en, or human beings, and the unseen, the spirits that inhabit the spheres above and below the earth. Traditional shamanistic séances were creative, impassioned musico-dramatic scenes produced by a single performer, the shaman. Not only is music the shaman's aid in inducing the trance that enables him to contact spirits, but in Siberia his drum (a very large tambourine) may be considered a steed for the trip to other worlds. Thus great attention is given to each stage of drum construction, from selecting the wood of certain trees to the painting of symbolically charged designs on the drumhead. The metal hangings, sometimes including bells, on the shaman's costume also play a musical role. Among the Kyrgyz and Kazaks (Kazakh) and until recently among the Turkmen, a fiddle with horsehair strings and bow perform the same function as the Siberian drum. Metal ringlets are attached to the head of the fiddle, and a niche is hollowed there for a mirror to catch the reflections of spirits. Shamans' horsehair fiddles can even be found among townspeople of northern Afghanistan. The occurrence of shamanism has sharply declined in the portions of Central Asia that were formerly Soviet states.epic recitation, which may serve as tribal history, also has magical overtones. Among Turks, the same term (bakhshi) may be used for both shamans and bards, and both may be called to their trade by spirits to undergo a difficult period of initiation. Storytellers use a fiddle or lute as accompaniment, and tales may run through several nights of exhaustive performance; one Kyrgyz bard is known to recite 300,000 verses of the Manas, the major Kyrgyz epic. Such marathon performances are facilitated by the use of stereotyped melodic motives—standard short melodic figures—often invented by the individual performer. Local epic traditions vary widely in dramatization—i.e., the proportion of dialogue, monologue, and narrative.The third areawide musical function, entertainment, takes many forms. One common diversion is the singing contest, in which rival minstrels (minstrel) compete in wit and virtuosity. Such trials of skill are most notable among the Kyrgyz, Kazaks, and Mongols (Mongol). The contests follow strict rules of versification, musicality, and procedure. Often the loser must pay a forfeit to the victor, who receives acclaim from the audience and gifts from wealthy patrons; a singer's reputation may be made or broken in a single afternoon. Frequently a contestant will vilify the clan championed by the opposing singer and laud his own faction. In Siberia another type of entertainment is the widespread practice of bear festivals at specific times of the year, during which a bear is killed and its head displayed, to the accompaniment of music, dance, and games.Instrumental and vocal stylesAcross the region the principal instrument types are lutes, with two or three strings, the necks either fretted or fretless; fiddles, largely horsehair fiddles; flutes, mostly open at both ends and either end-blown or side-blown; and jews' harps, either metal or, often in Siberia, wooden. Few percussion instruments are found, except for the shaman's magic drum. Considerable instrumental polyphony is played on lutes and fiddles, particularly among the Turkic peoples. Vocal polyphony may occur in special ways: singers among the Mongols and Tuvins (Tuvan) (a Siberian people northwest of Mongolia) can produce two parts while singing solo, as in the example below, by strongly reinforcing upper partials (overtones) while singing a very deep fundamental pitch. West of the Urals, Bashkirs may hum a basic pitch while playing solo flute pieces, and certain Siberian peoples may sing choral overlapping responsorial songs (in which group and soloist alternate, one beginning slightly before the other finishes).The vast geographic stretch of the region produces musical links to neighbouring areas as well as highly distinctive local styles. The Turkmen live in Afghanistan and Iran as well as Turkistan and manifest some Persian influencein musical terms and instruments, yet they p