Domra: The Next Big Thing? + FREE Sample Library 

i love watching these videos, thinking that's a cool instrument and hearing my bank account scream in the distance

So great you made that video! I used to play 3-string domra-alto (1 octave lower) for ten years being teenager, I was playing in non-proffesional Orchestra called "Souvenir", and it brings me joy knowing that this great instrument is known all around the world!

As one of the few people into programming and music, I'd love a needlessly nerdy dive into programming a music lib.

I'm Craigus Barry a composer based in the midlands uk, and I'm a paying Patreon member since early last year. Your packs have been on my film scores since 2021ish, in-fact my last two - Pocket Film Of Superstitions (2023), and I Curse This Land (2024) have used your most recent Patreon packs exclusively

When i was little, my guitar tutor in music school also specialized in playing the domra, i remember always being absolutely fascinated by how fast she could play it, even more so when 3 to 6 players would all strum incredibly fast AND IN SYNC

As a programmer with musical aspirations I find you and your work deeply inspirational. Thank you for sharing all that you do!

Lovely to see the Domra get some love, often overshadowed by the whackier Balalaika :))

This channel is seriously at the intersection of all the things that delight me. Calm and soothing videos with great storytelling, physical / analog instruments and recordings, restoration and preservation, learning about world cultures and finding a new respect for them, software / coding and sharing with a community. You are one cool dude, and I love these videos!

Thank you so much for this video! I played the Domra when I was in musical school in my teenage years. It was truly a delightful and unforgettable experience. I glad that more people now recognize that instrument.

Absolutely phenomenal video, David. I love your style, as always. But, the fact you were inspired by your musical/cultural exploration to create more functionality in decent sampler is even more amazing! I am really happy to see you doing so well on RU-vid too!

After watching Doctor Zhivago, I wanted to get a balalaika for so long. Looking up the instrument I came across the domra and it also looked really interesting. I also came across a balalaika player called Aleksey Arkhipovsky and he is amazing. For some pieces he uses a delay and it sounds very similar to what you did with the sampler. I'll be glad to add this one to the library. Thank you so much!

Hi! Love your videos! I am from Odesa, Ukraine, and I haven't been home in a while, and this video brought great joy to me, since I used to pass the building of the factory you mentioned every day. I'm glad it found it's way to you, haha. Peace!

Your plugin has helped me make so many tunes. And this is another great addition!

Glad I found your channel a couple months ago. It's a treat whenever you upload a video! Always love learning about new instruments from various parts of the world.

When I was in school, I played domra in a russian folk orchestra. It was so cool, I really miss it now that I'm adult and only play at home 😅 The coolest was probably when we played Kiss-"I was made for loving you". I still unintentionally play it whenever I get any instrument into my hands because the melody is really catchy xD

I loved the handwritten note you casually left by the keyboard during the coding montage! Cool instrument, thanks for the DS sample libraries.

Your cliftili video was the video that finally introduced me to microtones, as a amateur producer then, (though still am), i had always wanted notes slightly sharper or flatter- I assume then what i noticed were the off-tune minor and major thirds, and ever since then I have been fascinated by the math of music- that video finally brought me to learning music theory in the mathy eyes of a microtonslist, an appreciation of many psychoacoustics properties, to enjoy new harmonics past the 3-prime we have. If i didn't see that video I don't know how long id miss this part of me in music, and the friends i made along the way- the Xenharmonic community it my internet family, thank you for leading me to them

Yay! Ukraine mentioned not in a war context 😊

Finally! A video on this amazing instrument!

I played in a band for years where the two main instruments were the Domra and Balalaika.

Again David's generosity with his time and skill and creativity should be celebrated. As should his diligence and intellectual curiosity. Terrific stuff.

