Indian Musical Instruments

By –SACHIN BOHRA To - SHABNAM DOGRA

Indian classical music is the art music of the Indian subcontinent. The origins of Indian classical music can be found in the Vedas, which are the oldest scriptures in the Hindu tradition. The Samaveda was derived from the Rigveda so that its hymns could be sung as Samagana. These hymns were sung by Udgatar priests at sacrifices in which the Soma ritual drink, clarified and mixed with milk and other ingredients, was offered in libation to various deities. Indian classical music is both elaborate and expressive. Like Western classical music, it divides the octave into 12 semitones of which the 8 basic notes are, in ascending tonal order, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa for Hindustani music and Sa Ri Ga Ma Pa Da Ni Sa for Carnatic music, similar to Western music's Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do. However, Indian music uses just-intonation tuning, unlike most modern Western classical music, which uses the equal-temperament tuning system. Also, unlike modern Western classical music, Indian classical music places great emphasis on improvisation.

MUSIC

A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified

for the purpose of making music. In principle anything that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument. The expression, however, is reserved generally for items that have a specific musical purpose. The academic study of musical instruments is called organology.

Some examples of instruments are - trumpet, bassoon, trombone, flute, clarinet, oboe, piccolo, saxophone, violin, viola, violoncello, piano, guitar, bass, lute, koto, sitar, bagpipe, drum, xylophone, pipe organ, theremin, synthesizer, Aeolian harp, etc.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT

There are many types of musical instruments which people have used since ancient times. many musical instruments were developed to accompany religious singing. depictions of mira, a devotee of lord krishna in many antique art works and other such depictions show the significance of musical instruments in worship. the most well-known Indian musical instruments then and now are the sitar and the tabla though today the Indian musical instruments market may include many different instruments. Revered Hindu religious scriptures of the Vedas speak of the use of musical instruments in worship. The fact that Indian musical instruments are mentioned in such ancient religious works is indicative of the fact that music had an important role in ancient India. The foundation of Indian music was rooted in three different forms of performance-art. These were Vocal music or singing, instrumental music and dance.

HISTORY OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

Medieval musical instruments are those that were used between the fifth and seventeenth centuries AD in India. Many religious songs that dealt with the story of Radha and Krishna were composed during this period. During the Muslim invasion of Northern India Indian music came to be divided into the Northern Hindustani music and the southern Carnatic style of music. The instruments used in the medieval era by musicians from both styles of music included the veena, the sitar, the sarod, the shehenai, the tabla, the harmonium and the pakhavaj to name just a few.

Indian music has two main aspects. Rag which deals with the area of melody and Tal which has to do with rhythm. The system of Rag involves the arrangement of seven notes. Today, many ancient musical instruments are hard to locate and some rare musical instruments that were once an important part of Indian musical tradition are no longer used at all. The 'been', a traditional blowpipe as is usually depicted in pictures of snake-charmers and the 'bhopung', a one-stringed musical instrument are some examples of these.

Tabla is the most popular pair of drums in he Indian Sub continent. The origin of the tabla is assumed to have come from dividing a pakhawaj into two. While there are other assumptions that the tabla had a Persian origin from the pair of drums called the nebla. The Tabla has a special place in Indian music because every musician regardless of the dancers, singers, or instrumentalists have a place for Tabla. Their dance, song, or instrumental pieces will go in vain if the basics of Tabla are unknown. Tabla originally, was an accompanying instrument. Ever since late Ustad Allarakha came to the West in the 1960's, tabla was not only greatly popularized, but it earned a title as a solo instrument

Tabla

Tabla is a pair of drums which consists of a small right hand

drum called Dayan and a larger metal one called bayan. The tabla has an interesting construction. The Dayan (right hand drum) is almost always made of wood which is tuned to the fifth of the raga. Both heads are made of complex layers of goat skin with an iron black region known as the syahi.

The diameter of the ends of Tabla at the membrane may run from just under five inches to over six inches. The bayan (left hand drum) may be made of iron, aluminium, copper, steel, or clay; yet brass with a nickel or chrome plate is common. Undoubtedly the most striking and important characteristic of the tabla is the large black spot on each of the playing surfaces on its ends. These black spots are a mixture of gum, soot, and iron filings. Their function is to create the bell-like timbre that is characteristic of the instrument.

Nomenclature and Construction

In India the harmonium or reed-organ, or "the poor man`s pipe-organ," belongs to the same family of instruments as the mouth-organs and accordion-type instruments. It has freely moving reeds (as well as rising reeds) on which a patent was taken out in 1840 by the French instrument maker, Alexandre Debain. It became an extremely popular instrument in the United States and Europe in the second half of the nineteenth century, used mainly for accompanying the voice in the home and in church, since it had the tone of a pipe-organ without the bulk or the enormous expense. The harmonium has a piano-like body which usually is elaborately carved in the fashion of the day. Harmonium has two foot-pedals connected to two bellows that provide air supply and keyboard has a range of five octaves. Below the keyboard there are two siphon paddles operated by the player`s knees. One initiates sort of swells mechanism while the other is used for musical emphasis like a general crescendo.

Harmonium

Harmonium usually belongs to the family of free-reed aerophones. The instrument is a small, tabletop size, organ which has bellows at the back that is pumped by one hand while the other hand plays the keyboard. A standard Harmonium always has a wooden box known as body, handles to move the instrument, bellows, keys, stops (main and drone), reeds, reed board, coupler and scale changer. Today in India it is widely used in all forms of Indian music be it classical, Hindustani, devotional or film music. A high quality Harmonium with full sound range and keyboard has 39 keys and thus supplies a tonal range of 3 octaves, 4 adjustable drones are possible. The Double reeds make sure that every tone is supplied with two reeds (for medium and lower octave). Three variations with different settings can be achieved by blowing the reeds either separately or together.

Construction

The sitar English is a plucked stringed instrument used mainly in Hindustani music and Indian classical music. The instrument is believed to have been derived from the veena, an ancient Indian instrument, which was modified by a Mughal court musician to conform with the tastes of his Persian patrons and named after a Persian instrument called the Setar (meaning "three strings"). The sitar flourished in the 16th and 17th centuries and arrived at its present form in 18th century India. It derives its distinctive timbre and resonance from sympathetic strings, bridge design, a long hollow neck and a gourd resonating chamber . In appearance, the Sitar is similar to the Tambura, except it has frets. The body of Sitar is more or less a spherical gourd at the lower end.

Sitar

The other type of sitar, the instrumental style, is most often made of seasoned toon wood, but sometimes made of (Burma) teak. It is often fitted with a second resonator, a small tumba (pumpkin or pumpkin-like wood replica) on the neck. This style is usually fully decorated, with floral or grape carvings and celluloid inlays with colored (often brown or red) and black floral or arabesque patterns. It typically has thirteen sympathetic strings. It is said that the best Burma teak sitars are made from teak that has been seasoned for generations. Therefore instrument builders look for old Burma teak that was used in old colonial-style villas as whole trunk columns for their special sitar constructions. The sources of very old seasoned wood are a highly guarded trade secret and sometimes a mystery

Construction