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Handmade Fish Skin Riqs

Riq is a type of frame drum commonly played in Middle East and Turkey. It is named differently in different geographies like riqq, daf, tef, rik. Riq is similar to tambourine and made of wooden frame and 5 pairs of jingles along with a natural or synthetic skin. 

It can be played by striking, stroking and shaking, which creates a rich jingling and thudding sound. Riq is widely preferred by professional musicians to accompany darbuka.

Animal skin topped riq has a natural sound and the skin head is sensitive to humidity, hence requires a careful protection. Usually, they own two identical riqs, because the tightness of the skin head changes during the performance. Synthetic skin topped riq is more useful in the stage performance due to its tuning endurance.

Sonika Percussion riq collection is fully handmade and has 21-22-23-24cm skin diameter sized riq options. Mahogany and walnut wood are preferred for the body material. Cymbals are made from bronze or brass with hammered options. We prefer 0.80mm. sized cymbals in our natural skin topped riq collection and 1mm. sized cymbals in synthetic skin topped riq collection.

For Sonika Percussion riq collection, you can click here.