Indian Music

By Nyssa Rabinowitz and Lauren Mitchell

History

Civilizations have inhabited the Indus Valley for over five thousand years. During the reign of the Gupta Kingdom, between 500-700 AD, Northern India experienced a golden age with many advances in science, literature, and the arts. Historically, the relations between Hindus and Muslims have been strained, eventually leading to the separation of Pakistan and present-day India. After being colonized by the British, India gained its independence in 1947 through a movement of civil disobedience led by Mahatma Gandhi.

Culture

The Indian population is the second largest in the world, with ethnically Indo-Aryans making up more than 70% of the population. Hundreds of languages are spoken, and eighteen are considered official languages, including Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Tamil, Punjabi, and Sanskrit. English is used in government, business, and education. Approximately 80% of Indians follow Hinduism, which is considered a “way of life” rather than a religion. Buddhism, Islam, Jainism and Sikhism are also practiced. Stories from the epic Sanskrit poems the Ramayana and Mahabharata are often incorporated in music and theatrical performances.

Indigenous Instruments

Sitar History:

The sitar is the most popular Indian instrument. The sitar’s body is made from a seasoned gourd and have an extremely long neck. The sitar usually has a total of eighteen strings. Seven of these strings are played above the arched frets of the instrument and the remaining eleven strings are played below the frets. The sitar also has two separate bridges: a larger bridge for the main strings and a smaller “flat bridge” for the sympathetic strings (the eleven other strings). The flat bridges of the sitar are usually made from bone.

http://www.mondouno.com/sitars.htm

http://www.buckinghammusic.com/sitar/sitar.html

Tabla History:

The tabla consists of two separate drums. The right hand drum is called the dayan (also called the dahina or the tabla) and is carved out of a solid piece of wood. The left hand drum is called the bayan (also called the duggi) and is out of polished copper, brass, bronze, or clay. The name ‘tabla’ came from the Arabic word for drum – ‘tabl’. The tabla’s culture and structure was influenced by Muslim invaders, but the earliest descriptions of the tabla that we recognize today (and the drums depicted in the picture) derive from the 18th century. The tabla began to increase in popularity over the last two centuries in north Indian classical music. Over these two centuries, the instrument also changed slightly with the dayan getting slightly smaller and the bayan becoming slightly larger. This instrument is now the primary drum for both classical and popular music in Northern India.

http://www.tabla.com/tablawha.html

Gopichand History

This instrument is a popular folk instrument from Bengal, India. It was used most by the Baul who were wandering minstrels. The length of the gopichand varies from as small as one foot to three feet long; however, the normal length is 2-3 feet. The two split ends of the instrument are forced apart and attached to a resonator which may be a coconut, gourd, metal container, or a hollowed cylinder of wood. The resonator is then covered with taught skin with a string going through the center and attaching to a tuning peg in the bamboo shaft. The two legs of the bamboo are then squeezed together by the left hand while the right hand plucks the string creating a very distinctive sound as the pitch bends.

http://mrc.spps.org/30Sep20046.html

Shruti Box History

This box is one of the simplest drone instruments in Indian music. It is often used to accompany wind instruments, in particular the flute, and it also can be used to accompany singers (Lakshmi and Janani used this for their IFAF performances this year and last year). One side of the box contains the bellows of the instrument and the shruti box player must pump air from this side into the reeds which are on the opposite side of the box. The air flows through little holes which each have a brass reed placed in them. By moving these reeds, one can change the sound of the instrument from an open sound to a muted one. The shruti box originated from the harmonium.

http://www.indianmusicalinstruments.com/shrutibox.htm

Song Analysis

Sholagobe Patore Bashe by Purna Das Baul

04 Sholagobe Patore Bashe.wma

• One male voice accompanied by gopichand, tabla, harmonium, Ghunghur (bells attached around ankles)
• Male voice is relatively high-pitched
• Mostly syllabic singing
• Homophonic
• Structure defined by ritornello-like phrases where voice rests for about 8 seconds and harmonium takes over melody
• Lyrics are repeated (especially “sholagobe patore bashe”), but no standard western structure is evident
• Discernible beat, but meter changes
• Not tonal by western standards but seems to have a tonal center

1. :00-:57
1. 3 seconds without voice, only gopichand
2. Voice begins at :03 slowly and speeds up slightly until :28, when it reaches the tempo it will stay at for the rest of the song
3. Harmonium begins with voice, acting as a quiet drone, and becomes more active at :15
4. Percussion begins at :15 Mostly the small drum and ankle bells, with occasional interruptions of the large drum (like at :38)
5. Syllabic singing, rhythmic pattern of short notes
6. Ends with an 8 second ritornello with only instruments, where melody is dominated by harmonium and drums
2. :57-1:23
1. Differs from past section in that notes are long and drawn out, sustaining one note for 6-7 seconds
2. Accompaniment remains similar to first section
3. Shorter transition of only 3 seconds where harmonium takes over melody
3. 1:23-1:52
1. Return to shorter notes and syllabic lyrics
2. Lyrics before 1:40 are new, but ending lyrics are repeated from beginning section
3. Ends with an instrumental interlude 7 seconds long

