Indian bowed instruments Sarangi

The Sarangi is a bowed, short-necked string instrument of India which originated from Rajasthani folk instruments. It plays an important role in India's Hindustani classical music tradition. Of all Indian instruments, it is said to most resemble the sound of the human voice able to imitate vocal ornaments such as gamakas (shakes) and meend (sliding movements). There are different versions for the meaning and origins of sarangi but the most logical and widely accepted ones are that the word sarangi is derived from two Hindi words: sau (meaning hundred) and rang (meaning colour) hence meaning the instrument of 100 colours while the other one is that the word sarangi is combination of two sanskrit words: saar (summary) and ang (form, herein different styles of playing instrumental music for e.g. gayaki ang) hence meaning the instrument that can summarize every style of music or playing. Both the versions though point towards the same quality of sarangi, that it can play any type of repertoire of music and still sound beautiful. The current form of sarangi is said to have originated from the traditional stringed and bowed instruments from Rajasthan which were further developed and amalgamated with Persian instruments that came along with the Muslim invasion in India. Well known sarangi players include Bundu Khan, Mamman khan, Nathu Khan, Shakoor Khan, Sagiruddin Khan, Gopal Mishra, Hanuman Prasad Mishra, Pt. Santosh Mishra, Abdul Lateef Khan and Sultan Khan. The repertoire of sarangi players is traditionally very closely related to vocal music. Nevertheless, a concert with a solo sarangi as the main item will probably include a full-scale raag presentation with an extensive alap (the unmeasured improvisatory development of the raga) in increasing intensity (alapjor-jhala) and several compositions in increasing tempi called bandish. As such, it is on a par with other instrumental styles such as for sitar, sarod, and bansuri. Sarangi music is often vocal music. It is rare to find a sarangi player who does not know the words of many classical compositions. The words are usually mentally present during performance, and performance almost always adheres to the conventions of vocal performance including the organisational structure, the types of elaboration, the tempo, the relationship between sound and silence, and the presentation of khyal and thumri compositions. The vocal quality of sarangi is in a quite separate category from, for instance, the so-called gayaki-ang of sitar which attempts to imitate the nuances of khyal while overall conforming to the structures and usually keeping to the gat compositions of instrumental music. (A gat is a composition set to a cyclic rhythm.) The sarangi is also a traditional stringed musical instrument of Nepal, commonly played by the Gaine or Gandarbha ethnic group but the form and repertoire of sarangi is more towards the folk music as compared to the heavy and classical form of repertoire in India. Carved from a single block of tun (red cedar) wood, the sarangi has a box-like shape with three hollow chambers: pet (stomach), chaati(chest) and magaj (brain). It is usually around 2 feet (0.61 m) long and around 6 inches (150 mm) wide though it can vary as there are smaller as well as larger variant sarangis as well. The lower resonance chamber or pet is covered with parchment made out of goat skin on which a strip of thick leather is placed around the waist (and nailed on the back of the chamber) which supports the elephant-shaped bridge that is made of camel or buffalo bone usually

(made of ivory or Barasingha bone originally but now that is rare due to the ban in India). The bridge in turn supports the huge pressure of approximately 3537 sympathetic steel or brass strings and three main gut strings that pass through it. The three main playing strings the comparatively thicker gut strings are bowed with a heavy horsehair bow and "stopped" not with the finger-tips but with the nails, cuticles and surrounding flesh. (talcum powder is applied to the fingers as a lubricant). The neck has ivory/bone platforms on which the fingers slide. The remaining strings are resonance strings or tarabs (see:sympathetic strings), numbering up to around 3537, divided into 4 "choirs" having two sets of pegs, one on the right and one on the top. On the inside is a chromatically tuned row of 15 tarabs and on the right a diatonic row of 9 tarabs each encompassing a full octave plus 13 extra notes above or below that. Both these sets of tarabs pass from the main bridge to the right side set of pegs through small holes in the chaati supported by hollow ivory/bone beads. Between these inner tarabs and on the either side of the main playing strings lie two more sets of longer tarabs, with 5 6 strings on the right set and 67 strings on the left set. They pass from the main bridge over to two small, flat and wide table like bridges through the additional bridge towards the second peg set on top of the instrument. These are tuned to the important tones (swaras) of the raga. A properly tuned sarangi will hum and buzz like a bee-hive, with tones played on any of the main strings eliciting echo-like resonances. A few sarangis use strings manufactured from the intestines of goats these harken back to the days when rich musicians could afford such strings.

