| music . bios . links . performances . instruments | |||
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The Taqaseem Ensemble plays the classical music of the Middle East. This heritage music is popular from Morocco to Turkey and all the Arab Countries in between including Egypt and Palestine. The word Taqaseem in Arabic means improvisations. We have selected this name because like jazz, improvisations are an integral part of the Arabic and Turkish music. We generally perform in cultural institutions to spread the knowledge of the Arabic music among Americans and Arabs alike. |
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Nihad has been playing Arabic percussion for the past ten years. Although he plays other instruments, he prefers the different frame drums of the Middle East because of their acoustic characteristics. Nihad has accompanied several performers in the area including Majed and Cahid Cose in both Arabic and Turkish rhythms. Nihad has received his Ph.D. in Thermal Sciences and he is also an authority in Arabic Calligraphy. Arabic Poetry is another passion for Nihad where he composes and holds discussion groups on regular basis. |
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Maged has been playing the ney for the past five years. His passion for Arabic music started long before in his home country of Egypt. Recently he has performed in the Arabic Festival (Arabian Fest) in Milwaukee, as well as performing and recording with Al-Salam Band from Bloomington Indiana. Maged has also performed with several fusion bands in the Genesis 2000 at the Chicago Culture Center as well as with the Middle Eastern Ensemble of the University of Chicago. Although his advanced degree is in Computer Engineering, Maged is a lover and a student of all aspects Egyptian heritage from the history of Ancient Egypt to its modern literature. |
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Instruments
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| Ney | 'Ud | Tar | Riq |
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These instruments have been in use for hundreds and thousands of years. The Ney is a reed flue that was used by Ancient Egyptians in the early dynasties. It is made of reed material that gives it a sweet timbre. It is used in both happy and sad occasions to reflect the emotions of the performer. The ‘Ud which is considered the forefather of several stringed instruments was perfected by the Arabs around the 12th century. Several percussion instruments are being used in the Middle East, this ensemble uses several of these instruments. The first of which is the Riq, the riq is a small frame drum with brass symbols. The other is a large frame drum with a deeper sound called Tar. The Arabic scales or maqams as they called there are different from the Western scales know to the Europeans and North Americans. These scales use additional notes that do not exist in the Western scales. These notes are described as quarter tones. You have to hear these tunes to understand what we mean. The difference in scales creates a different mood that is unique to this Middle Eastern music. These instruments are popular in playing the classical genre which we like to play. The pieces have been composed in the past hundred years or more. They are still loved in the Middle East today. |
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This is our first demo recording, we hope this helps get an idea about our music. If you are familiar with the Arabic music, you will notice all of these songs are in the Rast maqam. To properly listen to the music, use the right click to save the file to a local directory then launch the file locally. Launching the file from the server may not work.
These songs requires realaudio for playback. If you do not have it, click here for your free RA player.. |
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Performance
Schedule
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| May 15th, 2003 | Fund raiser at the ...... | ||
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Copyright 200-2003, Taqaseem Band This page was last updated on 05/15/03. |
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| music . bios . links . performances . instruments | |||
Majed Ajamia : ‘Ud
Nihad Dukhan: Percussion
Maged Mikhail : Ney
