Musical Instruments
Instrumental Music – Pancha Vadyam
Pancha Vadyam literally means an orchestra of five instruments. It is an art form of Kerala, South India which is centred around temples and festivals. The instruments used are “Maddalam”, “Thimila”, “Idakka”, “Kobmu”, “Elathalam” – Cymbal. Maddalam, Idakka and Thimila as we have seen already belong to the Membranophones family. Kombu is a Wind Instrument of the Aerophone family. Elathalam or Ilathalam is a metallic instrument having resemblance to Cymbals, made of bronze. Like Chenda Melams, Pancha Vadyam is based on the Seven-Beat Thripuda Thalam. But it also played on the Chempata Thalam having Eight Beats. Pancha Vadyam is peformed during temple rituals and festivals in Kerala. Typical Pancha Vadyam performance lasts abo...
Thimila
Thimila is another percussion drum instrument belonging to the Membranophones family of instrument widely used in Kerala, South India. It is also an hour-glass shaped double headed instrument with a hollow body, having skin heads on its both open ends. Thimila is mainly used for Pancha Vadyam and also in some temple rituals. It is also known as Paani. Thimila is also considered as a divine instrument and hence used for temple rituals like Sree-Bali, Sree-Bhootha-Bali etc. in temples. Construction The hollow body of Thimila is made of polished Jack Wood and its drumheads are made of Calf Skin. The skins are held together by leather braces. The braces are twined round the waste of the drum, helping in adjusting the tension and controlling the sound produced by the instrument. The body of Thi...
Maddalam
Maddalam (Madhalam) is a double headed drum instrument which looks like Mridangam but bigger and heavier than it. It has a projection on its body in the middle portion. Maddalam is used for Pancha Vadyam, Keli, Kathakali and Krishnanaattam. The name Maddalam has been derived from the Sanskrit word “Marddalam”, meaning something which receives pressure. Maddalam normally received beating on its left and right heads from the player. There are two varieties of Maddalam – Suddha Maddalam and Toppi Maddalam. Suddha Maddalam belongs to Avanaddha Vadya catagory of Musical Instruments which are basically Membranophones. The four Major Categories of Musical Instruments are Avanaddha Vadya, Ghana Vadya, Sushira Vadya and Tata Vadya. Avanaddha Vadya are Membranophones and Percussion...
Instrumental Music – Idakka with Nadaswaram
Instrumental Music – Idakka with Nadaswaram Here is one interesting piece of music on Nadaswaram and Idakka. The featured artists are Vadasseri Sivadas and Vishnuprasad Marar, Guruvayur. One of the famous songs on Lord Krishna is rendered on Nadaswaram with the accompaniment of Idakka. Song: Chethi Mandaram Thulasi Music: G.Devarajan Lyrics: Vayalar Rama Varma Language: Malayalam Raga: Anandabhairavi The video is presented by the YouTube Channel Blue Planet Cinema/Abhinava Bharatham Series. With Vadassery Sivadas on Nadaswaram and Vishnuprasad Marar on Idakka, the rendering is excellent. Picture and Video used for illustration only – Credit: Blue Planet Cinema Let us watch and listen to the video. 00
Idakka
Idakka Idakka is a percussion instrument having its origin from Kerala in India. It is also spelt as Edakka or Edaykka which literally means “In the Middle”. This has shape like the “Damaru” and a two headed drum instrument but bigger than the Damaru. Idakka is categorized among the Mangala Vadyas (auspicious instruments). Considering its divinity, it is never kept on the floor but hung near the Sanctum Sanctorum of the temple when not in use. It is believed that Vedas and Arts have connection with Idakka. Construction The Idakka consists of two circular drum heads. Each drum head is mounted within a circular ring. The shape of the body is of hourglass, which is placed between the two heads. The two rings are pulled towards each other using Laces. Drum heads are thu...
Instrumental Music – Shinkari Melam
We saw two forms of Chenda Melam – Panchari and Paandi – but here is another highly energetic and entertaining form the “Shinkari Melam”. Shinkari melam differs from the other forms of Melams. In other forms, usually the artists are stationary in their own positions while playing the instruments. But in Shinkari Melam, the players keep moving and dancing in different styles while playing their instruments. This brings the viewers and listeners to dance to the tunes of the melam making it more energetic and involved. Compared to other forms, the progression of the Thala is more vibrant and fast. Both men and lady troupes perform Shinkari Melam whereas the other forms are dominated by men. Like other forms, Shinkari Melam also can last for one to two hours of duration...
