Musical Instruments of India
Taus, Dilruba, Esraj
The Taus, the Dilruba and the Esraj are North Indian bowed instruments, all three with hybrid characteristics of the Sitār, such as long necks, fingerboard and metal strings, and of the Sāraṅgī such as the crafted soundboard Leather. The oldest among these is the Taūs. We find the first reference to Taūs in the book Ma'dan al-mūsīqī, written by Muhammad Karam Imam Khan in 1856 and later in the Yantra Kosha of H.M. Tagore (1875) and in Sadiq Ali's Sarmaya-i-ishrat (1875), who attribute the origin of the Taūs to north-western India, in particular to the musical culture of Punjab, where an instrument of Persian origin, called kamāncha , probably gave the basis for the invention of this instrument. The name is linked to the rather original shape of the body of this instrument, in fact the term Taūs means 'peacock' in both Arabic and Persian and the lower part of this instrument is decorated in the shape of a peacock. There are even inserts with the characteristic feathers of this bird, which in addition to being considered sacred, appearing as a vehicle of deities central to Hinduism[1], is associated with the spiritual aspect of music. Another name used to indicate this instrument is Mayūri Vīṇā[2] .
The Taūs was commonly used as an accompaniment for Kīrtana (devotional music) of the Sikh tradition, according to which it was Kahan Singh, a musician of the Patiala court, who first invented the Taūs and the instrument remained in fashion for more than half a century until beginning of the 20th century.
Mahant Gajja Singh (1850-1914), musician of the Patiala court, is credited as the creator of the Dilrubā. The main feature that determined the differentiation of this new instrument was that the peacock was removed and the sound box took the shape of the sound box of the Sāraṅgī, while the neck, the frets and the arrangement of the strings remained practically the same. Probably the peacock part of the instrument was delicate, difficult to handle or transport, so much so that it gave it a more minimal and practical character. However, increasingly eliminating decorative elements from musical instruments was an increasingly common trend, in fact as we moved away from the prosperity of the courts, we faced the mediocrity inherent in the modern mentality. The Dilrubā instrument thus became a fundamental pillar of Sikh devotional music.
A similar instrument that combined the characteristics of the Sitār with those of the Sāraṅgī, becoming very popular in Bihar and Bengal about a century and a half ago, was the Esrāja. According to tradition, this instrument was designed by a Bengali craftsman in the court of Wajid Ali Shah of Lucknow. Later, when Basant Khān, the famous Rabāb player of the Seniya Gharānā, settled in Gayadham, he probably brought it with him and taught it to local students, thus spreading the popularity of the instrument throughout Bihar. According to another version, however, it was one of Basat Khān Kanailal Dhendi's students who invented this instrument.
Although it is difficult to ascertain the exact place where the Esrāja assumed its present form, it is certain that it made its presence in Indian classical music at Gaya in Bihar and was later introduced into Bengal, where it became a fundamental instrument for Rabindra Saṃgīta[3]. The instrument subsequently spread throughout the eastern region of Bengal, Orissa and Assam and although it never became popular as a solo instrument, it acquired a prominent place for accompaniment to vocal music.
When Rabīndra Nāth Thākhur founded the Vishva Bharti University in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, he invited an exponent of Esrāja, Ashesh Bandopadhyay, from the Vishnupur Gharānā, dedicating a department in the music faculty to the teaching of this instrument. Ashesh Bandopadhyay unlike other Esrāja players, held the instrument upright perpendicular to the ground instead of resting it on his left shoulder. Among numerous students, Randhir Roy showed particular talent and emerged a gifted solo musician who created his own style by blending the techniques of Sarod and Sitār. Randhir Roy introduced some changes in the structure of the Esrāja: he enlarged the volume of the sound box, increased the dimensions of the neck both in length and width, added an extra metal resonator on top as in the Sarod, added decorations with horn and ivory inserts with floral carvings as in the Sitār. Thanks to the changes made, the tonal quality and volume improved compared to the previous model, helping to establish widespread recognition among musicians for themselves and for their instrument. Unfortunately this artist passed away prematurely, and thus his promising career was cut short and although this tradition was passed on to his students, including Buddhadeb Das, a talented artist who teaches at Shantiniketan, nowadays it is very rare to come across a performance of the Rabindra Saṃgīta with the Esrāja as accompaniment, now replaced by the harmonium.
Similar was the case with the Dilrubā in Punjab, where they slowly preferred to accompany the singing with the harmonium: it is certainly easier to sing and play at the same time on this instrument, rather than on a stringed instrument which requires much more concentration.
As far as classical music is concerned, both the Dilrubā and the Esrāja never had too much popularity as solo instruments, while as accompaniment instruments they both had a very short life, and today, although they are not obsolete, they are definitely rare. The Taūs and the Indian Kamāncha are now considered obsolete and can only be found in museums.
