Sexophone

The saxophone (also referred to as the sax) is a conical-bored transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian Adolphe Sax in 1841. He wanted to create an instrument that would both be the most powerful and vocal of the woodwinds and the most adaptive of the brass, which would fill the then vacant middle ground between the two sections. He patented the sax in 1846 in two groups of seven instruments each. Each series consisted of instruments of various sizes in alternating transposition. The series pitched in B♭ and E♭, designed for military bands, has proved extremely popular and most saxophones encountered today are from this series. A few saxophones remain from the less popular orchestral series pitched in C and F.
While proving very popular in its intended niche of military band music, the saxophone is most commonly associated with popular music, big band music, blues, early rock and roll, ska and particularly jazz. There is also a substantial repertoire of concert music in the classical idiom for the members of the saxophone family. Saxophone players are called saxophonists.

History:
The saxophone was developed in the 1840s by Adolphe Sax, a Belgian-born instrument-maker, flautist, and clarinetist working in Paris. While still working at his father's instrument shop in Brussels, Sax began developing an instrument which had the projection of a brass instrument with the agility of a woodwind. Another priority was to invent an instrument which would overblow at the octave, unlike the clarinet, which rises in pitch by a twelfth when overblown; an instrument which overblew at the octave would have identical fingering for both registers.
Prior to his work on the saxophone, Sax made several improvements to the bass clarinet by improving its keywork and acoustics and extending its lower range. Sax was also a maker of the then-popular ophicleide, a large conical brass instrument in the bass register with keys similar to a woodwind instrument. His experience with these two instruments allowed him to develop the skills and technologies needed to make the first saxophones. Adolphe Sax created an instrument with a single reed mouthpiece like a clarinet, conical brass body like an ophicleide, and the acoustic properties of both the french horn and the clarinet.
Having constructed saxophones in several sizes in the early 1840s, Sax applied for, and received, a 15-year patent for the instrument on June 28, 1846.[2] The patent encompassed 14 versions of the fundamental design, split into two categories of seven instruments each and ranging from sopranino to contrabass. Although the instruments transposed at either F or C have been considered "orchestral", there is no evidence that Sax intended this. As only 3% of Sax's surviving production were pitched in F and C, and as contemporary composers used the E♭ alto and B♭ bass saxophone freely in orchestral music, it is almost certain that ♭Sax experimented to find the most suitable keys for these instruments, settling upon instruments alternating between E♭ and B♭ rather than those pitched in F and C, for reasons of tone and economy (the saxophones were the most expensive wind musical instruments of their day). The C soprano saxophone was the only instrument to sound at concert pitch. All the instruments were given an initial written range from the B below the treble staff to the F three ledger lines above it, giving each saxophone a range of two and a half octaves.
Sax's patent expired in 1866;[3] thereafter numerous saxophonists and instrument manufacturers implemented their own improvements to the design and keywork. The first substantial modification was by a French manufacturer who extended the bell slightly and added an extra key to extend the range downwards by one semitone to B♭. It is suspected that Sax himself may have attempted this modification. This extension was adopted into almost all modern designs.
Sax's original keywork, which was based on the Triebert system 3 oboe for the left hand and the Boehm clarinet for the right, was very simplistic and made playing some legato passages and wide intervals extremely difficult to finger, so numerous developers added extra keys and alternate fingerings to make chromatic playing less difficult. While the early saxophone had two separate octave vents to assist in the playing of the upper registers just as modern instruments do, players of Sax's original design had to operate these via two separate octave keys operated by the left thumb. A substantial advancement in saxophone keywork was the development of a method by which both tone holes are operated by a single octave key by the left thumb which is now universal on all modern saxophones. One of the most radical, however temporary, revisions of saxophone keywork was made in the 1950s by M. Houvenaghel of Paris, who completely redeveloped the mechanics of the system to allow a number of notes (C♯, B, A, G, F and E♭) to be flattened by a semitone simply by lowering the right middle finger. This enables a chromatic scale to be played over two octaves simply by playing the diatonic scale combined with alternately.
Description:
The saxophone consists of an approximately conical tube of thin metal, most commonly brass and sometimes plated with silver, gold, and nickel, flared at the tip to form a bell. At intervals along the tube are between 20 and 23 tone holes of varying size, including two very small 'speaker' holes to assist the playing of the upper register. These holes are covered by keys (also known as pad cups), containing soft leather pads, which are closed to produce an airtight seal; at rest some of the holes stand open and others are closed. The keys are controlled by buttons pressed by the fingers, while the right thumb sits under a thumb rest to help keep the saxophone balanced. The fingering for the saxophone is a combination of that of the oboe with the Boehm system, and is very similar to the flute or the upper register of the clarinet. Instruments that play to low A have a left thumb key for that note.
The simplest design of saxophone is a straight conical tube, and the sopranino and soprano saxophones are usually of this straight design. However, as the lower-pitched instruments would be unacceptably long if straight, for ergonomic reasons the larger instruments usually incorporate a U-bend at or slightly above the third-lowest tone hole. As this would cause the bell of the instrument to point almost directly upwards, the end of the instrument is either bevelled or tilted slightly forwards. This U-shape has become an iconic feature of the saxophone family, to the extent that soprano and even sopranino saxes are sometimes made in the curved style even though this is not strictly necessary. By contrast, tenors and even baritones have occasionally been made in the straight styleMost commonly, however, the alto and tenor saxophones incorporate a curved 'crook' above the highest tone hole but below the top speaker hole, tilting the mouthpiece through 90 degrees; the baritone, bass and contrabass extend the length of the bore mainly by double-folding this section.
Materials:
Most saxophones, both past and present, are made from brass. Despite this, they are categorized as woodwind instruments rather than brass, as the sound waves are produced by an oscillating reed, not the player's lips against a mouthpiece as in a brass instrument, and because different pitches are produced by opening and closing keys. Brass is used to make the body of the instrument; the pad cups; the rods that connect the pads to the keys; the keys themselves and the posts that hold the rods and keys in place. The screw pins that connect the rods to the posts, and the needle springs and leaf springs that cause the keys to return to their rest position after being released, are generally made of blued or stainless steel. Since 1920, most saxophones have 'key touches' (smooth decorative pieces placed where the fingers touch the instrument) made from either plastic or mother of pearl.
Other materials have been tried with varying degrees of success, such as the 1950s Grafton plastic alto saxophone. A few companies, such as Yanagisawa and Bauhaus Walstein, have made some saxophone models from phosphor bronze because of its slightly different tonal qualities. For example, although their designs are identical apart from the metal used, the bronze Yanagisawa A992 saxophones are said to sound "darker" than the brass versions. Yanagisawa and other manufacturers, starting with the King Super 20 around 1950, have made saxophone necks, bells, or entire instruments from sterling silver. Keilwerth and P. Mauriat have made saxes with a nickel silver body like that of a flute[. The effect of material on sound is controversial among sax players, and little solid research has been published.
After completing the instrument, manufacturers usually apply a thin coating of clear or colored acrylic lacquer, or silver plate, over the bare brass. The lacquer or plating serves to protect the brass from oxidation, and maintains its shiny appearance. Several different types and colors of surface finish have been used over the years.It is also possible to plate the instrument with nickel or gold, and a number of gold-plated saxophones have been produced.Plating saxophones with gold is an expensive process because gold will not stick directly to brass. As a result, the brass is first coated with silver (which will stick to it) and then gold-plated on top.
Some argue that the type of lacquer or plating, or absence thereof, may enhance an instrument's tone quality. The possible effects of different finishes on tone is a hotly debated topic, not least because other variables may affect an instrument's tone colors e.g. mouthpiece design and physical characteristics of the player. In any case, what constitutes a pleasing tone is a matter of personal preference and tastes vary.

