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TimbreHarmonic SeriesLiuqinPipaHulusiSanxian

The most instructive thing about the rawap is that its strings have two different jobs.

It is not "several strings played together" — only one string does the work:

"Strung with one melody string and four to six sympathetic strings… the outermost string plays the melody, and the others serve as resonating strings." ⭐⭐ Rule ㊺: strings divide labour — one leads, several just ring along; and the reform cancelled the ringers to gain modulation. The melody string plays; the sympathetic strings do not — they are tuned to fixed pitches and vibrate along, filling and brightening the sound (hence "clear and pure"). This is the same idea as the hulusi's drone pipes (pipes dividing labour), in a string version: an instrument providing its own accompaniment.

One kind of string, one kind of job

⭐ Three points:

1. The melody string is the outermost. "The outermost string plays the melody" — tuned c¹; the rest are tuned to fixed pitches and only resonate. 2. The ringers are not extras. They make the sound "clear and pure" — ⭐ the same idea as the hulusi's drone pipes: an instrument providing its own background. 3. It is also an inlaid ornament. "The neck and box are inlaid with camel bone and shell"; Kashgar rawaps are "both a solo instrument and a craft object."

One name, four spellings

• "Said to have been created in the 14th century"; "according to Molla Ismutulla Mujizi's *History of Musicians*, the rawap originated in Kashgar in southern Xinjiang."
• ⭐ And "喇巴卜" echoes rabab, the Central Asian bowed-lute family name — one root travelling the Silk Road, growing into different instruments. (The guanzi (bili) and the konghou are fellow travellers on this "travelling name" line.)

The reform: it cancelled the ringers to gain modulation

In the 1950s the "new-type rawap" was created from the Kashgar model:

⭐ Note the bottom two rows: the reform traded away the sympathetic strings for equal temperament and free modulation. The "ringers" had a cost: strings fixed to given pitches make it hard to change key — so the instrument chose to go from "a soloist with built-in resonance" to "an orchestral instrument that can modulate." The family was not lost either: alto and bass rawaps followed, making a rawap section.

Range

热瓦甫属弹拨弦鸣乐器。喀什热瓦甫：一条主奏弦定弦 c¹，四至六条共鸣弦按 e · A · d · g 等固定音高张着，音域约两个八度；新型热瓦普（1950 年代改革 · 五弦 · 十二平均律 · 无共鸣弦）音域约三个八度，并另有中音 · 低音热瓦甫。本图按喀什型取 C4–C6 示意。记谱即实音。

Common misconceptions

• "Several strings played together make chords." ⚠️ Most of the time only the outermost string plays the melody; the rest are sympathetic: unplucked, ringing along — "many strings" here means timbre, not harmony.
• "The sympathetic strings are decoration." ⚠️ They define the signature sound ("clear and pure") — and the reform removed them: what can be removed is a function, not an ornament.
• "There is only one rawap." ⚠️ Many types: Kashgar (southern) · northern · Dolan · shepherd; the Tajik equivalent is the rebub (apricot wood, flat-round box).
• "The name has one spelling." ⚠️ 热瓦甫 / 热瓦普 / 拉瓦波 / 喇巴卜 — the last being the Qing court's official spelling in the *Lülü Zhengyi Houbian*.
• "It always has python skin." ⚠️ Skins range from sheep, donkey and horse to python; python is commoner on reformed models (stave-built boxes), while folk Kashgar instruments use sheep or donkey.

Timbre, and how to hear it

Three cues:

1. Hear two layers. You pluck one string and hear a choir — the sympathetic strings ringing at their own pitches. 2. Hear the fineness. The Kashgar rawap is "quieter but delicately expressive" — not an instrument that wins on volume, but on fullness. 3. Hear the difference between the two generations. On the reform model the ringing layer is gone — what you gain is modulation; two trade-offs of one instrument, neither simply better.

The family

Next

The plucked section continues with another instrument from Xinjiang whose name carries a very old word: the rawap's "brother", often played in pairs (one carries the melody — and so does the other).

