A) DRUMS OF INDIA

Tabla

Pakhawaj

Mridagam

Khol

Dholak

Dholki

Dhol

Tavil

Damru

Madal

Naal

Kanjira

Indian Tasha Drum

Ghatam

Nagara

Duff

Tabla : Shridhar Padhye Pakhawaj : Arjun Shejwal Mridagam : M.Kalyana Raman Khol : Natu Goswami



DRUMS OF INDIA
BY CHANDIRAMANI


India is a land of ancient culture and traditions, in which dance, music,
art, literature, architecture and handicraft etc. play a very important role.

We have chosen to concentrate on DRUMS OF INDIA , an essential part
of MUSIC, in this article. For other articles on Classic Literature ,Folk
Tales , Music and dance ,
visit www.chandiramani.com

Also visit G.L.Chandiramani on google and yahoo.

E mail : mrchandiramani@yahoo.com

Some association , corporate firm or TV should organize a festival of
drums of India . We can guide them
ORIGION OF RHYTHM


Now what is rhythm? The most basic rhythm is that of heart. The heart
beats in a very Rhythmatic fashion and you can count the beats.

The whole Universe rotates in a Rhythm.

When we walk, that also is in a Rhythm

To start with, Rhythm was started by beating the ground with the feet;
afterwards it was with the clapping of the hands. Sometimes, they would
beat a tree, stone or a hard surface with the hands or with a stick to
produce a Rhythm Afterwards leather skins were added to the hollow
woods and we had an endless variety of drums. Many of them are not in
vogue today.

How the counting of rhythms started, nobody knows about it but
evidently it is beyond doubt that the first rhythm was of two beats. It is
the most important Rhythm of the world and even in tribal areas of India
as well as of Africa and the whole world; they dance in two beats, of
course without realizing it.

Slowly in India, which was mathematically very advanced, a permutation
of two beats started and so in due course we had ,4, 8, 12 and 16 beats,
each rhythm having variations of playing.

With time, one more beat was added to the two beats and a basic
Rhythm of three beats was evolved Slowly permutations and
combinations yielded a rhythm of 5 beats, a combination of 2 beats and
three beats.

Also of 7 beats , a combination of 3 and 4 beats,With time, even 4
varieties of 7 beats were evolved. In due course, it was natural that
numerous other combinations would be attempted and perfected
throughout the centuries. So it has become a challenge for us to
preserve our ancient drums, as well as Side Rhythm Instruments along
with our rhythms. This is something that we are trying to do and so far
have already collected information on 16 drums ..
HISTORY OF DRUM PLAYING :


Incidentally the earliest proof of drum playing is in an Egyptian temple
where they show Goddess Hather , Goddess of Music, playing drums in
a frame ., Goddess Isis and Sekhmet were also known to play drums in a
frame.

There are also scores of ancient drums in South America , and Africa.
The Chinese, Vietnamese and Indonesian have also ancient bronze
drums.
Artefacts in India show a great variety of drums . Outside India, at
Borobudur in Indonesia Buddhist Statues show musicians playing on
drums.

It is only in India where our ancestors have developed very complicated
rythms with mathematical precision from 2 beats to 16 beats onward. In
most places of the world , they play mostly in 2 beats.

In Panchatantra Classic written in 2 OO B.C in Sanskrit , there is a
reference about the existence of 49 types of Rhythms. According to
Bharatamuni*, an ancient sage , music consists of seven notes, three
scales, twenty-one modulations, forty-nine rhythms and three speeds.
There are also several Ragaas and Raginis* which have to be sung at the
proper time and season.

Refer to Panchatantra by Chandiramani (Rupa & Co ) page 233 . Classic
Natya Shastra was also written in 2OO B.C and deals with Dance and
Music.

ATTACHMENT
DRUMS OF INDIA




Tabla
1. TABLA
Tabla consists of two drums, one for the left hand and one for the right
and accompanies classical vocal,Light vocal (Thumris) Ghazals as well
as Bhajans and folk music.