Uses:

saxophone first gained popularity in the niche it was designed for: the military band. Although the instrument was studiously ignored in Germany, French and Belgian military bands took full advantage of the instrument that Sax had designed specifically for them. Most French and Belgian military bands incorporate at least a quartet of saxophones comprising at least the E♭ baritone, B♭ tenor, E♭ alto and B♭ soprano. These four instruments have proved the most popular of all of Sax's creations, with the E♭ contrabass and B♭ bass usually considered impractically large and the E♭ sopranino insufficiently powerful. British military bands tend to include at minimum two saxophonists on the alto and tenor.
The saxophone has more recently found a niche in both concert band and big band music, which often calls for the E♭ baritone, B♭ tenor and E♭ alto. Also, the B♭ soprano is also occasionally utilised, in which case it will normally be played by the first alto saxophonist. The bass saxophone in B♭ is called for in band music (especially music by Percy Grainger) and big band orchestrations, especially music performed by the Stan Kenton "Mellophonium Orchestra". In the 1920s the bass saxophone was used often in classic jazz recordings, since at that time it was easier to record than a tuba or double bass. It is also used in the original score (and movie) of Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story. The saxophone has been more recently introduced into the symphony orchestra, where it has found increased popularity. In one or other size, the instrument has been found a useful accompaniment to genres as wide-ranging as opera, choral music and chamber pieces. Many musical scores include parts for the saxophone, usually either doubling another woodwind or brass instrument. In this way the sax serves as a middle point between woodwinds and brass, helping to blend the two sections