Tanbur. :::

Sources

• ⭐⭐ 弦的分工：「张一条主奏弦和四至六条共鸣弦，均用钢丝弦。主奏弦定弦 c¹，四条共鸣弦定弦 e · A · d · g，六条共鸣弦定弦 #f · B · e · A · d · g 或 B · e · E · A · d · g」；「通常用最外一弦弹奏旋律，其余各弦作为共鸣弦，用它弹奏出的音乐音色清亮 · 纯净，表现力强」；「音域约两个八度」依百科全书与中亚乐器资料
• ⭐⭐ 喀什热瓦甫（形制）：「民间流传的喀什热瓦普，全长 130 厘米。音箱呈半球形，用整块桑木挖制，面部蒙羊皮或驴皮。琴头的弦槽部位向后呈直角弯曲。琴杆上缠有二十八个丝弦品位（可以调换和移动）。琴杆与音箱连接处两侧各设一弯角。琴杆 · 音箱上镶有驼骨 · 贝壳等装饰」；「南疆喀什一带的热瓦甫常以兽骨镶嵌出民族图案，既是独奏乐器又是工艺品」；「声音柔和，音量较小但音色委婉细腻」依百科全书与中亚乐器资料
• ⭐ 品种：「热瓦普种类很多，分为喀什热瓦甫 · 新型热瓦甫 · 多朗（刀郎）热瓦甫和牧羊人热瓦甫等」；「多朗热瓦甫流行于阿瓦提 · 巴楚 · 麦盖提和莎车等地，琴身用桑木 · 杏木或核桃木制作」；「南疆热瓦甫琴身较小，指板上缠丝弦为品，可以调换和移动品位，音色铿锵；北疆热瓦甫以铜或兽骨为品，通常使用五弦，音色柔和清脆」；「塔吉克族的热瓦甫称为『热布卜』，主要流传于新疆西南部的塔什库尔干一带，琴身用杏木制成，琴箱较大呈扁圆形，以牛 · 马或驴皮蒙面」依百科全书与中亚乐器资料
• ⭐⭐ 名称与来源：「热瓦普，又称热瓦甫 · 拉瓦波 · 喇巴卜，是维吾尔族 · 乌孜别克族的弹弦乐器，流行于新疆维吾尔自治区」；「相传创制于十四世纪，清代被列入宫廷的回部乐，《律吕正义后编》（公元 1746 年成书）收录称『喇巴卜』」；「据毛拉 · 艾斯木吐拉穆吉孜《乐师史》记载，热瓦普起源于南疆喀什」依百科全书资料
• ⭐⭐ 改革型（新型热瓦普）：「本世纪五十年代，在喀什热瓦普基础上改革制成新型热瓦普。全长 93 厘米。音箱较大，采用多板拼合，蒙蟒皮。琴杆较短，上粘指板，嵌二十四或二十五个铜制品位，按十二平均律排列。不置共鸣弦。设五轴 · 张五条钢丝弦。外弦一音，中 · 里弦两弦同音。定弦 d · a · a · d¹ · d¹ 等；音域约三个八度。此外，还改革有中音和低音热瓦普」依百科全书资料
• ⭐ 演奏法：「将琴身横于胸前，共鸣箱正置于右胸处，皮面朝上，左弯角紧贴右胸部肌肉。左手虎口托持琴杆……右手腕部抬起与琴马平齐 · 夹持琴箱，用拇指和食指持握拨片，在琴马上方弹拨琴弦发音。拨片常用 0.3—0.5 厘米厚的赛璐珞板制成三角形，也可用骨片 · 牛角片或木片制作」；「用于独奏 · 合奏 · 伴奏」依百科全书与中亚乐器资料
• 「热瓦甫多为木制，外形独特，上部是细长的琴身，顶部弯曲，最下方是一个半球形的共鸣箱，有 5—7 根弦」依中亚乐器资料
• 「热瓦甫属于八音中的丝」依通行资料

Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.