What makes the duduk special

Abstract

The duduk is a double reed instrument with cylindrical bore originating from Armenia. It is characterized by a deep and melancholic sound that has become one of the characteristics of Armenian music. Although its physical characteristics bring it close to the oboe (double reed) and the clarinet (cylindrical bore), its timbre make the duduk a distinct instrument. The present article aims at explaining this particularity by calibrating the parameters of a reed wind instrument model adapted for the duduk that can capture the main characteristics of the duduk sound. For this, physical measurements are made using an artificial mouth. Simulations are in good agreement with experiments and show that a clarinet model with a low reed resonance frequency is able to reproduce the main features of the duduk. This low reed frequency appears to be the main specificity of the duduk.

Keywords

• reed wind instrument
• double reed
• clarinet