Rebab

The rebab is a member of the lutes (Hornbostel–Sachs 321.321-71). Listen to 4 recordings and learn how it makes its sound.

Listen to the rebab

Rebab Laras Madenda koleksi Jurusan Karawitan ISBI Bandung

0:18CC BY-SA 4.0by Salomo Christian HutajuluWikimedia Commons

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Rebab Laras Salendro koleksi Jurusan Karawitan ISBI Bandung

0:16CC BY-SA 4.0by Salomo Christian HutajuluWikimedia Commons

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Rebab Laras Degung koleksi Jurusan Karawitan ISBI Bandung

0:16CC BY-SA 4.0by Salomo Christian HutajuluWikimedia Commons

0:16

Rebab Laras Mandalung koleksi Jurusan Karawitan ISBI Bandung

0:14CC BY-SA 4.0by Salomo Christian HutajuluWikimedia Commons

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Tip: press play to see the sound's live frequency spectrum in blue over the waveform.

How the rebab makes its sound

In the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which classifies instruments by how they produce sound, the rebab belongs to the lutes: strings run parallel to a soundboard and along a neck – the family of the guitar, violin, sitar and oud.

More broadly it is one of the chordophones (string instruments), where sound comes from vibrating strings, amplified by a resonating body.

Its timbre – the colour that lets you tell it apart from other instruments playing the same note – comes from the mix of overtones its body and resonator emphasise.

From Wikipedia

Rebab (Arabic: ربابة, rabāba, variously spelled rebap, rubob, rebeb, rababa, rabeba, robab, rubab, rebob, etc) is the name of several related string instruments that independently spread via Islamic trading routes over much of North Africa, West Asia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and parts of Europe. The instrument is typically bowed, but is sometimes plucked. It is one of the earliest known bowed instruments, named no later than the 8th century, and is the parent of many bowed and stringed instruments.