JAL TARANG

JAL TARANG
Jal tarang is a set of china bowls that are filled with water. Each bowl is struck with a light wooden mallet to cause it to ring. Jal tarang is not very common and is normally found in the accompaniment of kathak dancers.

The Jaltarang one of the most rarely heard instruments today. It is one of the oldest instrument in the world. It consists of china bowls filled with water and struck by means of two cane sticks. Earlier, since china clay bowls werent' available, artists used to play this instrument with metal bowls. Each bowl can be tuned to the desired frequency by varying the quantity of water in it. These bowls are placed in a semi - circle arrangement around the player and played. Anicent texts mentioned instruments similar to this. Indian, Greek and Byzantian texts described such an instruments. The Jalatarang has a pleasant characteristic tone. The player can produce on it, classical indian ragas and light melodies as well.
Almost all Indian musical instruments can be traced to some form of ancient veena-s. Jal Tarang is one of the recent additions to Indian musical instruments. Not mentioned prior to Sangeet Parijaat and the Krishna-cult poets1, it has international links with Gongs and Gamelan of Burma, Java, Sumatra being played in a similar fashion. On the Borobudur stupa musical cups are depicted. Music is played on such cups in Buddhist temples of Japan and in Kabuki theater. The essence of Jal-tarang remains Indian as hindustani notes emanate through bowls from China played upon with Japanese bamboo sticks.
Inspired by Jaltarang, glass music became popular in sixteenth century Europe using glasses in place of cups. A curious variant of the Jaltarang is found in Jaisalmer district. A single metal plate -- called thali or tasli -- used for accompaniment by varying strokes to produce different tones and rhythms, is filled with water and is called Jaltaal. Although in prevalence for over five centuries now, the instrument drew quite a few enthusiasts in the first half of twentieth century. All India Radio incorporated a position of staff artiste in Jal-Tarang. The instrument was extensively used in film music and orchestral compositions. However, due to its design and delicate build coupled with lack of ease in playing more complex Raga-s, very few artistes adopted it as their main instrument for classical performances.

The famous film director O.P. Nayyar narrated the sad decline of this instrument in a television interview. Visiting one of the musicians of his troupe who used to play jal-tarang, Nayyar inquired whether his sons had been inducted into playing this instrument. The musician replied that with synthesizers and other electronic gadgetry, there is no demand in the industry for such instruments. No one in his family tried to play jal-tarang and the China bowls are taken out whenever soup is to be served. Music had always been integrated in the daily routine -- the morning prayers, chants for specific tasks, songs of seasons and celebrations. First the concept of 'personal' in art robbed it of its natural evolution then technology bulldozed the seriousness associated with study of art. Only when we consult a reference book do we learn about India's rich heritage of musical instruments.
Jal-tarang finds its first mention in Sangeet Parijaat. This medieval musical treatise categorizes this instrument under Ghan-Vadya (Idiophonic instruments in which sound is produced by striking a surface, also called concussion idiophones.) SangeetSaar considered one with 22 cups to be complete Jal Tarang and one with 15 cups to be of mediocre status. Cups, of varying sizes were made of either bronze or porcelain. Today only china bowls are preferred by artistes, numbering around sixteen in normal use. Cups for Mandra Swar (notes of lower octave)are large while those for Taar Swar (notes of higher octaves) are smaller in size. Water is poured into the cups and the pitch is changed by adjusting the volume of water in the cup. The number of cups depends on the melody being played. The bowls mostly are arranged in a half-circle in front of the player who can reach them all easily. The player softly hits the cups with a wooden stick on the border to get the sound. Its not easy to tune the instrument and needs some skill. During playing fine nuances can be reached if the performer is accomplished. SangeetSaar mentions that if the player can rotate the water through a quick lithe touch of the stick, nuances and finer variations of the note can be achieved.
The rapid globalization and change in the pace of routine life has forced many of the finer aspects of culture out of popular custom and practice. Instruments like Dilruba, Israj, Sur-bahar, Vichitra veena and even Sarangi find few takers. It was with a desire to preserve the traditional and ancient arts that Ministry of Culture came up with a scheme to train young enthusiasts under masters of these traditional arts.

VADHYA SANGEET (INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

VADHYA SANGEET (INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

Instrumental music occupies an important position in Indian music. It is one of the threefold aspects of "sangeet" (vocal music, instrumental music, and dance), and has a very ancient history. Instrumental music is known as "vadhya sangeet".

There is a general tendency for the instrumental styles to follow quite closely the vocal styles. Yet, the degree to which an instrument follows is primarily linked to the dynamics of the instrument.

Dynamics is the nature of the loudness of an instrument. This is not intended to mean loudness in the usual interpretation, but rather the amplitudinal characteristics of the instrument. The sitar and flute offer a good illustration. A flute is continuously excited, therefore there is a steady sound as long as the breath is applied. Since it is possible to sustain a sound for a long time, it is possible to perform all kinds of delicate meends (glissando), gamaks or other ornamentation. Instruments with a long sustain tend to follow the vocal styles in their presentation. Contrast this to a sitar with its rapid decay. The sound is essentially inaudible within a few seconds. Many types of ornamentation cannot be executed due to this quick decay.

This creates an artistic pressure for these instruments to develop their own styles. These styles enhance the strong points while avoiding the weaknesses. Over the years they have become formalized into four major instrumental styles known as: alap, jor, gat and jhala. The alap is a slow rhythmless elaboration upon the rag. The jor is a section that has rhythm but no developed rhythmic cycle (i.e., tal). The gat is the fully developed piece, while the jhala is a fast rhythmic interplay between the drone strings and the main playing strings.