Although both these instruments, namely Esrāja and Dilrubā, have almost twinned technical characteristics, there are some differences that justify their dual identity.
The similarities and differences in both tools are as follows:
Similarities:
(i) Both instruments emerged after merging the characteristics of Sāraṅgī and Sitār together. Both have an elongated sleeve with metal keys and a leather soundboard and the sound is stimulated with a bow. The strings are made of metal instead of gut and the sound is produced with the help of the fingertips of the left hand like the Sitār. In fact, let us remember that the Sāraṅgī instead uses gut strings and the sound is produced by placing the root of the fingernail of the left hand on the string.
(ii) The wood used to build the structure is rosewood or teak. The body is divided into two parts, that is, the neck and the sound box joined by a joint which is called "gulu", the soundboard is made of a goatskin membrane on which the thin one rests like that of the Sāraṅgī. The main strings rest on the grooves made in the bridge, while the sympathetic strings pass through the holes made in the bridge. A leather belt is fastened securely under the bridge and nailed to the corners of the sound box to give additional support to the leather under the bridge. In the Esrāja this belt is fixed to the skin, while in the Dilrubā the belt is often glued to the inside and is not visible.
(iii) The number of keys in both instruments is the same, which varies from seventeen to nineteen. The keys are made of metal, are fixed with a fairly thick wire and as in the Sitār can be moved up and down as and when required depending on the desired microtone.
(iv) The performance techniques of both instruments are the same as those already used for the Taūs. The bow is controlled with the right hand and the fingers of the left hand slide on the strings but only longitudinally and the strings are never pulled as in the Sitār[4]. Almost all the subtler nuances of the Sāraṅgī can be played on this instrument, while the presence of keys facilitates some of the techniques similar to the Sitār, making it possible to perform both vocal styles, called gāyakī, and instrumental ones.
(v) The position in which the Esrāja, the Dilrubā and the Taūs are held is almost always the same: the instrument is placed either on the lap, or on the plantar surface or on the ground in front of the crossed legs and the handle is placed on on the left shoulder. However, as mentioned above, Ashesh Bandopadhyay and all the musicians belonging to his lineage keep the instrument upright and do not rest the neck on their left shoulder.
(vi) In both instruments there is a wooden strip which is added to the side of the neck to accommodate the keys of the sympathetic strings.
Differences:
(i) The main difference between Esrāja and Dilrubā is the shape of their sound box, in the Dilrubā it is an irregular rectangular parallelepiped rather similar to that of the Sāraṅgī, while in the Esrāja it has a rounded oval-shaped sound box with two half-moons carved at the sides to facilitate the swinging of the bow.
(ii) The handle of the Dilrubā is wider than that of the Esrāja, in fact it can accommodate more sympathetic strings than the latter.
(iii) Although most Dilrubā have four main strings like the Esrāja, in some Dilrubā we find up to six main strings. The number of sympathetic strings also varies: in the Esrāja we find ten or eleven sympathetic strings, while in the Dilrubā up to twenty-two sympathetic strings are mounted, which greatly amplifies the resonance. The arrangement and tuning of the sympathetic strings in the Dilrubā more or less follows the logic of the Sāraṅgī.
(iv) The bow shape of the Esrāja is very different from that of the Dilrubā, the former uses bows similar to those used in the West while the second uses the traditional ones of Sāraṅgī.
Dilrubā is more popular in western India, from New Delhi to Punjab and Esrāja has spread more to eastern regions such as Bihar, Bengal, Orissa and Assam.
[1] Both the divine aspects of Saraswatī and that of Kṛṣṇa, together with Lakṣmī, Mayūreśvara (Gaṇeśa) and one of the eight aspects of Mahākāla Bhairava, are associated with the figure of the peacock or with the 'thousand-eyed' feathers, characteristic of the bird .
[2] Mayūra is the Sanskrit term used to indicate the peacock.
[3] The Rabindra Saṃgīta is a series of poetic compositions based on the Rāgas composed Rabīndra Nāth Thākhur (Englishized Rabindranath Tagore), Nobel Prize winner for literature in 1913, was a Bengali poet, prose writer, playwright and philosopher.
[4] The curvature of the keys, typical of the Surabahār and the Sitār, allows the instrument to be played both longitudinally and perpendicularly, but this does not happen in the instruments in question (Esrāja, Dilrubā and Taūs). In fact, techniques such as mīḍ (English meend) and gamaka are performed using the Sāraṅgī tradition as a technical reference
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The main instruments of Indian Classical Music
The Sitar is the icon of Indian Classical music. The structure and tonal quality of this instrument is the result of several years of hard work and dedication of both the musicians and the master luthiers.
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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