PESHAWAR: Young instrumentalist Waqar Atal has made unique changes to rabab and Indian sitar, both traditional stringed instruments, to synchronise them with electronic orchestra.

Member of a famous music family from Peshawar, he was in his teen years when he learnt how to play rabab in just three months from his ustad and sitar maestro, Mubarak Ali.

He told Dawn that he had learnt playing of rabab as a symbol of sufism and peace and wanted to spread the message of peace in the entire world.

Mr Atal said great Pashto Sufi poet Rahman Baba played rabab.

“Sufi music still can be used to cement ties and soothe souls,” said the young man, who heads the only instrumental music group of KP, Hunar Band, which comprises Javed, Shakir Arman, Shaukat, Haroon and Asif Khan.

He can play six stringed instruments, including rabab, Indian sitar, mandolin, Italian banjo, balama, yaktar and Spanish guitar, with much ease.

Being a creative soul, he wants to modernise all traditional stringed instruments to bring them closer to electronic musical tools for better results in live performance. He has also introduced an additional note in rabab for creating better melody.

While elaborating on his experimentation, Mr. Atal said usually during live performance, he faced a lot of difficulty as traditional stringed instruments, including rabab, had no facility to get its sound directly connected to the sound recording panel.

He added that a separate mic had to be placed close to rabab player not only giving an awkward look but also adversely affecting the sound of rabab.

“It was an awkward adjustment and would most give poor results. I thought over a couple of months about how to address this issue and found a perfect solution. I made a small hole through the main body of rabab, which could fit a ‘lead’ from the sound panel. It worked,” he said in a proud tone.

Mr Atal also made similar innovation to the Indian sitar and is currently working on other traditional stringed instruments to integrate them with modern electronic musical tools.

“There are around 19 musical stringed instruments, which can be ‘renovated’ along the same pattern to produce a sound of better quality. A ‘lead’ attached to a traditional musical instrument doesn’t allow air resistance or any other unnecessary sound except its own,” he said.

Mr Atal has represented Pakistan several times in the UK, Turkey, Afghanistan, Qatar and United Arab Emirates and is also the recipient of numerous commendation certificates for his excellent performance.

He has been running the Hunar Rabab Academy in Peshawar Saddar area for last four years, where he imparts rabab training to around 40 students.

“I have 20 Pakhtun students from Germany, US, Canada, England, Norway, Denmark and Korea. I deliver lessons on rabab. Around 20 students, mostly university graduates, including two women, attend my academy,” he said. The instrumentalist said he was working in close coordination with Greek instrumentalist Efren Lopez Sanz and German musician Nashenas Naujawan with the latter being fluent in Pashto and good at playing rabab in a musical fusion project.

About his future plans, Mr Atal said he was in search of a foreign fellowship programme on instrumental Sufi music and if he could get one, he would try to harmonise symphonies of diverse cultures, especially western and eastern, with a common Sufi music. “I need support from KP’s culture department to either help me employ three other rabab teachers or pay at least rent of my Rabab Hunar Academy,” he said.

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2017