Panbe Zan

Panbe Zani (cotton beating) was part of a traditional quilting process in Iran that faded with the advent of machinery. A bow-shaped instrument is used to decompress cotton and make it fluffy with the vibrations of a string. This profession signified a special ritual, which was more widespread when Persian New Year (Norouz) was approaching.

The cotton beater (Panbe Zan) was an itinerant professional on a bicycle riding throughout the city and shouting tunefully to announce his presence in the neighbourhood (in a particular style that was known to everyone). After a request, he would enter the house and start the process.

In making Panbe Zan, I apply new perspectives on the way sound is inscribed with culture. By systematically investigating the timbres that occurred during different phases of the cotton beating ritual, I was able to breathe new life into near-forgotten timbres and with it historical and cultural associations. A sound as short and simple as a strike on the string of an old instrument carries a memorable picture with distinctive moral codes. Sounds such as 0.65 seconds of a strike on a cotton beating bow, a tuneful shout with a unique intonation of a phrase (Laaf doziye), a clinking of a cup and a saucer, the whooshing sound of banging a stick on a futon, the piercing of a needle and a thread into a futon, and a sound of a dream. While the sounds may be considered mundane and part of everyday life, they have the power to be transferred into a dream world, tell stories, and evoke nostalgia.

These are the timbres that I believe have been buried under the notion of modernity and have been neglected for their artistic potential. I consider these story-telling timbres as the 'extinct timbres' that, in addition to their sonic abilities, can portray and revive forgotten rituals.