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Gottuvadhyam
The ''gottuvadyam'' is a 20 or 21-string fretless lute-style veena in Carnatic music from around the late 19th and early 20th centuries, named by Sakha Rama Rao from Tiruvidaimarudur, who was responsible for bringing it back to the concert scene. It is also known as ''chitravina'' (), ''chitra veena'', ''chitraveena'', ''chitra vina'', ''hanumad vina'' and ''mahanataka vina''. Today it is played mainly in South India, though its origins can be traced back to Bharata's Natya Shastra (200 BCE-200 CE), where it is mentioned as a seven string fretless instrument. Sarangadeva (1210–47) also made a similar reference to the chitravina in his work, Sangita Ratnakara. Recent history As a ''chitravina'' it was popularised in South India by Sakha Rama Rao before his disciple Narayan Iyengar, Gottuvadyam Narayana Iyengar (1903 - 1959), who was a palace musician of the erstwhile States of Travancore and Kingdom of Mysore, Mysore took it to great heights. Iyengar's son, Chitravina Nara ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vichitra Veena
The ''vichitra veena'' () is a stick zither, a plucked string instrument used in Hindustani music. Similar to the Carnatic '' gottuvadhyam'' (chitra vina) it has no frets and is played with a slide. The structure The Vichitra Veena is the modern form of ancient Ekatantri Veena. It is made of a broad, fretless, horizontal arm or crossbar (''dand'') around three feet long and six inches wide, with two large resonating gourds (''tumba''), which are inlaid with ivory and attached underneath at either end. The narrow ends of the instrument are fashioned into peacock heads. The strings There are four main playing strings and five secondary strings (''chikaris''), which are played openly with the little finger for a drone effect. Underneath them are 13 sympathetic strings tuned to the notes of the appropriate raag. The veena has a five-octave range. Two plectrums ('' mizrab'') identical to those used for sitar are worn on the middle and index fingers of the right hand to pluck the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Veena
The ''veena'', also spelled ''vina'' ( IAST: vīṇā), is any of various chordophone instruments from the Indian subcontinent. Ancient musical instruments evolved into many variations, such as lutes, zithers and arched harps.Vina: Musical Instrument Encyclopædia Britannica (2010) The many regional designs have different names such as the '' Rudra veena'', the '''', the '' Vichitra veena'' and others. The North Indian ''rudra veena'', used in |
Budaloor Krishnamurthy Shastri
Budaloor Krishnamurti Shastri (1894–1978) was an Indian gottuvadhyam player. Early life Shastri was born in Andanallur in South India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ..., He first training in music came from his father Seturama Shastri. He continued his training under the musicians Konerirajapuram Vaidyanatha Ayyar and Harikesanallur Muthaiah Bhagavatar. Career Shastri's turning point for the Gottuvadhyam came from Gottuvadhyam Narayana Iyengar, a legendary Gottuvadhyam player of that time. After that, he studied under Narayana Iyengar who was 10 years his junior. Shastri contributed to the popularity of his instrument and is considered an inspiration for Chitravina Narasimhan, Gayatri Kassebaum and N. Ravikiran. Death Shastri died in 1978 at the age of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vichitra Veena
The ''vichitra veena'' () is a stick zither, a plucked string instrument used in Hindustani music. Similar to the Carnatic '' gottuvadhyam'' (chitra vina) it has no frets and is played with a slide. The structure The Vichitra Veena is the modern form of ancient Ekatantri Veena. It is made of a broad, fretless, horizontal arm or crossbar (''dand'') around three feet long and six inches wide, with two large resonating gourds (''tumba''), which are inlaid with ivory and attached underneath at either end. The narrow ends of the instrument are fashioned into peacock heads. The strings There are four main playing strings and five secondary strings (''chikaris''), which are played openly with the little finger for a drone effect. Underneath them are 13 sympathetic strings tuned to the notes of the appropriate raag. The veena has a five-octave range. Two plectrums ('' mizrab'') identical to those used for sitar are worn on the middle and index fingers of the right hand to pluck the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chitravina Narasimhan
Chitravina Narasimhan (born 1941) is a gottuvadhyam The ''gottuvadyam'' is a 20 or 21-string fretless lute-style veena in Carnatic music from around the late 19th and early 20th centuries, named by Sakha Rama Rao from Tiruvidaimarudur, who was responsible for bringing it back to the concert sc ... player from India. He is the father of chitravina player N. Ravikiran. Early life He was born in 1941 in Mysore, Karnataka in a family of musicians. His father Gottuvadhyam Narayan Iyengar, who was also his teacher was a renowned Gottuvadhyam player in South India. Career After learning from his father he continued his training in Gottuvadhyam under several musicians such as T. Brinda, G.N Balabsuramaniam, Budaloor Krishnamurthi Shastri and Musiri Subramaniam Iyer. Narasimhan performed extensively across India and won acclaim from many stalwarts of Indian music including such as Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar, Allauddin Khan (mentor of sitarist Ravishankar), Flute Mali, M. Balalmu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drone (music)
In music, a drone is a harmony, harmonic or monophony, monophonic effect or accompaniment where a note (music), note or chord (music), chord is continuously sounded throughout most or all of a piece. A drone may also be any part of a musical instrument used to produce this effect; an archaic term for this is ''burden'' (''bourdon'' or ''burdon'') such as a "drone [pipe] of a bagpipes, bagpipe", the pedal point in an organ (music), organ, or the lowest course (music), course of a lute. Α ''burden'' is also part of a song that is repeated at the end of each stanza, such as the chorus or refrain.Brabner, John H F., ed. (1884). The national encyclopædia', Vol. V, p.99. Libr. ed. William McKenzie. . Musical effect "Of all harmonic devices, it [a drone] is not only the simplest, but probably also the most fertile." A drone effect can be achieved through a sustained sound or through repetition (music), repetition of a note. It most often establishes a tonality upon which the rest of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sympathetic String
