The mirwās or marwas (Arabic: مرواس‎), plural marāwīs (Arabic: مراويس‎) is a small double-sided hand drum originally from the Middle East. It is a popular instrument in the Arab Gulf states, used in sout and fijiri music. It is also common in Yemen.

Migrants from Hadhramawt took the instrument to Muslim Southeast Asia (especially Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei), where it is used in zapin and gambus musical genres. A similar drum of this area is the Kendang.

[edit] References

• Double-skinned (double-headed) drums - Oman Centre for Traditional Music
• Traditional music in the Yemen - The British-Yemeni Society
• Charles Capwell, Contemporary Manifestations of Yemeni-Derived Song and Dance in Indonesia, Yearbook for Traditional Music, Vol. 27, (1995), pp. 76–89
• Marwas - Musical instruments of Malaysia

[edit] See also

• Qanbus
• Zapin

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