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Yair Dalal, born in 1955; composer, violinist, oud player and singer; is probably the most prolific Israeli ethnic musician and plays an important role in shaping the global world music scene. Over the last decade he has put 11 albums, covering wide and varied cultural territory, and authentically representing Israel's cultures and fusing them through music as whole.
Much of Dalal's work reflects his extensive musical skills in both classical and Arabic music and also reflects a strong affinity he has for the desert and its habitants. Dalal's family came to Israel from Baghdad and his Iraqi roots are embedded in his musical work.
Abdou Kounta, one of my most important and influential djembe teachers, taught at Lisangua ya Bato, a Dance and Drum Camp held annually for over 15 years, in the heart of New York's Catskills.
The timbral aspects of guqin technique are unparalleled in stringed instruments of the world.
With over 20 different types of right hand plucking techniques and almost as many left hand
fingering techniques, the potential for timbral contrasts between notes is immense. When
listening to guqin music, the appreciation of timbral contrast is traditionally one of the most
important aspects of the music. Such appreciation of contrast can happen locally from one note
to the next or structurally - appreciating different sections of the music set in different timbral
styles. Such appreciation for timbre on this level in Western music has only been present since
the beginning of the 20th century in classical music.
The middle eastern oboe plays an important role in folk music from China to Morrocco. It's a double reed instrument called mizmar in Egypt, and named zurna in Turkey. In China the Uygur people used the surnai or surnay in their music and in Iran it's known under the name sorna or sornay which means literally "strong flute". The word nay means flute. According to other sources sorna simply means horn. The Nepalese version of the is in a cresent form and looks more like a horn. Another related instrument is the Indian shehnai which contains the same root "nai".