Your videos are really engaging. I always enjoy them. Decent sampler is becoming more and more powerful. I loved the facility you added in the Kifteli video to enable alternative pitch intervals. And bringing in the functionality to enable fractions of bpm length echos is a delight. Big thanks ! :)

Hey, love the video. I may have to add some info about these types of instruments. Dutar means an instrument with two strings which one plays the melody and the other adds harmony. Tanbour or Tembour means an instrument with a hollow, pear-shaped body and a long neck, which in most examples, there isn't too much of a difference between the two. I grew up in Iran and being around its traditional music, you see many different versions of this type of instrument based on the region, city, culture, language, race or even kinds of trees that are meant to build these instruments from. Among the Kurmanjs, turks, balouchs, and especially kurds, this instrument is being played and it is sacred to its culture and people. The first versions of tanbour goes back to ancient Persia, which you can find evidence in myths and historical texts. The way you build and play each one is different based on its region, and the tuning or the notes are different in each tanbour or dutar. Some of them use microtonal frets. If you look through Kurdish tanbour, Khorasani dutar, or Azari ghupuz, you'll see that they are usually played among traditional singing and sometimes in groups. Hope this information helps. Keep up the great content❤

As a Ukrainian watching your videos, i feel so happy seeing you now restore a second Ukrainian instrument. Love from Ukraine!! 🇺🇦♥️

I started learning guitar and found your vids through looking for guitar maintenance videos. I love every video so much and I feel encouraged to learn guitar and music even more knowing that I could then apply that knowledge and start a new instument like the cool stuff you find.

I’ve been to Kazakhstan, and I have a Dombra. I love the sounds it has :)

As a luthier I can tell you that this instrument is imploding under a combination of very light construction and the force of the string tension needed to tune it to pitch.

My instrument! Studied for 5 years. It has its own charm. A pick and lots of tremolo are essential.

Came here for the Domra, and got a Decent Sampler update too - Incredible! Thanks David! I just created my first sample library in Decent Sampler and it was an absolute pleasure, looking forward to making more. :)

Deepest respect for your devotion

Love your ear for musical composition. And love that you create sample libraries for each instrument you find/fix/play/record.

You should definitely give a listen to Akdeniz Erbaş. He's skilled at playing the dombra, and he does it quite beautifully

Fascinating. How many times have I heard my wife over the years say "I can't wait to get home and get out of this dombra..."

It's nice you added that. As opposed to expensive echoboy some free delay plugins that sync are Cocoadelay, NastyDLA, SpaceshipDelay, Valhalla SuperMassive, ValhallaFreqEcho....

This is awesome! I love what you do🤙🏽🤙🏽🤙🏽

I am full of admiration for the way you participate in music making. An old, broken down instrument which you seem to instinctively know how to bring back from the brink and which you play with the same soul that you might apply to a violin. The finished sample pack may have more or less of what an aficionado of the instrument might recognise, I wouldn't know. The sounds are lovely. As Mao (apparently) once said, " It makes no difference if a cat is black or white as long as it catches mice."

Really cool to see those old instruments made into sample libraries. Obviously, domras, as any plucked stringed instruments, are not easily programmable because of how many special playing techniques they use. As a next step, I’d really suggest a baghlama. A very common instrument that characterises the eastern musical tradition well, the microtonal scales, the melodic structure, and the timbre is instantly recognisable. They’re pretty cheap, too, and even the cheap ones sound great.

Pretty cool how people have been making these guitar/lute/oud type instruments for so long, and in so many variations.

Another amazing video, always a good day when I see your videos in my subscription box :)

Seeing that balalaika unlocked an old memory of a band I heard back in 2009-ish. Katzenjammer. Their lead singer plays a contrabass balalaika. It's HUGE

Thanks for the cool samples & particularly the freebees!

I've always loved your free sample libraries but I had no idea you created decent sampler!! Incredible work. And thank you so much for making these plugins free!!

4 strings - Ukrainian Domra, 3 Strings - Russian Domra. Try researching "Kobza".. Many images of 18th century Cossacks playing these. These are precursors to the Domra. Nice sampling project.....great way to stimulate cross - cultural awareness. Cheers.

Thumbs up to this new sampling effort of yours, and particularly to adding the sync option to the delay ❤

This year I am graduating from a music school on the Domra instrument. I have exactly the same one as you have in the photo. It's a little painful to see how you play it, because, for example, when playing, not only the hand moves, but the entire arm from the elbow. 😅 But it's very nice to see that someone knows about this instrument! :)

Дякую за чудове відео!

Looks so cool! Excited to see how it sounds in this video

As a domrist (i play on 3rd strings domra) myself, i really enjoyed this video, thank you for your work❤

1:00. That's not unplayable, it was just set up in the hopes that Freddie Green might play it 😊

Man you rock! Thank you very much

Your stuff constantly inspires me. Thank you so much for releasing this video and for doing all the work you do!

thanks again David - your creativity is a blessing to the world

Thank you for your creative contribution to the musical community!

hell yeah another video with a new instrument + history lesson!

