BANDIR Tambourine
Tunisia
Membranophone

Also known as a BENDIR, this is a drum with a frame and a single membrane, at least 40 centimetres in diameter. In the wooden frame there is a hole in which the thumb of the left hand is inserted in order to hold the instrument in a vertical position. Two resonance strings (made of gut) are stretched inside the BANDIR and touch the stretched skin along its whole diameter. The instrument is mainly used in religious ceremonies. In Arab countries, where it is very common, it is also used in the special ceremonies of the SUFI sects. The SUFI tradition, strongly characterized by the use of music, rhythm and dance to reach particular states of consciousness, relates how Jellal-ud-din Rumi, totally absorbed in the contemplation of the Creator and inspired by Him, suddenly began to rotate rhythmically on himself, whilst his gown, like the movements of his hands, drew a sort of circle in the air (gestures that were to become the main feature of the sacred dance of the SUFI RAKH). The memory of this "vision" and of that moment of mystical ecstasy continues to be celebrated - to the present - in the dances of the DERVISHES,