DAF – Sufi Percussion

The daf, also referred to as def, duff, deff, defi, defli or dap, is a large frame drum from the Persian tradition used (like the zarb) to accompany Iranian music, but which is also widespread (without its rings) from Middle East notably in Turkey, in Armenia and in Azerbaijan up to the Siberia via l’Central Asia. It is undoubtedly the cause of the Arab-Andalusian tar spread at Maghreb and which reached medieval Europe. It still survives in Portugal and Spain (as well as in Brazil and Guatemala) under the name of adufe, but also of pandero or pandeiro.