EASTEN MUSIC INSTRUMENT

History of Indian musical instruments

Revered Hindu religious scriptures of the Vedas speak of the use of musical instruments in worship. The fact that Indian musical instruments are mentioned in such ancient religious works is indicative of the fact that music had an important role in ancient India. The foundation of Indian music was rooted in three different forms of performance-art. These were Vocal music or singing, instrumental m
usic and dance.

Medieval musical instruments are those that were used between the fifth and seventeenth centuries AD in India. Many religious songs that dealt with the story of Radha and Krishna were composed during this period. During the Muslim invasion of Northern India Indian music came to be divided into the Northern Hindustani music and the southern Carnatic style of music. The instruments used in the medieval era by musicians from both styles of music included the veena, the sitar, the sarod, the shehenai, the tabla, the harmonium and the pakhavaj to name just a few.
Indian music has two main aspects. Rag which deals with the area of melody and Tal which has to do with rhythm. The system of Rag involves the arrangement of seven notes.
Today, many ancient musical instruments are hard to locate and some rare musical instruments that were once an important part of Indian musical tradition are no longer used at all. The 'been', a traditional blowpipe as is usually depicted in pictures of snake-charmers and the 'bhopung', a one-stringed musical instrument are some examples of these.

1. Esraj

2. Bulbul Tara
3. Talking Drum

4. Tuned Drum

5. Mini-Djembe
6. Tambourine

7. Misc. Wooden flutes

8. Maracas

The more interesting instruments to play were definitely the esraj, bulbul tara and the talking drum.

The esraj is a simpler version of a sitar. It has four main strings and 13 "sympathetic" strings (the strings that resonate, giving the instrument a sustained reverberating sound. The instrument can be played flat, standing upright, or even with a bow. I played it flat (two hands, no bow) on "Karnak by Camel", "Many Roads, Many Travels", and "Jewel in the Desert".

The basic idea behind the keyboard sitar, or bulbul tara, has been around for centuries. It is a hollow wooden box with strings running from one side to the other on the top. If you press a key (or, sometimes round buttons are used) a small, attached piece of metal below it clamps down on the string beneath. When strummed with the right hand, you get the desired note. Strumming the note over eight or more similarly-tuned strings gives it a very palatable, full ("chorused") sound. The hollow box adds a nice reverb effect. I used the bulbul tara on "Journey Down the Nile", "Craftsmen's Song", and "Jewel in the Desert".

The talking drum is a fun instrument. Basically, you hold the drum under one arm, hitting it with the opposite hand. Squeezing the drum under your arm stretches the ropes that hold it together, causing the pitch of the drum to go up. As you let go, the strings release, and the tuning goes down. It makes for some interesting rhythms! This drum can be heard in "Karnak by Camel" and "Craftmans song".
The other instruments (and some other rhythmic instruments not pictured) were used extensively on most of the tunes. The tambourine was used on almost every one of them.

My goal was to write music all in a similar style and meter - and the hope that about an hour's worth would keep it fresh and interesting. I didn't set out to copy the musical style of any album or movie; in fact, I wanted to make sure the music didn't sound like anyone else's. Everything about our game is unique in some way, and I wanted the music to reflect that as well

The Musical Instruments of ASWAT
The qanun (also spelled kanun, kanoon) is a 75-stringe dzither used in Near Eastern Music. The sound box is trapezoidal in shape; it somewhat resembles the autoharp, but is larger. It’s played with small picks attached to the forefingers of either hand. A long bridge on the right-hand side of the instrument rests on goat – or fish-skin covered windows in the top of the instrument; on the left hand side, each course of strings passes over a series of small brass levers that are used to make microtonal changes in pitch. The word qanun means “law,” and the word exists in English in the form of “canon.” In Near Eastern music, the instrument lays down the law of pitch for other instruments and singers; the qanun player is often the leader of the orchestra.

The kaman is the Arabic violin. In parts of the Middle East, the European violin has replaced the older kamanja as the principal bowed instrument, partly because of its louder tone. However, the Arabic violin is tuned differently — d G D G instead of e a D G — and the playing style is quite different

Tambourines

Long before the Tambourine Man played a song for Bob Dylan, tambourine-like instruments were being used by Ojibwe and Cree people in what is now Canada, in several Middle Eastern cultures, in South India, China, and in Eastern Europe. In ancient Egypt, tambourines were used by temple dancers, and were used in festivals and processions by the Greeks and Romans.