The 4 string Fender Electric Mandolin is essentially an Electrified Domra Prima (or Cremonese Mandolin) w/ Steel Strings

I downloaded it today and am very pleased by the tones. Thank you!

Thanks David! Your work is very inspiring. I've been using Decent Sampler even before i found your channel and it was unexpectedly pleasant to discover that there is a nice person behind the software

David, are you aware of the new Well Tempering called" Precise Temperament." It is a specific adjustment that is supposedly tuned against A432Hz Scientific Tuning. But what amazing is that it really does SOUND better than equal temperament. Especially when you hears chords changing in time. Robert Edward Grant is the inventor, and he is currently working with a few people around the world to disseminate the tuning instructions for pianos and the note for adapting it on Logic Pro and some other computer workstations. I just got it contact with them, but the strangest things is that R. E. Grant also has a color that I applied to each note, and I discoed them not beause I know much about tuning, but because I had he EXACT SAME color associations in my mind that were being applied to Grant's notes concerning his new tuning. So, I'm strangely, albeit unexpectedly, part of the tuning crew!

Once again, I'm very impressed with decent sampler, between Ben, Cameron and yourself you guys are real are the trilogy awesomeness.

WOW. MY DOMRA. I mean - I actually learned to play it for 5 years.

I was looking into one of these for a bit. It's a cool instrument, for sure.

DUde! I literally just got one of these! That exact same one! I got it becaue I'm Ukranian by blood, and wanted to delve into my heritage, and you've just gifted me so much new knowledge! Thank you!

You are amazing! These videos with eastern instruments are so interesting. Thank you.

Yay! Sync to host! Thank you for everything you do.

MAN. I AM LITERALLY STUNNED RIGHT NOW. FIRST YOU SAID IT'S UKRAINIAN AND THAN... ACTUAL GREETINGS FROM ODESSA

These videos are SO good!

I have an early 20th century three-string Domra. Nice instrument. Apparently, it was later discovered that the few references in the literature to the original "Domra" referred to a percussion instrument, so these are probably mis-named. However, since the resurgence in popularity, the name has stuck.

Great video. The history lesson was enjoyable, and I'm excited for the new functionality!

Your vids are always such an unexpected treat, much like your samples! EKATERINA SKLIAR IS MY NEW SHREDDING HERO!

my new favorite channel. Please continue!

This came at the perfect time for me, I just bought a Balalaika as my 7th instrument. Thanks David!

I can definitely use a dombra, but the tempo synced delay functionality will be great for the next decent sampler instrument I create. I have a spreadsheet that I use to script the sample layers, so it mostly automates the process. Provided I can generate the samples programmatically. Audacity has great functionality for exporting using tags, so if you can make your samples the same length, the spreadsheet can make the tags as well. Hard to do if you're manually sampling something physical, but I've found it useful for constructing things from a complicated VCV Rack patch, or something from PureData.

Hey Dave, I only just noticed how many subscribers you have now. Crazy! Congratulations

i always really apreciate your content is the full package great informative content, great editing and a free library of the insturment? that's just spoiling us thank you.

I used to play one, but it had 3 strings. In our school they also taught 4 string version, tuned like violin

yay I am seeing this at 4hrs after the upload. I'm glad. I'm downloading the new samples for my mpc one thank you

Thanks from Ukraine ☺️

God damn it's so interesting with old instruments.

Hi David, I think you'll find other ukrainian instruments, bandura and kobza even more interesting.

Brilliant adding note length delay. It is like using a tap pedal, in a way. I'm glad you solved something you have considered adding to your program for some time!

Huh, I thought that domra was a Central Asian instrument. I guess I was confusing it with dombra. Awesome video, as usual! You are so multi-talented: a musician, a programmer, a woodworker...

It's a 4 String Acoustic Mandolin. Even better news I found new tuners for the 60s Choral Fiddle Bass

I've been in a child orchestra for some time. We had domras in different tunes, balalaika, ridiculous giant bass balalaika and other antique instruments. I've played domra. I was a cringiest child ever but somehow i was good in domra and didn't make others suffer. It had calming effect or something i don't know.

