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MUSIC
Eternal India
encyclopedia
Sarangi
: A bowed instrument. The con-
cert model is made of one block of wood.
The lower portion is covered with parch-
ment and acts as main sound box. There is
a giant variety known as mandar bahar,
used in Hindustani music.
Tamboori :
The tamboori is a
common
instrument
with
wandering
medi-
cants in the south. This
stringed
instrument
is
about a meter in length.
There are four metallic
strings
and these
are
plucked with the fingers
to provide the drone.
The
tamboori
evolved
into the concert tam-
boora.
Sarinda,
found along the northern hilly
tracks and with some of the tribes in Bihar. It
has two sections - the lower section is a small
pear shaped one with a hide covering. The
upper part is bigger and it is completely open.
Over this run four strings of twisted cotton,
gut or metal.
Santoor
: Indigenous to Kashmir.
Some consider it to be a descendant
of Vedic vara veena. It has a large
number of strings and is struck with
sticks. The musician sits with the
Santoor in front of him and strikes
the strings with a pair of flat wooden
pieces.
Ektara
(Eka nad'a),
is a single stringed in-
strument. The reso-
nator is a flat dried
pumpkin
and
the
danda or the hollow
rod holding the string
is inserted into it. The
metal string passes
over the body which
is twisted round a
peg at the distal end.
It is plucked with a
to and fro movement
of the forefinger.
STRINGEDINSTRUMENTS
Kinnari, one of the ancient plucked zithers. It has now vanished from
classical music. It can be seen with certain tribes like the Chenchus and
the Raj Gonds of Andhra.
Buang
: About a metre long it
consists of bamboo tubes, a reso
nator and a rope. Generally two
or more buangs are played in a
group dance.
Vichitra Veena:
A fretless zither
played by Hindustani musicians.
The fingerboard is a broad long
one of about a metre and quarter
in length with two large pumpkins
screwed to its nether side. It has a
wide bridge on one end of the
dandi the other end having the
ledge
and
four pegs bearing the main
playing
strings
Kingri
: A violin kind of instrument.
This is associated with the Pradhans and
Gonds. The instrument has a squarish
resonator box and is covered with goat
skin. The fingerboard is a long bamboo
inserted into it and has 3 pegs. Three
tufts of horse hair form the string.
zither is a
Tuila :
A
zither
(in-struments
where there is a
finger board
with
strings, fretted
or fretless, and.
most important
the
resonator
being fixed be-
low
it)
of
Orissa..
The body of the
bamboo stick along
which is stretched a gut.
Villadi Vadyam
found in Tamil
Nadu & Kerala is a bow shaped in-
strument. The vadyam is a bow,
nearly 2 to 3 m long. The villu is kept
on an inverted earthen pot which
serves as a sound amplifier. It is an
accompaniment to certain kinds of
ballets known as villu patu.
Tuntune:
Found in
south-central
and
western
India.
The
singer holds
the Tuntune in
hand
and
plucks
the
string
with
his forefinger,
to give the
base
note and a
kind
of rhythm.
Sapta-Tantri Veena
: Harp with
7 strings of ancient times. It was
plucked with the fingers.
Premtal
: It has a bottle gourd
resonator, there is a leather bot-
tom through which a gut string
of
about 60 cm passes out through
the vessel. The player plucks the
string with a wooden plectrum in
the other hand. Used by snake
charmers and ballad singers.
Yazh :
Yazh, belongs
to the harp variety.