Long-time GAL member Nasser Shirazi was born in 1939 in Tehran, Iran, and came to the United States in 1960. He soon earned a degree in civil engineering, and retired in 2004 as Assistant City Manager for Pittsburg, California. Mr. Shirazi has published two books on classical Persian instruments: Setar Construction (2001) and Building the Kamanche (2007).
▪ bio current as of 2014
2014
AL#120 p.50
Nasser Shirazi
▪ Mr. Shirazi has given us articles and plans about other instruments used in Persian classical music in the past. He adds to the collection with GAL Instrument Plan #69, the Tanbour, a long-necked lute with three thin steel strings.
2014
AL#120 p.53
Nasser Shirazi
▪ This plan is for the Tanbour, a traditional Persian instrument which is a long-necked lute with three thin steel strings and tied gut frets.
2010
AL#102 p.54
Nasser Shirazi
▪ The scale intervals of Iranian Radif (row, order, series) music are very different from the Western, more familiar, equal-tempered musical scale.
1987
AL#10 p.30 BRB1 p.382 read this article
Nasser Shirazi
▪ The tar (or Persian banjo) is a classical Iranian instrument, the body of which is carved from a mulberry log and covered in lambskin. The neck traditionally incorporates rams horn and camel bone. Exotic, fascinating, wonderfully politically incorrect. Some alternate materials are listed for those who can’t wait for their camel to die. With 6 photos, 2 sketches, and a scaled down version of GAL Plan #14.
1987
AL#10 p.32 BRB1 p.385
Nasser Shirazi
▪ A full-scale instrument plan. See the GAL website for a low-rez preview.
1985
AL#4 p.27 BRB1 p.126 read this article
Nasser Shirazi
▪ Shirazi offers a history of the Persian bowed instrument as well as plans and construction advice. The kamanche is a four-stringed neck attached to a gourd. The plans are a reduced version of our full-scale Plan #9.
1985
AL#4 p.28 BRB1 p.131
Nasser Shirazi
▪ A full-scale instrument plan. See the GAL website for a low-rez preview.