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Sarangi

Description:
The sarangi is the most popular bowed instrument of India. Like the sitar, the sarangi's history is quite old. This instrument began as a voice accompaniment, but gained a reputation as a wonderful solo instrument. The sarangi, when played by a master, is capable of closely imitating the nuances of the human voice.
This instrument is made of a block of tun wood, with a goat skin stretched over the body. There are 3 main playing strings and 30 to 40 sypathetic strings.
The technique used to play the sarangi is to play the main strings with the tops of the fingernails of the left hand. It is bowed with a heavy bow like the ones used for the esraj and dilruba.
History:
The history of evolution of Sarangi is in itself a tale of romantic hues. Legend has it that once, long long ago, a hakim (a physician), weary and footsore from his travels, lay down to rest under a tree when his ears were assailed by melodious notes emanating from the forest denseness. A search revealed the dried-up hide of a dead monkey stretched over the branches of a tree. As the gentle winds caressed the hide, melodic sounds wafted forth. Thus, believe the faithful, was born - Sarangi. In its other ramifications, the chief role in this tame is attributed to a disciple of the great Pythagoras, an Egyptian named Boo Ali Ibn Sina.
Legends apart, however, no authentic account of the development of the sarangi is available. By inference, it may be assumed that it evolved, like most of the other known Indian instruments, from the Dhanuryantram (bow and arrow) used by primitive tribes for hunting, as also to signal the advent of the enemy. Descriptions in Ramayana and the Mahabharat of the reverberating sounds of Rama's bow, Sharang and Arjun's bow, Gandeeva which are said to have demoralized the enemy camp, lend color to this inference. It is believed that this particular sound later inspired the design and shape of the bowed instruments used by primitive tribes. The curvature of the bow provided the idea of constructing the body of the instrument and connecting both ends with gut string. Primitive Man used intestines of wild animals to make the strings. There are indications that the horse-tail hair was also used to manufacture the bows.
From the point of view of shape and structure, the ancient musical instrument without the frets known as Ghosvati or Ghoshak Veena, was perhaps the closest to the later day sarangi. In more modern paralance, the Pinaki Veena, a gut-string bowing instrument described in sarang Deva's Sangeet Ratnakar (13 A.D.) bears close resemblance to the sarangi we know.
We find that practically all over India instruments very akin to the sarangi have been in vogue. Unlike the more polished and perfectly shaped sarangi poularly used today, these instruments known as the ravana hatha in Western India, kingri in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, kunju in Kerela, pen in Manipur, kamayanch in Rajasthan and banam and kenara in Orissa, were made of ordinary wood or coconut shell, devoid of all ornamentation.
The other variations of the same theme are saran in jammu and Kashmir with two steel and two gut strings and nineteen subsidiary strings (Taral) with the resonator being covered with sheep or goat skin; the Sindhi Sarangi, the Jogia Sarangi, the Gujaratan Sarangi and Alabu Sarangi.
The introduction of sarangi into the classical tradition has been slow process though it would seem to have established its credentials as an incomaprable accompanying instrument even in this sphere as early as the days of the great Tansen. As the veena acquired solo status, the range and pitch of the sarangi, the power and sensitivity of its tonal qualities, and its rare capacity for reproducing the gamak, so indispensable to the singing of the khayal, dhrupad and thumri of Hindustani Music, made it a natural successor to veena.
Unfortunately for sarangi, in the very process of it's induction into the classical tradition have lain the seeds of neglect and the threat of oblivion in the future. With the patronage of Hindustani classical music passing into the royal courts, and the emergence of Kothas and havelis as an integral part of the Nawabi way of life, the sarangi became identified with the mehfils and tawaifs (dancing girls). An ample illustration of the travails of the sarangi player is the fact that some of the all time greats of Hindustani music like Abdul Karim Khan, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and Amir Khan who had begun their artistic careers as sarangi players had to disown their past on their path to fame.
In 16th and 17th century, sarangi-playing bards, singing religious songs and heroic ballads, began flocking to the Indian cities. They were at best tolerated and could in no way compete with the more established beenkars and rababiyas. A decent living could perhaps be made by teaching and accompanying the vocalists.
Playing the Sarangi:
The bow is held palm upwards. It is drawn across the main strings, just above the bridge. The fingers of the left hand note the strings. This is done by pressing and sliding the bottom of the fingernail against the side of the string. Players often use talcum powder on their palms to facilitate the gliding of the hand up and down the neck. The gliding of your nails along the strings creates the sound characteristic of Hindustani music.

