Remember these points while buying and taking care of rubab:
As an experience :
- Best wood for rubab that is clean, with clear lines on it, good-looking, with good echo and sound, light in weight and is famous in the world of rubab making is a kind of Mulberry (Bidana-shahtoot), which is expensive and rarely found in the countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan e.t.c. If you have less budget, then simple mulberry or Pakistani Tirawall wood is the better. If the budget is more less than that, then “tut” wood is the final option. Woods, other than these kinds are not recommended but can be used in rubab making. Every kind of wood has its advantages and disadvantages.
- Select best sized rubab, because every size has its own quality, property and sound (Bass or sharp). If you are a new learner and your age is more than eighteen years and your body posture is normal(neither too obese nor too skinny), 27 inches rubab is the best option because it is easy to carry, the sound is sharp and best in stage performance while playing in musical composition. If you are female and your age is more than eighteen, 26-27 inches rubab is more suitable size for you. As the author of this book have a rubab shop so, from his experience it can be said that 90% females demand light and small sized rubab. If your age is less than eighteen, then 25 inches rubab is the best option. 23 inches rubab is much better for the people under the age of 13. Sizes below these are not favourable for rubab making. If you are a professional player, you can think about the bigger size that create bass sound because of low tune and is comfortable in playing. Rubab of bigger size is difficult to carry for tours and long hikes etc.
- If you have an option to select one between new and old rubab and old is in better condition, the old one is the best choice because it will never shrink and swell, and will not mostly meet with cracks but new wood can be influenced much by worst weather and humidity. Sometimes people buy new rubab and polish it with a colour which is not often good for the wood as well as sound of the rubab because there is a greater chance for the rubab to lose its sound(Such a rubab whose sound is lost due to polishing or when it is not played for a long time, in Pashto we call such rubab a “Kund Rubab”). The best way is to buy a rubab and wait until it starts changing its colour after 5-6 months. After 2-3 years it will change its colour and would get as dark as an old rubab. Also try to clean your rubab with a piece of soft cloth/fabric like that of ‘muslin’. Cleaning your rubab on daily basis will give it a shine and soon it will give you an oily look.
- Try to keep rubab tune according to its size but if you are in very hot temperature, try to tune rubab in low tune because 30% of rubabs in the author’s shop break child sympathetic or zir strings while hanging without being played. If you have no rubab repairing shop available try to keep and tune rubab in low tune.
- If you want to buy rubab, visit the link given below and order rubab online of your choice: https://rubabshop.com/
