The cümbüş (; ) is a Turkish stringed instrument of relatively modern origin. It was developed in 1930 by Zeynel Abidin Cümbüş as an oud-like instrument that could be heard as part of a larger ensemble.

The cümbüş is shaped like an American banjo, with a spun-aluminum resonator bowl and skin soundboard. Although originally configured as an oud, the instrument has been converted to other instruments by attaching a different set of neck and strings. The standard cümbüş is fretless, but guitar, mandolin and ukulele versions have fretboards. The neck is adjustable, allowing the musician to change the angle of the neck to its strings by turning a screw. One model is made with a wooden resonator bowl, with the effect of a less tinny, softer sound.

Origin of the maker and the name

thumb|left|Zeynel Abidin Cümbüş holding one of the instruments he invented, from a newspaper clipping

The word cümbüş is derived from the Turkish for "revelry" or "fun", as the instrument was marketed as a popular alternative to the more costly classical oud. Early instruments show his name as he wrote it "Zeynelabidin" (a single name, not two). When Mustafa Kemal Atatürk decreed that families take surnames in 1934, Zeynel Abidin adopted the name of his famous instrument.

Present-day

Cümbüş Music is still an active company in Istanbul and manufactures a wide range of traditional Turkish instruments. The instruments are hand made in the family's workshop in Istanbul, by three members of the Cümbüş family, Naci Abidin Cümbüş and his two sons Fethi and Alizeynel. They still make approximately 3000 cümbüşes a year (as of 2002). They also manufacture about 5000 darbukas per year (middle-eastern drums), and sell guitars as well. They export approximately half the cümbüşes to the United States, France and Greece.

Turkish area musicians

  • Gevende - cümbüş is played by band member Okan Kaya
  • Udi Mısırlı Ibrahim Efendi - Jewish late/post-Ottoman ud-ist and composer
  • Selahattin Pınar - early 20th-century tanbur player
  • Ercüment Batanay - mid-20th-century yaylı tanbur player
  • "Kazancı" Bedih Yoluk and son Naci Yoluk - 20th-century folk musicians from Urfa
  • Cahit Berkay - in the 1960s "Anatolian rock"; folk-rock hybrid band Moğollar (especially bowed tanbur)
  • Yurdal Tokcan - classically trained ud-ist
  • Ara Dinkjian - Armenian-American fusion musician
  • Harun Tekin in the Turkish rock band Mor ve Ötesi

See also

  • Banjo guitar
  • Banjo mandolin
  • Banjo ukulele

References

  • The cümbüş manufacturer's website (in Turkish)
  • Pictures of a 1934 cümbüş and a story about a trip Ederer took to the cümbüş factory
  • History of the Cümbüş
  • Dromedary - American world music group that features the cümbüş
  • Jack Campin's page with photos and technical description
  • Eric Ederer's ethnomusicological site, with info on the cümbüş' history