Çeng
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Not to be confused with CEng (the post-nominal for Chartered Engineer or an alternate name for the Carleton Student Engineering Society).
The çeng is a Turkish harp. Descended from ancient Near Eastern instruments, it was a popular Ottoman instrument until the last quarter of the 17th century.
In the late 20th century, instrument makers and performers began to revive it, with newer designs incorporating advanced tuning mechanisms such as those found on the qanun. Tone bending is also possible, by pressing on the string behind the bridge. Whereas the soundbox on the old çeng was on the upper part of the instrument, modern instruments have the soundbox on the lower part.
The ancestor of the Ottoman harp is thought to be an instrument seen in ancient Assyrian tablets. In 1995, Fikret Karakaya has made a çeng using the descritpions in the masnavi "Çengname" by the Turkish poet Ahmed-i Dai, also Iranian and Ottoman miniatures from 15th and 16th century.
In the United States, New England Conservatory of Music ethnomusicology professor Robert Labaree plays and records with the instrument.
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