Pamiri musicians have a strong preference for plucked stringed instruments, i.e., short and long-necked lutes. The wood from mulberry, apple, or apricot trees is used to build the instruments, while the skin and gut strings are mostly from goats or sheep.
Most specific for Tajik Badakhshan is the rubab, a long-necked lute with a bowl-shaped belly covered with skin. Five gut strings are attached to the wooden pegs and another one to a peg in the side of the neck. The strings are plucked with a thick wooden plectrum (zakhma).
via The Institute of Ismaili Studies – Music and Poetry from the Pamir Mountains Musical instruments.
Ismailimail 