You did a great work with this instrument and your library sounds amazing. I played the domra in orchestra for 3 years while studying at the College of Music. I think the defining technique for playing the domra is tremolo. Of course, it requires a lot of practice to master perfectly, but it would be nice to also be included in library. Just a small suggestion. Thanks!

I've built a couple of these instruments. I used the fretboard setup transferred from a Puerto-Rican cuatro, which is possibly half as long again than the mandolin-length version (this is a family of instruments so you'd expect everything from soprano to bass). I've made plenty of four strings, so I opted for a three-stringed variant. The first one I strung with some left-over strings from an abandoned project, so no idea what they were for (possibly the cuatro). It was okay with mandolin tuning but very taught, so I eventually opted for EAD tuning instead, which is one of the accepted tunings for the three-string, and it sounds quite middle-eastern when played. The mandolin strings I used for the second build wouldn't take EAD tuning, so I opted for a mandolin style tuning of DAE instead. They are great fun to play. Here's Alina Gingertail playing hers ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-aEadQcDQT08.html

Wonderful - can't wait to try it out. Speaking about coding: Another feature I hope you might consider implementing during a rainy weekend, is the ability of Decent Sampler to remember the interface scaling when you close it and reopen. Best wishes from Oslo, Norway.

As a mandolinist, idk why you'd want single strings over courses, but they do have that interesting tremolo thing.

Such a joy to watch, every time ❤

For an admittedly bleak but somewhat comical depiction of a Skomorokh home, watch the second scene in the classic film _"Andrei Rublev"._ I love these instrument videos of yours. 👍🙂

If you make a new bridge wider on the ends to get more wood on to the surface, and make it as (flat) thin as you can on those feet it would make that instrument sound completely different and wayyyyy louder, i’ve worked on a lot of these old bowl backs.

The evolution and expansion of lute-family instruments across the middle east and Asia is super interesting! I'd hesitate to call them the same instrument though. There's huge variation in size, tunings, playing styles, existence and placement of frets, etc. across all those instruments (though in adjacent countries they do sometimes vary only in name). They are as much independent instruments as things like Oboe and English Horn, Cello and viola da gamba, etc. in the Western musical tradition.

You’re amazing dude!

For the exact reason of you mentioned about not being able to find exact details on the original instrument, your sample libraries are, in my opinion, on of the most valuable projects on the entire internet for humanity. Preserving these traditional instruments, their sounds, tuning keys etc is CRITICAL for fields like anthropology. You deserve a grant from the Library of Congress or someone to be able to do this for life, unimpeded. $5billion for a jet barely better than what China can make for $100m, yeah I think our government can afford a couple of million to support your endeavors for life. NASA gets over $20 BILLION per year, for what? To put more tin cans on rocks in space? Ooohm, we now know the mineral composition of Venus' moons! Who cares, how does that actually benefit humanity? Nothing but an embezzlement scheme anyways to support political donors in the aerospace industry. THIS actually helps us understand anthropology, neurology and cross cultural relations- all things with TANGIBLE benefits for humanity.

i just used the sample library without seeing the video. I love it!

The sounds/melodies/songs you write (or improv?) are something that so very fits with the style of Samorost.

On the topic of mandolins, there are a bunch of instruments all over the world that are pretty much mandolins but from their respective region. It's very interesting how the basic design of a mandolin often pops up. The technique for the Chinese Liuqin for instance is so similar that some musicians that play one will also play the other. The whole Ruan family and Yueqin family also are often played like mandolins. e.g. Czardas on Liuqin and Mandolins: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Cox8GltM5Xs.html Piazzolla on Guitar, Ruan and two Liuqin: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-7f-v4f2uuDg.html on Liuqin "Spring Comes to Yi River": ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-l2oid-p7ztU.html These are very similar to what you describe as mandolins with single strings. These kinds of instruments often have specific advantages in their respective cultural and musical styles (like the elevated frets on Chinese instruments allow for pressed bends), but can still often play each other's music.

Turkish bağlama. The ğ is silent and just makes the vowel before it long.

At 4:10 you can see that Africans had those instruments since long time. Harps, Lyre etc I love all types of instruments. Thx for sharing. Ok 😊

You should check up "Morin Khuur" Its a traditional Mongolian instrument with two strings made from horse tails but it does not have frets and it has a very unique sound.

Great video. Learned a bunch.