Over in Western Europe, the tambourine began to gain popularity in the mid-18th century as an orchestral instrument, particularly when that infamous rebel of the classical music world, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, began to employ it in several compositions. Today, while the tambourine is still occasionally used in orchestral music, it’s more commonly associated with Western folk music
Violin family

The eight instruments form a family with basic traits in common, but each member has its own individual personality. The homogeneity of sound is the result of adjustments in body length and other physical characteristics so that each instrument has its so-called main wood resonance and main air resonance near the two open middle strings (as is the case with the Heifetz Guarnerius violin). In the five higher instruments – Treble, Soprano, Mezzo, Alto, Tenor – the main wood resonance lies near the open second string, and the main air, or Helmho

ltz, resonance lies near the open third string. In the three lower instruments – Baritone, Small Bass, and large Contrabass – the Helmholtz air resonance is placed several semitones lower to suit the preferences of many performers. Experimental musical evaluation of the Octet in England has, however, indicated a preference for the higher placement of the Helmholtz resonance in the lower instruments so as to give a lighter, more balanced consort sound. A Tenor and a Baritone have been built this way.

ESRAJ

Hauptsächlich in Bengalen ist die Esraj ein populäres Streichinstrument das

z. B. zur Begleitung von Tagore-Liedern zum Einsatz kommt wohingegen sie in der klassischen indischen Musik kaum als Soloinstrument gespielt wird. Die Esraj verfügt sechs Spielsaiten und 15 Re

sonanzsaiten. Der Hals ist mit Bünden ausgestattet wie wir sie auch bei der Sitar in ähnlicher Form vorfinden. Der stabile massive Holzkorpus ist wie bei der Sarod mit Ziegenleder bespannt die als Resonanzdecke dient. Auf dieser

Lederbespannung ist ein Hornsteg aufgestellt über den die Spie

lsaiten führen die zum Teil aus Stahl und aus Bronze bestehen. Die Resonanzsaiten laufen ebenfalls durch den Steg. Die Esraj wird mit einem Bogen ähnlich wie bei einer Violine gestrichen und bringt einen sehr oberton- und resonanzreichen Ton hervor der etwas an den Klang alter europäischer Instrumente aus der Renaissance erinnert.

Dilruba

"Dil" means heart and "rubha" means enchanter. "That which enchants the heart" is what this instrument is named after. It is truly a magical instrument. It is considered a mixture of two instruments the sitar and sarangi. It is bowed as the other hand slides all the necessary musical melodies with rich gamakas (ornamentations). Although it has a sitar type fret layout, the string is not pulled to give meend (glissando). As a matter of fact, the string rarely touches the frets as one plays.

It is said that the Dilruba was designed especially for women to play as both the sarangi and the sitar require substantial calluses and that can end up disfiguring y

our fingers.

Sri Lankan Drums

Drums play a major role in Religion. While music was firstly used to entertain man, was then used in devotion to God. Major events, such as the Perehares of Sri Lanka are comprised of the sounds of Drums.

Farmers use many varieties of drums (Uddakki, Bummadi, ect..) when harvesting crops. Many a ritual in Sri Lankan Folklore, involves drums

TABLA

The Left Tabla[Dayan], diameter 10", is made of good quality brass with anodized colour for unique finish. The right Tabla[Bayan], diameter 6", is made of sheesham wood. The head of Tabla[puddi] is most critical part specially made by our craftsmen

Bansori Flutes

These are diatonic bamboo flutes built for me by an excellent flute maker in California, Jeff Whittier. As you can see, they come in a variety of sizes and can have six or seven holes. The different sizes allow you to play in diffent keys and in different ranges. Even though these are technically one-key flutes, you can play half-tones and quarter-tones by partially covering the holes with your fingers. The seven-hole flutes enable you to bend notes into the octave. The seventh hole is played with the pinkie of your right hand and is generally only used on smaller flutes. Although these are simple flutes, by rolling your fingers off the holes, you are able to bend notes like a string player. East Indian players use this techni

que to imitate the qualities of the human voice. All bamboo flutes in this section are wrapped with nylon cord (see close-up) and periodically oiled with mustard seed oil or walnut oil to prevent cracking.