Make your own shibbabeh: different sizes

Doc Jazz on stage playing the shibbabeh

Since my tutorial about how to make and play the shibbabeh (Palestinian flute) has proved to be quite popular, I have decided to give you all an update, which presents you with two alternative sizes of this traditional flute.

But first let me tell you how this all came about. As some of you know, I recently performed at the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund benefit gala in Los Angeles this past fall. Before I started the performance, an extremely friendly Palestinian man came to me and presented me with a surprise gift: a flute box with a collection of no less than 7 different types of flutes!

Some of these were Indian and Native American, but two of them were authentic Palestinian shibbabeh. I was so pleasantly surprised at this lovely gift! It turned out that this lovely gentleman was the father of my friend Rinad Abdulla, who teaches Law as an Assistant Professor at Birzeit University. His name is Waheed Abdulla, and he learned how to play the shibbabeh as a youth, from the shepherds in the hills surrounding Betunia in Palestine. He learned it as a young farmer and would play shibabbeh in nearby Ein Jeruit, where he cared for his family’s farm.

I am so thankful to mr. Waheed for this awesome and precious present, and it has enabled me to share some new information with you that will hopefully be helpful in preserving the tradition of the Palestinian shibbabeh. So, hoping you will go out there, get yourself a piece of tube (whether aluminum, copper or plastic), make yourself a shibbabeh and start playing it, here it comes.

Here is a picture of the three different sizes that I currently have. The largest one is based on the model that I have been publicizing before, the other two are the ones that I received as a gift. By the way – the plastic one that I used for the tutorial was lost when I performed in the Netherlands, and when I set out to make a new one, I found the right size of tubing in the form of aluminum, and used it.  That’s the biggest one you see on this photo. The smallest one in the picture is made from copper, the other two of aluminum.

BEFORE YOU READ ON

What I am sharing here is not based on any traditional knowledge, but purely on my own experience in playing the shibbabeh (and listening to others playing it, of course). Believe me, there are people out there who know much more about it, and who are way better at playing it as well. Still, it seems that – unfortunately – I am one of the few or perhaps the only one sharing information about the shibbabeh on the internet, so from my own perspective, that is still better than nothing. I can only hope that people become so encouraged that they outdo my own efforts, and help in promoting the shibbabeh as an additional means to preserving the culture and tradition of our people.

Another point that must be made, is that the shibbabeh is part of the culture of the regions surrounding Palestine, just the same. I call it the ‘Palestinian shibbabeh’ mainly because I am not sure that this same type of flute might not have other names and sizes in the countries surrounding our lands. By specifying that the flute I propagate is the type that is common in Palestine, I hope to avoid dictating Palestinian sizes and measurements upon the similar flutes from other neighboring traditions.

MATERIALS

As for your choice of material, I would like to share a bit with you about these. According to my own personal experience, different materials have different advantages and setbacks. Don’t let these things limit your choice though; use whatever material you can find, and start playing !

PLASTIC is very convenient. It weighs close to nothing, and has a good powerful sound. It is relatively insensitive to temperature changes from your hands and your breath, which makes plastic a good choice for long shibbabeh sessions.

ALUMINUM is actually my least favorite, but it still makes a perfectly useful shibbabeh. In my own experience, it tends to ‘lose voice’ a bit when you have been playing it a while. Sound-wise, it matches up against plastic in terms of volume.

COPPER is the heaviest material. Possibly, this is one of the reasons why its sound is the most powerful of all. It has the same disadvantage as aluminum in terms of its temperature-sensitivity. If you are looking for the richest, most powerful sound, copper is the way to go.

REED and BAMBOO are lovely materials. I have a few of these, but they were not made by me. Soundwise, it has a very warm voice, with a lovely ‘hoarseness’ to it. I feel that its sound is somewhat less powerful though.  It seems to me that this flute is somewhat more challenging to make, and less sturdy.

SIZES

I will now present the three sizes of shibbabeh that I would like to share with you: the 20 mm one that I have been playing for years, and that you can hear in my recordings, the 19 mm one and the 16 mm one. Hopefully they will be of use to you when you make your own. At the bottom of this post, I have once again shared my Youtube tutorial (in Arabic but with English subtitles), and below that, an example of me playing it when I visited Palestine in the summer of 2011. If the information in this article is not enough for you, please be sure to also check out my previous post on the subject. I hope you will enjoy making and playing it !

Doc Jazz

THE 20 mm SHIBBABEH (click to enlarge thumbnail if you wish to see the finished flute)

THE 19 mm SHIBBABEH (click to enlarge thumbnail if you wish to see the finished flute)

THE 16 mm SHIBBABEH (click to enlarge thumbnail if you wish to see the finished flute)

PLEASE TAKE NOTE OF THE FOLLOWING:

* making a shibbabeh is indeed very easy. If you have a musical ear, playing the melodies should be doable too. The challenge is in being able to create the sound properly, which is definitely not as easy as it looks. Some people take a few hours, some a few days or even weeks to get a proper sound from it. I am telling you this because I cannot afford to respond to the many questions I have received about creating the sound. Just follow the instructions in the tutorials, and be VERY stubborn until you get the sound!

* I do not always have time to respond to individual comments and questions. I apologize for that. The best chance you have to get a response is by asking me your question through my Facebook page, or through the question form at the bottom of the website. I don’t respond in the comments section on Youtube.