Do most Iranian musicians use the term mezrab or risha to refer to the Oud plectrum?
I Google image-searched the Farsi word, " مضراب," and about 90% of what came up was santoor hammers. I'm 99% sure that
the Persian "mezrab" and Turkish "mizrap" are derived from an Arabic term, "mathrab," meaning "plectrum" or "beater" or some such, which was abandoned
by the Arabs in favor of "risha" ("quill") as some point in history. Probably when they switched to using a split eagle feather as a pick, but not
before passing the other word to the Turks, Persians, etc. One of the actual Farsical Forum members would have to answer WRT to oud picks
specifically.al-Halabi - 9-29-2020 at 01:55 PM
Yes, they use the term mezrab or zakhmeh, not risha.John Erlich - 9-29-2020 at 02:24 PM
I just searched, "mezrab oud, " مضراب عود," and got a better result. Lots of oud picks.majnuunNavid - 9-29-2020 at 09:00 PM
Yes mezrab is used to refer to any plectrum including santoor hammers, and is sometimes used to refer to strokes and the stroking patterns
employed.
Mezrab-e Rast = down stroke
Mezrab-e Chap = up stroke
