De zarb a dafsthe result of meeting between two musical worlds as distant as can be: electroacoustic music in conjunction with Iranian traditional music. It is an endeavour to make two cultures coalesce through the creation of music as the emotional consequence of both of them, while maintaining a continuity from traditions of the past to the future, toward fields which are not quite familiar yet. In addition, De zarb a do/gives us an insight into a relationship rising from two musicians who bring together completely different experiences: Luigi Ceccarelli, electroacoustic composer and Mahammad Ghavi-Helm, percussionist. The title of this piece refers to a zarb a daf, both drums from Iranian tradition, which are integrated into the realization of all parts of the work, from tape to direct live sound. The work of the composer using electronic technology has been, particularly, to create rhythmic patterns that go beyond a possible "human" performance. Following this methodology, the composer created superimpositions that produce very dense but also very precise rhythms, whose feature is that of maintaining a "natural" character. De zarb a do/tends to be an homage to Master Teherani, pioneer of zarb's technique. Its ambition is to bring, in some way, a subsequent continuation by merging millennial manual technique with digital technology.
The piece was commissioned by the Institute of Electroacoustic Music of Bourges.The whole conception and realization took place during the author's stay in Bourges, early 1997, in the Charybde studio of the Institute.