Instrumental Music – Flute Concert
Featured today, we have Vidwan J A Jayanth on flute and team performing for the Naada Inbam December Music Festival 2020. The first song rendered here is the Hamsadhwani Ragam. The concert is about 2 hours and you can enjoy various songs. Accompanying him are as follows. Violin: Sri L Ramakrishnan Mridangam: N C Bharadwaj Ghatam: Chandrasekhara Sharma J A Jayant is one of the promising young flautists who started his performance at the age of 7. Flute Maestro Late Sri T S Sankaran is his grand father. He has pefrormed at various Music Sabhas and venues in India and abroad. L Ramakrishnan hails from a musical family. His formal initiation into music was done by his mother when he was 2 years old. After learning Carnatic Vocal for eight years, his Violin classes started when he was 10. He ha...
Instrumental Music – Sitar with Tabla
Here is young Anoushka Shankar performing with Ustad Zakir Hussain. Anoushka Shankar is a British-Indian Sitar artist and composer and daughter of Pandit Ravi Shankar. Ustad Zakir Hussain does not need any introduction, who is an Indian Tabala player, composer, percussionist, music producer and a film actor. Late Ustad Allah Rakha is his father. Both Anoushka and Zakir Hussain are well known in their fields and have performed together and individually on various stages inside and outside India. They have also collaborated with many great Indian and Foreign artists and received various awards and accolades. Let us listen to Anoushka Shankar and Ustad Zakir Hussain performing live, rendering the Raga Tilak Shyam. Picture and Video used for illustration only – Credit: Lakshay Garg/Unite...
Instrumental Music – Pandi Melam
We discussed about various forms of Melams using the instrument Chenda and one of the common forms is the Pandi Melam. It consists of seven beats and could last for two to three hours of duration. Pandi Melam has four stages with rhythmic cycles, totalling 56, 28, 14 and 7 of Thalavattams. Pandi Melam is staged normally only outside the temple. The Elanji Thara Melam during the Thrissur Pooram festival is an exception to this. This is performed inside the Vadakkunnathan Temple (Siva Temple) compound in Thrissur. Pandi Melam is performed during the Araattupuzha and Peruvanam Poorams in Thrissur district but they are performed outside the temple. While Panchari Melam is of Six Beat thalam, Pandi Melam is of Seven Beat thalam. Let us now watch and listen to the highly energetic Pandi Melam, b...
Instrumental Music – Saxophone Concert
Presenting the Late Shri Kadri Gopalnath, Indian Alto Saxophonist and one of the pioneers for Saxophone. The concert is curated by Darbar Arts Culture Heritage Trust at the Darbar Festival in London. The rendering is the famous Vatapi Ganapathim Bhaje in the Hamsadhwani Raga. Artists on stage Saxophone: Shri Kadri Gopalnath Violin: Jyotsna Srikanth Mridangam: Bangalore Praveen Ghatam: R N Prakash Tanpura: Kaviraj Singh Shri Kadri Gopalnath (Dec 1949 to Oct 2019) was born in the Sajeepa Mooda village of Dakshina Kannada. His father Shri Taniyappa was a great Nadaswara Vidwan and he acquired the taste for music from his father. It seems Shri Kadri Gopalnath took almost 20 years to master the Saxophone, a western musical instrument. He was crowned as the “Saxophone Chakravarthy”. ...
Saxophone
Saxophone is a Woodwind Instrument in the Single-Reed family. It has a conical shaped body which is usually made of brass. A reed on the mouthpiece of the instrument produces sound due to vibration of sound inside the body. The effective length of the body is changed by closing and opening of holes on it, to control the pitch. Leather pads are attached to keys which are operated by the player. These close and open the holes on the body. Air is blown into the mouthpiece using the player’s mouth to produce sound. Unlike other reed instruments, Saxophone is slightly complex instrument. Types of Saxophones There are different types of Saxophones like Sopranino, Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Baritone, Bass, Contrabass, Subcontrabass Saxophones. These are classified as Military Band family. Orches...
Instrumental Music – Panchari Melam
Today, we will see one of the different forms of Melams performed using Chenda, which is the Panchari Melam. This is a percussion ensemble normally performed during various temple festivals in Kerala. This on its elaborate form, could extend up to 3 hours and more. Here we will see only the first Kaalam, which is the Pathi Kaalam. In Carnatic Music, we have the Roopaka Thalam (Taal or Beat) having six beats. Panchari is also a six-beat Thalam. The Panchari Melam represents “Sattva Guna” and therefore suitable for playing inside the temple premises. There are five stages for Panchari Melam with beats totalling to 96, 48, 24, 12 and 6. The first of it is the Pathi Kalam. This is played on the Uruttu Chenda and accompanied by Veekku Chenda, Kuzhal, Kompu and Elathalam (Edathalam)....