Daf

Daf (Persian: دف), also known as dâyere and riq, is an Iranian frame drum musical instrument, also used in popular and classical music in Persian-influenced South and Central Asia, such as in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, many regions of Georgia, Armenia, Pakistan as well as in parts of India and Russian polar regions. It is also popular among Balkans, Caucasians, Bukharan Jews, Kurds, and Macedonians.

The daf is the national musical instrument of Pakistan and is also depicted on the reverse and obverse of the Azerbaijani 1 qəpik coin and 1 manat banknote respectively, since 2006.

It traditionally has a round wooden frame (although in the modern era it may also be made of metal), jingles, and a thin, translucent head made of fish- or goat-skin (or, more recently, a synthetic material).

The sound is produced by hitting the membrane with either hand – the left hand, which also holds the daf, strikes the edges, and the right hand strikes the center. The right-hand fingers are fastened about their neighbours and suddenly released, like the action of finger-snapping, to produce loud, rapid, sharp sounds.

The Pahlavi (Middle Persian) name of the daf is dap.

Some pictures of daf have been found in paintings that date before the Common Era. The presence of the Iranian daf in the 6th–5th century BCE Behistun Inscription suggests that it existed before the rise of Islam and Sufism.

Iranian music has always been a spiritual tool.

It shows that daf played an important role in Mazdean Iran emerging as an important element during the Sassanian period, during the Kâvusakân dynasty.