CARNATIC SANGEET- THE SOUTH INDIAN SYSTEM OF MUSIC

CARNATIC SANGEET- THE SOUTH INDIAN SYSTEM OF MUSIC

INTRODUCTION

Carnatic sangeet, (Karnatik Sangit) is the south Indian system of music. It has a rich history and a very sophisticated theoretical system. The performers and composers have, gained a world class reputation by singing and playing instruments such as veena (vina), gottuvadyam, violin, and mridangam.

In the West, Carnatic Sangeet is not as well known as Hindustani Sangeet (north Indian music). Whenever Westerners think of Indian music, they immediately think of Ravi Shankar and the sitar. Although South Indian music is extremely sophisticated, there has not emerged an artist with the worldwide recognition that North Indians, like Ravi Shankar, have been able to generate.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION

Carnatic Sangeet is found in the south Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Carnatica. These states are known for their strong presentation of Dravidian culture.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HINDUSTANI AND CARNATIC SANGEET

The reasons for the differentiation between North, and South Indian music is not clear. The generally held belief is that North Indian music evolved along different lines due to an increased exposure to the Islamic world. This results from nearly 800 years of Islamic rule over northern India.

Unfortunately, evidence suggests that this answer is a gross over-simplification. For instance, Kerala has an extremely large Muslim population, but virtually no identification with north Indian music. By the same token, the Islamic influence over Orissa was negligible, yet the artistic forms are clearly identifiable as Hindustani. Although there is a poor correlation between the geographical distribution of Hindus / Muslims and the two musical systems; there is an almost exact correlation between the Indo-European/Dravidian cultures and the two musical systems.

Therefore, we come to the politically uncomfortable, yet inescapable conclusion that the differences between North and South Indian music does not represent a differentiation caused by Islamic influence, but instead represents a continuation of fundamental cultural differences.

HISTORY OF CARNATIC SANGEET

We can begin our discussion of the history of Carnatic Sangeet with Purandardas (1480-1564). He is considered to be the father of Carnatic Sangeet. He is given credit for the codification of the method of education, and is also credited with several thousand songs.

Venkat Mukhi Swami (17th century) is the grand theorist of Carnatic music. He was the one who developed the melakarta system. This is the system for classifying south Indian rags.

Carnatic music really acquired its present form in the 18th century. It was during this period that the "trinity" of Carnatic music, Thyagaraja, Shamashastri, and Muthuswami Dikshitar composed their famous compositions. In addition to our "trinity". Numerous other musicians and composers enriched this tradition. Some notable personalities were; Papanasam Shivan, Gopala Krishna Bharati, Swati Tirunal, Mysore Vasudevachar, Narayan Tirtha, Uttukadu Venkatasubbair, Arunagiri Nathar, and Annamacharya.

CARNATIC MUSIC THEORY

Carnatic music has a very highly developed theoretical system. It is based upon a complex system of ragam (rag) and thalam (tal). These describe the intricacies of the melodic and rhythmic forms respectively.

The melodic foundation is the ragam (rag). Ragam (rag) is basically the scale. The seven notes of the scale are Sa Ri Ga Ma Pa Dha and Ni. However, unlike a simple scale there are certain melodic restrictions and obligations. Each ragam (rag) has a particular way that it moves from note to note.

The ragams are categorised into various modes. These are referred to as mela, and there are 72 in number. The mela are conceptually similar to the thats of North Indian music. There is however, a major difference. South Indian scales allow chromatic forms that are not allowed in Hindustani sangeet. For instance it is perfectly acceptable for the first three notes (i.e., Sa Re Ga to all be roughly one semitone apart. It is these permissible forms which allow there to be so many mela.

The tal (thalam) is the rhythmic foundation to the system. The south Indian tals are defined by a system of clapping and waving, while this is much less important in the north. North Indian musicians define their tals by their theka.

Nomenclature is one of the biggest differences between North and South Indian music. It is normal for a particular rag or tal to be called one thing in the North and something totally different in the South. It is also common for the same name to be applied to very different rags and tals. It is theses differences in nomenclature that have made any theoretical reconciliation difficult.

PERFORMANCE

Vocal music forms the basis of South Indian music. Although there is a rich instrumental tradition that uses vina, venu and violin, they revolve around instrumental renditions of vocal forms.

There are a number of sections to the Carnatic performance. Varanam is a form used to begin many south Indian performances. The word varanam literal means a description and this section is used to unfold the various important features of the ragam. The kritis are a fixed compositions in the rag. They have well identified composers and do not allow much scope for variation. However such compositions are often preceded by alapana. The alapana offers a way to unfold the ragam to the audience, and at the same time, allow the artist considerable scope for improvisation. The niruval and the kalpana swara also provide opportunities to improvise. Another common structure is the ragam, thanam, and, pallavi

South Indian performances are based upon three major sections. These are the pallavi anupallavi and charanam. These roughly correspond to the sthai, antara and the abhog in Hindustani sangeet.

CONCLUSION

The rich tradition of South Indian music is one of the worlds gems. The high performance standards and the well organised theoretical foundation put it on par with anything that world has seen, either East or West.


INSTRUMENTS USED IN SOUTH INDIAN MUSIC

* Thalam (manjira)
* Ghatam
* Murchang
* Venu
* Nadaswaram
* Veena
* Gotthuvadyam
* Thambura (tambura)
* Getchuvadyam
* Violin
* Mridangam
* Tavil
* Ottu