Amir Khusroo is credited with the creation and development of Tabla . A
22OO year Old Motif on a stone wall at Bhaja in Maharashtra shows a
woman playing an instrument similar to Tabla .

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Pakhawaj
2. Pakhawaj
It is one of our oldest drums It is a barrel shaped drum with leather skin
on both the sides . Phakhawaj is played with our most ancient type of
singing namely Dhrupad and Dhamar and Bhajans. The most ancient
drum in India is called Dundhubi, the earthenware drum. The word
Pakhawaj is derived from Pakha which means Pure and Awaj means the
sound . Pakhawaj finds mention in Mahabharat and Natya Shastra (
Written in 2OO B.C) Without doubt , it is the king of Indian drums .

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Mridagam
3. Mridagam
It is the main drum of South India for Karnataka Music.

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Khol
4. Khol
In eastern India khol accompanies the melodious Baul and Bhatialies
sung by Bards going from village to village. It is also played with
modern music .

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Dholak
5. Dholak
It Is usually played with folk music and other type of light music.

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Dholki
6. Dholki
It is also played in folk music and other types of light music .

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Dhol
7. Dhol
It has an appearance of a barrel with leather skin attached to the Sides. It
accompanies the fiery Bhangra in Punjab,Raas in Gujarat and folk music
in Rajasthan and other places in India ..

It is played with wooden sticks

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Tavil
8. Tavil
This drum is played in south India only mostly in temples .It
accompanies Nagaswaram a very important instrument of south India

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Damru
9. Damru
This percussion instrument is associated with the cosmic dance of Lord
Shiva The two threads attached to the drum have beads at the end and
when rotated with the hand touch the lather skin on both the sides and
produce a peculiar musical sound .

The villagers make monkeys dance to the accompaniment of Damru ..

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Madal
10. Madal
It is a two faced d rum. Both sides are used . It is usually played with
dance and folk music.

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Naal
11. Naal
It is also a two faced drum played with both the hands

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Kanjira
12. Kanjira
It is played in South India to accompany singing , although it is
nowadays played all over India.Only one face is there .It is held with one
hand and played with the other.It is in the category of frame drums.

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Indian Tasha Drum
13. Indian Tasha Drum
Hand-made terracotta with a goat-skin head. This is a traditional Indian
drum that can be played with the hand or with the bamboo beaters.

Includes a beautifully carved wood tripod .stand and a pair of bamboo
beaters.

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Ghatam
14. Ghatam - (Matka)
It is made of clay .There is an opening of the top .One plays at the top
with both the hands, In some cases , the opening is covered by the belly
of the musician and he strikes the Ghatam to produce various sounds.

Ghatam is used mainly with South Indian Music . Also Sind uses it
extensively with folk music.It is called Matko in Sind

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Nagara
15. Nagara
NAGARA is played in the (magrib) at sunset in Dargahs (mosques ) or as
an announcement about the arrival of a royal personality.

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Duff
16. Duff
Duff has a leather skin on the frame and rings and bells are in the frame.
It is played with light music .

There are so many drums in India that it is impossible to bring them
under one article .

However Contributions for different drums are welcome .Can anyone
send us photos of Hudki and Dimri?

Information about other drums with photos will be appreciated.
Saaz Raag aur Taal Vol-1


Saaz Raag aur Taal ( Instrumental Music of India)Volume I

Instruments :Flute, Surbahar,Jaltarang,Taar
shehnai,Santoor,Harmonium,Sarangi,Vichtra Veena,Tabla
Tarang,Dilruba,Sarod ,Sitar,Shahnai

Side Rhythm Instruments : Madal,Ghungroo,Kartal,Chimto.Damru.Bara
Manjira,Hudki,Dimri,Duff.Matka,Dugi Tarang

Drums:Khol.Pakhawaj,Tabla,Dhol,Dholki,Dholak,Nagara.


VOLUME - I