Sympathetic strings or resonance strings are auxiliary strings found on many Indian musical instruments, as well as some Western Baroque instruments and a variety of folk instruments. They are typically not played directly by the performer (except occasionally as an effect), only indirectly through the tones that are played on the main strings, based on the principle of sympathetic resonance. The resonance is most often heard when the fundamental frequency of the string is in unison or an octave lower or higher than the catalyst note, although it can occur for other intervals, such as a fifth, with less effect. Description Sympathetic strings are used to enhance the sound of an instrument. Some instruments have only a few sympathetic strings such as the Hardanger fiddle (pictured above right). Other instruments which have more include the sitar with 11-13 sympathetic strings and sarod with 15 sympathetic strings, and the sarangi, which has a total of 37 sympathetics. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jugalbandi
A jugalbandhi or jugalbandi is a performance in Indian classical music, especially in Hindustani classical music but also in Carnatic, that features a duet of two solo musicians. The word jugalbandi means, literally, "entwined twins." The duet can be either vocal or instrumental. Often, the musicians will play different instruments, as for example the famous duets between sitarist Ravi Shankar and sarod player Ali Akbar Khan, who played the format since the 1940s. More rarely, the musicians (either vocalists or instrumentalists) may be from different traditions (i.e. Carnatic and Hindustani). What defines ''jugalbandi'' is that the two soloists be on an equal footing. A performance can only truly be deemed a jugalbandi when neither musician is always the soloist or solely an accompanist. In jugalbandi, both musicians act as lead players, and a playful competition exists between the two performers. Hindustani-Carnatic Jugalbandi Jugalbandi of Hindustani and Carnatic styles ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hawaiian Steel Guitar
The lap steel guitar, also known as a Hawaiian guitar or lap slide guitar, is a type of steel guitar without pedals that is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position across the performer's lap. Unlike the usual manner of playing a traditional acoustic guitar, in which the performer's fingertips press the strings against frets, the pitch of a steel guitar is changed by pressing a polished steel bar against strings while plucking them with the opposite hand. The steel guitar's name is derived from this steel bar. Though the instrument does not have frets, it displays markers that resemble them. Lap steels may differ markedly from one another in external appearance, depending on whether they are acoustic or electric, but in either case, do not have pedals, distinguishing them from pedal steel guitars. The steel guitar was the first foreign musical instrument to gain a foothold in American pop music. It originated in the Hawaiian Kingdom about 1885, popularized ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
String Instruments
In musical instrument classification, string instruments, or chordophones, are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer strums, plucks, strikes or sounds the strings in varying manners. Musicians play some string instruments, like Guitar, guitars, by plucking the String (music), strings with their fingers or a plectrum, plectrum (pick), and others by hitting the strings with a light wooden hammer or by rubbing the strings with a bow (music), bow, like Violin, violins. In some keyboard (music), keyboard instruments, such as the harpsichord, the musician presses a key that plucks the string. Other musical instruments generate sound by striking the string. With bowed instruments, the player pulls a rosined horsehair bow across the strings, causing them to vibrate. With a hurdy-gurdy, the musician cranks a wheel whose rosined edge touches the strings. Bowed instruments include the string section instruments of the orchestra in Western classic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sitar
The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in 19th-century India. Khusrau Khan, an 18th-century figure of the Mughal Empire has been identified by modern scholarship as the inventor of the sitar. According to most historians, he developed the sitar from the setar, an Iranian instrument of Abbasid or Safavid origin. Used widely throughout the Indian subcontinent, the sitar became popularly known in the wider world through the works of Ravi Shankar, beginning in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The advent of Psychedelia, psychedelic culture during the mid-to-late 1960s set a trend for the use of the sitar in popular music, sitar in Western popular music, with the instrument appearing on tracks by bands such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Metallica and many others. Etymology The word ''sitar'' is derived from t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ebony
Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus '' Diospyros'', which also includes the persimmon tree. A few ''Diospyros'' species, such as macassar and mun ebony, are dense enough to sink in water. Ebony is finely textured and has a mirror finish when polished, making it valuable as an ornamental wood. It is often cited as one of the most expensive woods in the world. Etymology The word ''ebony'' comes from the Ancient Egyptian ', through the Ancient Greek ('), into Latin () and Middle English. Species Species of ebony include '' Diospyros ebenum'' (Ceylon ebony), native to southern India and Sri Lanka; '' D. crassiflora'' (Gabon ebony), native to western Africa; '' D. humilis'' (Queensland ebony), native to Queensland, the Northern Territory, New Guinea and Timor; and '' D. celebica'' (Sulawesi ebony), native to Indonesia and prized for its luxuriant, multi-colored wood grain. Mauritius ebony, '' D. tessellaria'', was largely exploited by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
