Silk Road Instruments

daira
frame drums, orig. Middle East

The daira, also known as the daf or riq, is a frame drum. It consists of a thin membrane of animal skin stretched and glued over a wooden hoop. Metal jingles such as rings, coins or pairs of cymbals are usually attached to the hoop. The daira is held in one hand and is struck with the fingers, thumb, palm or heel of the other hand. The pitch us tuned by tightening the skin with heat or loosening it with water.

Singers of maqam [mah KOM],the challenging genre of improvised music of the Islamic world, use frame drums like the daira to accompany themselves as they create songs based on religious poetic texts. The daira is also played solo or in small ensembles to accompany dances and ritual processions at important events.