Voilin

The viola (pronounced /viˈoʊlə/ or /vaɪˈoʊlə/[1]) is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.
The casual observer may mistake the viola for the violin because of their similarity in size, closeness in pitch range (the viola is a perfect fifth below the violin), and nearly identical playing position. However, the viola's timbre sets it apart: its rich, dark-toned sonority is more full-bodied than the violin's. As its mellow voice is frequently used for playing inner harmonies, the viola does not enjoy the wide solo repertoire or fame of the violin.

Form of the viola:
The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin but is larger in size and more variable in its proportions. A "full-size" viola's body is between one and four inches longer than the body of a full-size violin (i.e., between 15 and 18 inches (38 and 46 cm)), with an average length of about 16 inches (41 cm). Small violas made for children typically start at 12 inches (30 cm), which is equivalent to a half-size violin. Often, a fractional-sized violin will be strung with the strings of a viola (C, G, D and A) for those children who need even smaller sizes.[2] Unlike the violin, the viola does not have a standard full size. The body of a viola would need to measure about 21 inches (53 cm) long to match the acoustics of a violin, making it impractical to play in the same manner as the violin.[3] For centuries, viola makers have experimented with the size and shape of the viola, often tweaking the proportions or shape of the instrument to make an instrument with a shorter scale length and lighter weight, but that still has a large enough sound box to create an unmistakable "viola sound."
Experiments with the size of the viola have tended to increase it in the interest of improving the instrument's sound. These include Hermann Ritter's "viola alta", an instrument measuring about 18.9 inches (48 cm) intended for use in Richard Wagner's operas.[4] The Tertis model viola, which has wider bouts and deeper ribs to promote a better viola tone, is another slightly "non-standard" shape that allows the player to use a larger instrument. Many experiments with the acoustics of a viola, particularly increasing the size of the body, result in a much deeper tone of the instrument, making the instrument resemble the tone of a cello. Since many composers wrote for a traditional-sized viola, changes in the tone of a viola, particularly in orchestral music, can have unintended consequences on the balance in ensembles.
More recent (and more radically shaped) innovations address the ergonomic problems of playing the viola by making it shorter and lighter while finding ways to keep the traditional sound. These include Otto Erdesz "cutaway" viola (which has one shoulder cut out to make shifting easier);[the "Oak Leaf" viola (which has two extra bouts); viol shaped violas like Joseph Curtin's "Evia" model (which also utilizes a moveable neck and a maple-veneered carbon fiber back to reduce weight):[6] violas played in the same manner as cellos (see vertical viola); and the eye-catching "Dalí-esque" shapes of both Bernard Sabatier's violas in fractional sizes (which appear to have melted) and of David Rivinus' "Pellegrina" model violas.
Other experiments besides those dealing with the "ergonomics vs. sound" problem have appeared. American composer Harry Partch fitted a viola with a cello neck to allow the use of his 43-tone scale. Luthiers have also created five-stringed violas, which allow a greater playing range. Modern music is played on these instruments, but viol music can be played as well.