1:52-2:18

1. Longer, sustained style of singing returns at 2:05
2. Transition is 4 seconds long
1. 2:18-2:55
1. Shorter, syllabic notes return
2. Up until 2:36, lyrics are new, but from 2:36-2:55 lyrics are the same as those used in the first section
3. Transition is 8 seconds long
2. 2:55-3:30
1. This section also starts with new lyrics up until 3:10 and then returns to the lyrics that begin with “sholagobe patore bashe”
2. Ritornello lasts 8 seconds
3. 3:30-3:52
1. Begins with a glissando-like ascending run in the voice, then a long sustained note
2. 3 second long instrumental transition
4. 3:52-4:30
1. Lyrics from beginning of third section and “sholagobe patore bashe” lyrics are repeated
2. Ends with a slight ritardando

• Bauls of Bengal: nomadic ethnic group in rural areas, famous for music
• Characteristically simple songs compared to higher class
• Lyrics based on mythology and folklore
• Meant to be danced to

Biography: Ravi Shankar

Ravi Shankar is famous for introducing western audiences to the sitar in new contexts like film music, ballet and orchestral works. Not only does he play the sitar, but also conducts and composes. He was born in the holy city of Benares in India in 1920 and grew up as a member of the upper-class Bengali Brahmins. At the age of ten, his family sent him to Paris to study with his older brother’s troupe of Indian musicians. There, he attended school and was exposed to Western music. When he was fifteen, he watched the sitar master Ustad Allauddin Khan play as a soloist and was inspired to learn to play too. Khan agreed to teach Ravi, but only if he would give up his luxurious life in Paris to live in a tiny village in India. There, he would practice for twelve hours a day, sleeping for only four or five hours at night and spending the rest of his time studying, praying and meditating.

In 1956, Shankar came to New York City for his first American performance, and the audience and critics loved him. For the next ten years, he traveled around America and Europe, playing with famous musicians like violinist Yehudi Menuhin and composing works like the first Concerto for Sitar and Orchestra. His career changed dramatically when he met George Harrison of the Beatles, who had been impressed with a recording he heard of Shankar. The two collaborated by studying together in India for seven weeks, and as a result, Shankar became popular among the youth of Britain and America. However, he did not like the attitude of his audience towards music, thinking they didn’t give it enough respect. He had a nervous breakdown in 1975 from all the stress of touring with Harrison, and decided to stop playing concerts for two years. When he eventually returned, he would only play classical or ethnic music concerts, to avoid becoming so popular again. He lost a lot of his young audience, but held on to a few devout Indian music fans. In 1982, he wrote the score for the film Ghandi, and two years later, he devoted his life to teaching and writing.

Works Cited

Courtney, David. "Gopichand." Chandra and David's Homepage. 11 June 2005. 4 Dec 2006 <http://www.chandrakantha.com/articles/indian_music/gopichand.html>.

"Description and History of the Tabla." Tabla.com. 1999. 4 Dec 2006

<http://www.tabla.com/tablawha.html>.

Gupt, Bharat. "Music in India." Encyclopedia of Modern Asia. Eds. David Levinson and Karen Christensen. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2002.

"India." CultureGrams 2007: World Edition. Provo: ProQuest Information and Learning, 2006.

"Musical Instrument Collection." Multicultural Resource Center. Multicultural Resource Center. 4 Dec 2006 <http://mrc.spps.org/30sep20046.html>.

"Ravi Shankar." Contemporary Musicians, Volume 38. Gale Group, 2003.

"Shruti Box - By DMS." Delhi Musical Stores. 29 Oct. 2006. Delhi Musical Stores. 4 Dec 2006 <http://www.indianmusicalinstruments.com/shrutibox.htm>.

"Shruti Box." WorldMusicalInstruments.com. 2006. AccuVis. 4 Dec 2006 <http://www.worldmusicalinstruments.com/MusicalInstrumentList.asp?CategoryID=112>.

"The Bauls of Bengal." Department of South Asia Studies. University of Pennsylvania. 6 Dec 2006 <http://www.southasia.upenn.edu/home/calendar/2004-2005/Baul-10-20-04.htm>.

"Traditional Indian Sitars." MondoUNO.com. 2005. 4 Dec 2006 <http://www.mondouno.com/sitars.htm>.