Musical Instruments of India
Pakhawaj
The Mridang was also referred to as muraj and subsequently, around the thirteenth century, took the name of maddalam. With Persian influence, after the fifteenth century, it took the name of Pakahwaj. According to some, this name is the distortion of two terms pakshe vadya, or from the Persian "pakh awaz" which means soft sounding. The pakahwaj became the main percussion in the northern system, while the mridangam assumed centrality in the southern system. Although the term mridang was used both in treatises and in poetry to indicate this percussion, today the name pakahwaj is the most commonly used. Until the nineteenth century it remained the main percussion that accompanied the dhrupad style, both in singing and in instrumental music, with the vina, the rabab, the sursingar, the surbahar, etc. With the "fall" of the dhrupad style, which occurred between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, this percussion lost its followers, leaving ample space for Tabla.
Style
The martial style of this percussion is expressed with the frequent use of open hand blows, contrasting with the more lively style of Tabla based on finger percussion. This instrument was widely used inside temples and became an integral part of the cult of the god Vishnu, so much so that the temples became real schools of music. Naturally, the vastness of India has led to the birth of different styles or gharanas, which make the various contemporary percussionists distinguishable and differently appreciable.
The construction
The body of this stem instrument has an irregular convexity on the left side, has a length that varies from 60 cm to over 75 cm and the central bulge has a circumference of approximately 90 cm. The entire body is obtained from a single piece of wood and among the qualities used we can find Dalbergia sissoo, Acacia catechu, Pterocarpus santalinus, Pterocarpus marsupium etc. The head that is mounted on the right extremity is smaller than the left one, with a circumference that varies between 16 cm and 20 cm and produces the highest tones and is the one that is intoned, respecting the drone of reference. The left membrane has a circumference of approximately 25 cm. Regardless, these data are related to the size of the instrument and the tone desired or necessary by the percussionist. The skin, called pudi, is built on two membranes, where the internal one is complete and the external one acts as an external ring. The two faces are held by a perforated weave called gajra through which a leather strap called ghat or also ghar is passed. Two types of leather are used for this process: one of goat origin for the membrane and one of bovine origin, in particular buffalo, for the braces.
Tuning and fine tuning
Tuning is aided by eight wooden cylinders which are placed under the straps and positioned according to the tension needed for intonation. As is used for Tabla, a circular-shaped mixture of rice flour and mineral powder called sihay is applied. Unlike the Tabla, this operation is used only on the surface with the highest pitch, while on the membrane dedicated to the low sounds a mixture of water and wheat or barley flour is applied from time to time, which is prepared and applied by the percussionist himself and removed immediately after using the instrument. The relationship between the two tonalities may appear as a ratio of fourth, fifth or third. The application of sihay is a peculiarity of Indian percussion, which gives an exclusive timbre to these percussions and influences their intonation. Naturally there are many secrets of a good builder, but Sihay's is a refinement that often makes the difference between the various production houses.
On stage
The musician sits with his legs crossed and plays using his palms and fingers. This instrument is mainly used for accompaniment in the dhrupad style, but is also willingly presented as a solo instrument or as an accompaniment in kathak dance. Some names among the great performers are: Purushottam Das(Nathdwara), Ayodhya Prasad (Rampur), Pagaldas (Ayodhya), Raja Chhatrapati Singh (Bijana), Lala Keval Kishan, Makkan Pkhavaji, Ambadas Agle (Indore), Totaram Sharma (Mathura) , Ramashish Pathak (Amta), Dalchand Sharma (New Delhi), Devakinandan Goswami (Indore), Rajilal Sharma (Lucknow), Srikanth Mishra (Benares) and Mohan Shyam Sharma (Vrindavan). Among the various places of production, the cities of Benares, Rampur and New Delhi are considered the best. The small town of Amroha in Uttar Pradesh is particularly famous for bodies, while good skins are produced in Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad.
The main instruments of Indian Classical Music
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Goṭu Vādyama is a modified and developed form of Ektantri Veena, appeared on the scene of the Carnatic music system about hundred fifty years ago, it can be considered the Vichitra Veena of South India.
The name Rudra Vina, often written Rudra Veena, first appears in Nārada's Saṃgīta Makaranda between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and is supposed to be a derivation of the Kinnarī Vīṇā.
The Taus, the Dilruba and the Esraj are North Indian bowed instruments, all three with hybrid characteristics of the Sitar, such as long necks, fingerboard and metal strings, and of the Sāraṅgī such as the crafted soundboard Leather.
