Component-I (A) – Personal details: Prof. P. Bhaskar Reddy Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati. Prof. R Thiagarajan Presidency College, Chennai. Prof. Suneera Kasliwal Vyas Delhi University, New Delhi Prof. Anjali Mittal Delhi University, New Delhi. 1 Component-I (B) – Description of module: Subject Name Indian Culture Paper Name Indian Aesthetics and Fine Arts Module Name/Title Musical Instruments of North India Module Id IC / IAFA / 22 Pre requisites An interest to know about the instruments used in Hindustani classical music Objectives To trace the origin and evolution of different musical instruments, differentiate the sound of various musical instruments, to draw the structure of enlisted musical instruments, to explain about the application of the musical instruments, to write about the important parts of the musical instruments, to state the name of renowned players of enlisted musical instruments, to briefly introduce the readers about the making of the instruments. Keywords Vadya, tata, avanaddha, ghana, sushir, rudra veena, sitar, sarod, santoor, sarangi, sarangi,tanpura,tabla, pakhawaj, bansuri,shehnai,harmonium,violin,guitar, dand,tumba,baj ka taar,khunti. E-text (Quadrant-I) Introduction A musical instrument is called “Vadya”, derived from the word “Vad”, which means “to speak”. The word “Vadan” literally means the act of making the musical instrument “speak” or to sound. In this lesson we shall learn about some prominent musical instruments of north Indian classical music. These are mainly used in the concerts. Classification Of Musical Instruments From the ancient texts on music and dance, we get to know that musical instruments can be classified into four main categories namely: Tata Vadya, Avanaddha Vadya, Ghana Vadya and Sushir Vadya. Tata and Avanaddha vadya are considered as main categories whereas Ghana and Sushir are considered the auxiliary or complementary. Musical Instruments Tata Avanaddha Ghana Sushir 2 Tata Vadya: Tata vadya means stringed instruments. They are also called Chordophones. Example: Sitar, Sarod Avanaddha Vadya: Avanaddha or Membranophones are the instruments in which sound is produced by a membrane, stretched over an opening. Mostly membranophones are drums. Sushir Vadya Sushir or wind instruments are those in which sound is produced by the vibration of air. They are also called Aerophones. Example :Flute. Ghana Vadya Ghana or idiophones are solid instruments which do not need tuning. Example :Jhanj, Khartal, Ghungroo etc. Now-a-days, according to the western system,musical instruments can be classified into four major types: a) Stringed b) Wind c) Percussion(which include membranophones and idiophones) d) Electronic Besides these there are many types of grouping of instruments based on the material by which they are made, shape, playing technique, playing position and utility purpose. On the other hand musical instruments can also be classified into the following: • Instruments used for solo performances like sitar,sarod. • Instruments used for accompaniment like tanpura,tabla. Description of Musical Instruments Rudra Veena The name Rudra Veena first appeared in the Sangeet Makarand of Narad. All ragas can easily be played upon it. The veena is played with two plectrums worn in the index and middle fingers of the right hand, while the side drone strings are flicked with the help of the small finger’s nail.The drone string of left side is flicked with the left hand’s little finger nail. The veena consists of a fingerboard, the length of which is about three and a half feet, and two broad gourds of about fourteen inches in diameter fixed in the stem. Twenty-two wooden frets are fixed on the fingerboard and 3 are made immovable with the help of a specially prepared wax-like liquid. Thin sharp-edged plates of brass are fixed on top of these frets called sara. However, the number of frets are not fixed and tend to vary according to the artist’s preference. The veena has seven strings in all - four main playing strings and three drone strings , two on the right side and one on the left side. All these strings are tied with three nails called kukubha on one corner of the dand. Four of the main playing strings pass through the main bridge and before being finally tied up into the respective pegs, they pass through an upper bridge called meru. The three drone strings, two on the right and one on the left, are mounted upon two side bridges, one at either side, and are fixed on their respective pegs. The veena adapted itself to the style of Dhrupad singing. It was often played in accompaniment to vocal music. In due course of time, it was able to establish itself as an independent instrument. Today veena is a rare instrument almost on the verge of extinction. Artist like Asad Ali Khan played a major role in popularising this instrument. Presently Bahauddin Dagar is the