Ardavan Kamkar
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| Ardavan Kamkar | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | 1968 (age 39–40) Sanandaj, Kurdistan, Iran |
| Origin | Sanandaj, Kurdistan, Iran |
| Genre(s) | Traditional Kurdish and Persian |
| Instrument(s) | Santoor |
| Years active | ?–present |
| Label(s) | Various |
| Website | www.kamkars.net/Ardavan |
Ardavan Kamkar (Persian: اردوان کامکار, born 1968, Kurdish: Erdewan Kamkar) is a Kurdish musician from Iran. He is a part of Kamkaran ensemble.
[edit] Biography
Ardavan Kamkar was born in 1968 in Sanandaj, Iran. He began learning to play the Santur (dulcimer) from his father, Master Hassan Kamkar at age 4. During his childhood years he worked with several Culture & Art groups and the radio.
In 1979 he came to Tehran and after completion of Santur playing techniques, he studied instrumental and vocal musical orders under the supervision of his older brother Pashan Kamkar. Through cassettes and old records he became familiar with the playing styles of old composers and mastered their art. The traditional style of santur playing, however, did not suffice his creative and searching soul and he sought to expand the techniques and innovated a modern style for playing this national Iranian instrument. Becoming distinguished as a santur player in Iran after two illustrious generations of traditional masters is no easy feat. Today’s santur players work under the long shadow of great 20th century musicians, including Ostad Faramarz Payvar and younger talents such as Parviz Meshkatian, who not only set the standard for traditional technique but developed much new material for the santur repertoire. That any player could expand or even revolutionize this repertoire is hardly imaginable, but that is what Ardavan Kamkar has accomplished, and at an extraordinarily young age. Born in 1968, Ardavan is undoubtedly one of the most exciting musicians of his generation. His natural musicality, effortless virtuosity and remarkable technical innovations, together with his combination of Persian classical, fold and contemporary elements, have reinvigorated the traditional repertoire and resulted in a playing style that is passionate, versatile and alive.
Ardavan’s playing style and tuning techniques are utterly unique. The traditional method of santur playing usually assumes that the right hand is stronger than the left in terms of control and weight. Therefore, almost every phrase starts with the right hand, as do the accentuations within the phrases, which can be easily discerned by the trained listener. Ardavan, however, has developed the dexterity and strength of his left as well as his right hand, widening the santur’s technical range. The beginning of his phrases, tremolos and accentuations can be played by either hand with the same weight, and the roles of the right and left hands are interchangeable within a passage or phrase, giving an exceptional evenness and fluidity to his playing. He also has the extraordinary ability to play different melodies with each hand simultaneously. The santur, with its strings divided into three vertical rows by two sets of bridges, can produce 27 notes across a range of three octaves.
Traditionally, the santur is tuned diatonically to the notes of two primary tonalities in a dastgah (Persian classical mode): the tonic is usually place in the middle row of strings on the second (F), third (G) or seventh (C) note (counting upward from the first bridge) in order to make the different positions accessible to the player, while the secondary tonality, in the same dastgah, is usually tuned on the lower notes played on the row of strings to the right. This method makes the santur playable in only one dastgah at a time and omits the possibility of modulation to other tonalities, limiting the musician to playing only one tonality in a given register, which sometimes eliminates the correct voice leading. Ardavan, however, has developed a tuning method by which he can take any note as a tonic and with some radical tuning sometimes have both chromatic and diatonic scales on the same santur in different registers. Therefore he has created the possibility of having up to four different tonalities at the same time to which he can modulate on one santur, allowing his melodies to be more colourful as well as having a correct voice leading. These technical innovations, driven by his singular musical sensibility and skill, make Ardavan Kamkar a distinguished voice among all santur players today.
In addition to playing the santur, Ardavan has taken music composition, harmony and counterpoint lessons with Houshang and Arsalan Kamkar.
[edit] Works
He released his first album named "Darya" (literally 'Sea') at age 17 which contains 6 pieces played by solo santur. His next works are
- "Bar Tarok-e Sepideh" (Concerto for santur & bowstring instruments orchestra in D major)
- "New Year Fish" (Concerto for santur and orchestra in A minor & solo santur in shur E)
- "Siachmaneh" (arrangement of Kurdish melodies for orchestra)
- "Over the Wind" (6 pieces for solo santur)