The Saraswati Veena, is very different from the Vīṇā of northern India. In fact, the arrangement of the main strings and cikari, the posture and the sound production techniques remain the same.
The Vichitra Vina, often written Vichitra Veena, saw its splendor towards the beginning of the twentieth century but many indications lead us to think that it is a developed and modified version of a very ancient instrument.
The Surabahar, often written Surbahar, was created, according to tradition, by Gholām Mohammad Khān, disciple of Piyār Khān and Omrāo Khān. Much larger than the Sitār, it is used, both in the Dhrupad and in the Khayal.
The Tampura is a fundamental instrument of Indian classical music, present in both the northern and southern systems. The function of this chordophone is to provide a sound in the background, that acts as a drone for improvisation.
In Arabic the term rebab indicates a bowed instrument; in fact the two half-moon inlets that characterize the shape of the Rabab's sound box suggest that it was only later converted into a direct pluck instrument.
The Svaramandala is a chordophone used by singers for accompaniment. Kallinatha in his commentary on Śārṅgadeva's Saṅgīta Ratnākara coincides the matakokilavīṇā of Bharata Muni's time with the Svaramaṇḍala,
The Sanṭoor is a dulcimer that has only recently entered Indian classical music scene. It is considered one of the most important developments of the twentieth century in Indian Classical music.
The transverse flute used in Indian classical music, is capable of reproducing all the delicate movements, ornamentations and nuances of the human voice. This instrument finds references in many sacred texts.
Among the main contributions of Indian instrumental technology, both in terms of production quantity and timbre quality, bifacial convex diaphragms occupy a place of primary importance in Indian Classical Music.
In the folk and tribal music of different regions of India, various types of stringed instruments are found with a very varied tradition. In the Rajasthani tradition there are more than ten types of Sāraṅgī.
This name derives from two sanskrit terms "pakshe vadya", or from the Persian "pakh awaz" which means soft sounding. The pakahwaj became the main percussion in the north, while the mridangam assumed centrality in the south.
The term Sarod, of Persian origin, means "song" or "melody". All hypotheses regarding the origin of the Sarod, are based on many assumptions and inferences. The general opinion is that it is a developed version of the Rabab,
One of the oldest and most widespread percussion instruments are the timpani, with a conical-shaped body, the skin of which is often struck with beaters modeled in an arched shape or simply straight, with a knobbed head.
The terms Shahana, Shahanay or Shennay identify the zurna, a wooden aerophone typical of Persian musical culture. In Iran we can still find various styles of this instrument which vary both in size and in the quality of wood used.
Tabla are the percussion instruments that best represent Indian musical culture. This instrument, used mainly in the Hindustani style, accompanies singing, instrumental music and dance.
The khol is the most used percussion in the north-eastern region of India, often linked to the Vaishnava cult of Bengal and Assam, it is also often called mridang since the body is made of terracotta (mrit means clay).
Probably in the past the pakhavaj and the mridangam presented much fewer differences and are in fact to be associated with a single archetype, but they developed over the centuries within two different styles,
Frame drums are very popular in India and the simplicity of manufacturing these instruments has facilitated their diffusion. They are in fact a thin strip of iron or wood bent into a circular shape with the two ends joined on which a membrane is applied.
The sound production techniques and the structure are identical to the shennay, the differences are mostly related to the dimensions and some small details. The double reed is fixed on a metal support which fits onto the wooden body.
The violin, which in India is also called Behalā, as we know, is one of the first Western instruments to have been introduced, more than a century and a half ago, into Indian music by Baluswamy Dikshitar (1786-1858), a great music scholar caranatica.
The Suraśṛṁgāra, often written Sursingar in many respects similar to the Surabahar, is a reinterpretation of the Rabab created in Benares under the supervision of Zafar Khān.
The moorchang, is a typical example of a universal instrument. In Italy it is a popular instrument called the wind chime or marranzano and although it takes on different forms, it is used all over the world.
The tavil belongs to the folk music tradition of South India, and is often played with a wind ensemble called periya melam. This percussion has a barrel shape with a single-layered stem, obtained from a single cylindrical block of wood.
Frame drums are very popular in India and the simplicity of manufacturing these instruments has facilitated their diffusion. They are in fact a thin strip of iron or wood bent into a circular shape.
The term bhanda vadya is used to indicate all terracotta percussion instruments with a spherical body, practically real vases of various shapes and sizes.
The term "Mohan veena" can denote one of two distinct plucked string instruments utilized in Indian classical music, particularly in Hindustani classical music, which is traditionally associated with the northern regions of the Indian subcontinent.
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