An Analysis of Socio-cultural Parameters Related to the Tendency of Iranian Daf Players to Utilize Decorated Dafs

Introduction and background: The relationship between the decorative arts and musical instruments, as an approach to interdisciplinary studies, offers an intriguing perspective for exploring how different artists create and manifest their preferences and styles. Consequently, this study focuses on decorated (adorned) Dafs—a percussive musical instrument in Iran. The evolution and transformation of music in Iran and other countries is a multifaceted phenomenon that encompasses various issues that artists from these regions confront, as well as how renowned artists and maestros address these challenges. Therefore, it is essential to understand and examine the perspectives of artists from this region. This is particularly relevant to the research problem due to its significance in Iran and the novelty of adopting an interdisciplinary approach in this area, which underscores the comprehensiveness of the issue. It is crucial to comprehend how these masters and musicians, who represent the first generation of Daf players in Iran, confronted innovation, particularly in the decoration and fabrication of visual art techniques on musical instruments. Furthermore, such research enables the tracing of the emergence of these elements as aesthetic features related to Iranian music, specifically within the Iranian Daf players' community. This study concentrates on the approach of a generation of prominent Daf players from the 1960s and 1970s of the Hijri calendar in Iran (from 1980 to 1999), as well as non-professional consumers of decorated Dafs. This research has established a sociocultural classification based on the tendency to purchase a musical instrument as a product.
Objectives and Research Questions: The primary objective of this study is to examine the tendencies and preferences of Daf musicians and customers regarding patterned or adorned Dafs. The secondary objective is to investigate the reasons behind the acceptance or rejection of such decorated instruments. The research questions are as follows: 1) What rationale or rationales influence Daf players' acceptance or rejection of decorated instruments? 2) Does the presence of decoration on the Daf instrument affect its acceptance or rejection by Daf players? 3) Do opponents of decorated Dafs perceive the use of such instruments as "unartistic" and merely a “market” approach?
Research Method: The research method employed in this study is a survey, with data collected primarily through a questionnaire. This research is classified under the category of fundamental research. A questionnaire was developed for this study, and interviews were conducted with a first-generation of well-known Daf masters and musicians to gather their opinions and perspectives on decorated Dafs. The questionnaire consisted of a total of six questions, which were answered with  "yes" and “no”.
The questions are as follows: 1) Do you like “patterned Dafs”?, 2) Do you use “patterned Dafs”?, 3) Do you believe in the duality of “artistic Daf playing” and “non-artistic Daf playing” in the field of daf playing?, 4) Do you consider a specific type of design on the daf to belong to the “art businessmen” community and, on the other hand, to “serious art community”?, 5) If you encountered a design that is not currently available on the market and does not conform to any existing daf design styles, would you accept it? 6) Are the patterns and designs on the Daf a reason for the inconsistency of this instrument with other Iranian instruments?
Literature review: There have been no research studies examining the biases of musical artists in their use of decorative arts on Iranian musical instruments. The only article related to this topic is a field study titled "Description and Analysis of the Use of Iranian Decorative Arts in Relation to Iranian Musical Instruments: A Case Study of the Dafi Instrument, which addresses the classification of existing designs of patterned dafs.
Result and conclusion: This research revealed that this generation does not accept decoration and adornment on the Daf. It was also deduced that the diverse design of the Dafs did not influence their selection in the community of well-known Daf players and that by boycotting such Dafs, this group is attempting to distinguish themselves both artistically and socially from those who regard them as "art businessmen" with a non-artistic mindset and manner.