the shervandi. Some people go into a trance exclusively to the sound of this instrument.

The right-hand flute, known as the “male”, has seven holes (producing a more or less chromatic scale); it is used to play the melody, and is supported by the left-hand flute, called the “maiden”, which has eight holes and only produces a drone. By plugging up the holes with wax, the sound of the drone may be altered according to the mode or the range of a given piece. The very accurate turning of the flutes in relationship to one another is obtained by sticking a piece of wax (or date palm fruit) onto the bevelled edge of the mouth piece.

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To play the doneli, the musician places both flutes to his mouth, the left-hand one upside down and blows continuously (circular blowing). But blowing regularly is not enough. Particular accents, which distinguish the doneli from other instruments played with circular blowing, enable the flautist to ornate the melody with appogiaturas which sound like a supplementary part added to the drone. Any sorud piece or song can be played on the doneli, but with its own style, and, sometimes, intervals. For reasons of tessitura and tuning, these two instruments, sorud and doneli, are rarely heard together. The doneli is essentially played solo. It can even be played without tanburag accompaniment.

The benju

Some sixty years ago, a toy-sized instrument appeared, which came probably from Japan: the benju, a small oblong zither with a typewriter-like keyboard, derived from the spinet and dulcimer. Baluchi people doubled its size (to one metre in length), improved it, and created a playing technique which both wonderfully reproduces the finesse of professional music, and at the same time, allows a rhythmic drone similar to the tanburag. Its bright timbre matches quite well with that of the sorud, and some pieces even sound better on the benju than they do on any other instrument. This metamorphosis is mainly due to the work of Jom’e Surizehi.

The main string of the benju is double. On either side of it, accompaniment strings have been placed as follows: (C-G) / C C / (G-C) - in relative pitches. Its tessitura spans over two octaves and one tone; the chromatic scale is obtained from a keyboard with twenty five to thirty two round keys. Best used as a solo instrument, the benju also suits singing, but is rarely used in epic pieces.