main exponent of Rudra Veena. Sitar At present the sitar is the most popular string instrument of Northern India. Several artists and craftsmen have contributed to the development of modern sitar. It appeared in Indian musical scenario around the medieval period. Initially it was used as an accompanying instrument for the Dhrupad music prevalent in those days. Slowly but steadily the instrument kept changing.The changing process continued for more than two hundred years until each and every technique of the rudra Veena could be well executed upon this instrument.Around 1940-45, in the twentieth century,the sitar got standardized.. The sitar can be divided into two parts: the fingerboard and the resonator. The total length of sitar is about four and a quarter feet. The fingerboard called “dand” is made of tun wood and is hollow from inside. The resonator is made of dried pumpkin. The dand and the resonator are joined very carefully. The half cut pumpkin is covered with a wooden plate called “tabli”, upon which two bridges , one main and one small, rest. There are seven main playing strings and eleven to thirteen sympathetic 4 strings.These strings are tied with a nail shaped string holder at one end of the resonator. Main playing strings pass over the main bridge, go to the upper nut and are tied on the big pegs fixed on the other end of the fingerboard. Sympathetic strings pass over the small bridge and go inside the holes drilled on the cover of the “dand” and tied with the small pegs. The sitar has nineteen to twenty frets tied with silk or nylon thread. To strike the strings a metal plectrum called “mizrab” is worn on the right hand index finger. There have been many great sitarists who have popularized this instrument in the twentieth century. Artists like Ravi Shankar, Vilayat Khan, Nikhil Banerjee, Uma Shankar Mishra, Abdul Halim Jaffar Khan and many others have carved a special niche for this instrument all over the world. Allied instrument of sitar are surbahar and esraj. Sarod The sarod is one of the leading instruments of hindustani music today.By joining various links it can be concluded that the instrument sarod is an outcome of the combination of the structural characteristics of the Seniya rabab, Afghani rabab and the sursingar.The body of the sarod is made of a single block of wood, preferably teak, but tun and sagwan are also used. The instrument is divided into three parts: the peg box, the fingerboard and the resonator called pyala which is enclosed with the parched skin. Artists like Ali Akbar Khan, Amjad Ali Khan, Radhika Mohan Moitra, Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Sharan Rani Backliwal, Zarin Daruwala Sharma etc have earned a name for themselves as sarod players. Allied instrument of sarod is sursingar. 5 Santoor The santoor, an instrument recently adapted in hindustani classical music is among the most outstanding developments of this century. It is trapezoidal in shape and played with two wooden sticks.The santoor is made from mulberry wood(toont). The wood of Bhairav Kastha is used for making the strikers. The shape of these strikers bear a significance as they resemble a snake. Santoor is a recently developed instrument. It was introduced in hindustani classical music only about forty-five years ago. Thus the instrument is yet to be standardised. The length, width and height of the instrument, number of bridges, number of strings, their order and thickness, i.e. gauge, the sitting posture of the player, the playing techniques, all of these vary from artist to artist. It is the only Indian classical instrument which is struck. Renowned artists like Shiv Kumar Sharma and Bhajan Sopori have played a major role in elevating the santoor to the status of a classical instrument. Om Prakash Chaurasia, Ulhas Bapat, Tarun Bhattacharya, Satish Vyas, Rahul Sharma,Shruti Adhikari, Shaukat Ahmed, Abhay Rustam Sopori and many more others affirm the promising future of the instrument in Hindustani classical music. Sarangi 6 In folk and tribal music of north India, various types of bowed instruments are found, sarangi is one such example. It is the only instrument which comes in closest proximity to the human voice and therefore it is always very popular among the singers as an accompanying instrument. But in the latter half of the nineteenth and early twentieth century two western instruments viz: harmonium and violin emerged as alternatives to sarangi. This narrowed down the popularity of sarangi. The body of the instrument can be divided into three parts:- 1. The belly (also called pate in hindi) 2. The fingerboard (called chhati or nali) 3. The peg box or head (called maguj or matha in hindi) The shape of the sarangi is slightly wasted from one side. The sound box is covered by a young goats skin. The main bridge is placed vertically on the parchment supported by a leather belt from beneath.