Kanun or Quanun is a stringed instrument from the Middle East.

The Kanun (Quanun) is the king of Turkish art music. It is a unique instrument with a bright timbre and a wide range of sound colors. It is a plucked zither and a trapeze. The strings are plucked by a ring-shaped pick on the indexes. The pegs are ebony, the pins are alpaca and the strings are PVF. The Intervals of the kanun can be adjusted with the levers which control the tension of the strings.

History of Quanun

It is an instrument of the stringed instrument family. It is suggested that its etymological origin comes from the Greek word "canon" meaning "ruler". Until today, many different views have been advanced regarding the origin of the qanun instrument.

This musical instrument is believed to have been invented by Ibn Hallegan, excluding some historical records.

He played the instrument qanun, which was on the verge of being forgotten for a long time, due to its inability to easily reproduce the sounds of Turkish music. Omer Efendi, a musician from Damascus during the reign of Sultan Mahmud (1818-1839), brought the "Kanun" to Istanbul and since then this instrument has found many amateur performers, especially Turkish women.

Wires called beams were used for the qanun from the late 18th century to the early 20th century. These beams are used to make nylon strings more durable and give them a louder sound.

The structure of the Kanun musical instrument

The Kanun has a vocal range and width of 3.5 octaves. The Kanun is a stringed musical instrument between 24 and 27 frets. 3 strings resonate the sound in each pitch. With this structure, it is similar to the sound system of the harpsichord. Its strings are made of nylon strings specially produced for musical instruments. In its early days, gut stringers were used instead of nylon thread.

The body board of the qanun, which has a steep, trapezoidal body, is mainly made of plane tree, the bottom base is made of basswood or compressed plywood, the auger board is made of basswood, which is a soft wood, and the auger is made of hardwoods such as rose, boxwood or ebony.

The professional kanun used in Turkish classical music has 26 frets and if it is calculated that three strings are attached to each fret, it has a total of 78 strings.