Esraj
The esraj is a string instrument found in two forms throughout the north, central, and east regions of India. It is a young instrument by Indian terms, being only about 200 years old. The dilruba is found in the north, where it is used in religious music and light classical songs in the urban areas. Its name is translated as "robber of the heart." The esraj is found in the east and central areas, particularly Bengal (Bangladesh and Indian states of West Bengal and Tripura) and it is used in a somewhat wider variety of musical styles than is the dilruba. The Dilruba originates from the Taus and some argue is the work of the 10th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, whilst that of the Taus was the work of Guru Hargobind (the sixth guru of the Sikhs). The Dilruba was then produced to replace the previously heavy instrument (the Taus). This attempt was intended to 'scale down' the Taus into what is now known to be the Dilruba. This made it more convenient for the Sikh army to carry the instrument on horseback. The structure of both instruments is very similar, each having a medium sized sitar-like neck with 20 heavy metal frets. This neck holds on a long wooden rack of 12-15 sympathetic strings. While the dilruba has more sympathetic strings and a differently shaped body than theesraj, they both have four main strings which are bowed. All strings are metal. The soundboard is a stretched piece of goatskin similar to what is found on a sarangi. Sometimes the instrument has a gourd affixed to the top for balance or for tone enhancement. The instrument can be rested between the knees while the player kneels, or more commonly rested on the knee of the player while sitting, or also on the floor just in front of the player, with the neck leaning on the left shoulder. It is played with a bow (known as a "gaz"), with the other hand moving along the strings above the frets. The player may slide the note up or down to achieve the portamento, or meend, characteristic of Indian music.

The esraj is mostly used as an accompanying instrument. It is the accompanying instrument of choice for Rabindra Sangeet singing. However, it has also been used as a solo instrument to interpret Hindustani Classical Music, mostly in the Vishnupur tradition. Additionally, the esrag is a more modern invention from the Dilruba that was made and promoted by the Namdharis. Both the dilruba and the esraj had been declining in popularity for many decades. By the 1980s the instrument was nearly extinct. However with the rising influence of the "Gurmat Sangeet" movement, these instruments are once again attracting considerable attention.

Sarinda
A sarinda is a stringed Indian folk musical instrument similar to lutes or fiddles. It is played with a bow and has three strings. The bottom part of the front of its hollow wooden soundbox is covered with animal skin. It is played while sitting on the ground in avertical orientation. The sarinda seems to have its origin in tribal fiddle instruments called "dhodro banam" found throughout in central, north-western and eastern India. It is an important instrument in the culture of the Santhals of West Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. The sarinda was introduced to and popularised in Sikh devotional music by sikh Guru Arjan Dev. Several ethnic groups of India, e.g. bauls of Bengal, the folk artists of Rajasthan, Assam and Tripuris, find use of sarinda in their traditional music and dance. It is the sole accompany for a solo or group folk singer(s).

Taus
The taus is a bowed string instrument from the north and central India, as well as from the Punjab. Taus was the work of Sri Guru Hargobind Ji (the sixth Guru of the Sikhs). From this instrument originates the lighter dilruba. It has a peacock body sound box ('taus' is a Persian word meaning peacock) and a neck with 20 heavy metal frets. This neck holds on a long wooden rack 28-30 strings strings and the instrument is played with a bow. This instrument projects a sound with a deeper, fuller tone. The Dilruba originates from the Tausand some argue is the work of the 10th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh Ji, whilst that of the Taus was the work of Guru Hargobind Ji (the sixth Guru of the Sikhs). The Dilruba was then produced to replace the previously heavy instrument (the Taus). This attempt was intended to 'scale down' the Taus into what is now known to be the Dilruba. This made it more convenient for the Sikh army to carry the instrument on horseback.