Playing the viola:
A person who plays the viola is called a violist or simply a viola player. While it is similar to the violin, the technique required for playing viola has many differences. The difference in size accounts for some of the technical differences, as notes are spread out farther along the fingerboard often requiring different fingerings. The less responsive strings and heavier bow warrant a somewhat different bowing technique. The viola requires the player to lean more intensely on the strings compared to the violin.
Compared to violin, the viola will generally have a larger body as well as a longer string length, which is why younger violists or even some old tend to get smaller sized violas for easier playing. The most immediately noticeable adjustments a player accustomed to playing violin has to make are to use wider-spaced fingerings. It is common for some players to use a wider and more intense vibrato in the left hand facilitated by employing the fleshier pad of the finger rather than the tip, and to hold the bow and right arm farther away from the player's body. The player must also bring the left elbow farther forward or around, so as to reach the lowest string. This allows the fingers to be firm and create a clearer tone. Unless the violist is gifted with especially large hands, different fingerings are often used, including frequent use of half position and shifting position, where on the violin staying in one place would suffice.
The viola is generally strung with thicker strings than the violin. This, combined with its larger size and lower pitch range, results in a deeper and mellower tone. However, the thicker strings also mean that the viola "speaks" more slowly than its soprano cousin. Practically speaking, if a violist and violinist are playing together, the violist must begin moving the bow a fraction of a second sooner than the violinist to produce a sound that starts at the same moment as the violinist's sound. The thicker strings also mean that more weight must be applied with the bow to make them speak.
Bow frogs, top to bottom: violin, viola, cello
The viola bow has a wider band of horsehair than a violin bow, particularly noticeable near the frog (or "heel" in the UK). Viola bows (70 to 74 g) are heavier than violin bows (58 to 61 g). The profile of the outside corner of a viola bow frog generally is rounded, compared to the rectangular corner usually seen on violin bows.

Tuning:
The viola's four strings are normally tuned in fifths: C3 (an octave below middle C) is the lowest, with G3, D4 and A4 above it. This tuning is exactly one fifth below the violin, so that they have three strings in common—G, D, and A—and is one octave above the cello. Although the violin and viola have three strings tuned the same, the tone quality or sound color is markedly different.
Violas are tuned by turning the pegs near the scroll, which the strings are wrapped around. Tightening the string raises the pitch; loosening the string lowers the pitch. The A string is normally tuned first, typically to 440 Hz or 442 Hz (see pitch). The other strings are then tuned to it in intervals of perfect fifths, bowing two strings simultaneously. Most violas also have adjusters (also called fine tuners) that are used to make finer changes. These permit the tension of the string to be adjusted by rotating a small knob at the opposite end of the string, at the tailpiece. Such tuning is generally easier to learn than using the pegs, and adjusters are usually recommended for younger players and put on smaller violas, although they are usually used in conjunction with one another. Adjusters work best, and are most useful, on higher tension metal strings. It is common to use one on the A string even if the others are not equipped with them. The picture on the right shows normal stringing of the pegs. Some violists reverse the stringing of the C and G pegs, so the thicker C string does not turn so severe an angle over the nut, although this is uncommon.
Small, temporary tuning adjustments can also be made by stretching a string with the hand. A string may be tuned down by pulling it above the fingerboard, or tuned up by pressing the part of the string in the pegbox. These techniques may be useful in performance, reducing the ill effects of an out-of-tune string until an opportunity to tune properly.
The tuning C-G-D-A is used for the great majority of all viola music. However, other tunings are occasionally employed both in classical music (where the technique is known as scordatura) and in some folk styles. Mozart, in his Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra, which is in E flat, wrote the viola part in D major and specified that the viola strings were to be raised in pitch by a semitone; his intention was probably to give the viola a brighter tone to avoid it being overpowered by the rest of the ensemble. Lionel Tertis, in his transcription of the Elgar cello concerto, wrote the slow movement with the C string tuned down to B flat, enabling the viola to play one passage an octave lower. Occasionally the C string may also be tuned up to D.

Violists:
here are only a few truly well known viola virtuosi, perhaps because little virtuoso viola music was written before the twentieth century. The most important viola pioneers from the twentieth century were Lionel Tertis, William Primrose, Paul Hindemith, Théophile Laforge, Cecil Aronowitz, Maurice Vieux, Vadim Borisovsky, Lillian Fuchs, Frederick Riddle, Walter Trampler, Ernst Wallfisch, and Emanuel Vardi, the first violist to record the 24 Caprices by Paganini on viola. Many noted violinists have publicly performed and recorded on the viola as well, among them Eugène Ysaÿe, Yehudi Menuhin, David Oistrakh, Pinchas Zukerman, Maxim Vengerov, Julian Rachlin and Nigel Kennedy.
Among the great composers, several preferred the viola to the violin when playing in ensembles,[8] the most noted being Ludwig van Beethoven, Johann Sebastian Bach[9] and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Numerous other composers also chose to play the viola in ensembles, including Joseph Haydn, Franz Schubert, Felix Mendelssohn, Antonín Dvořák, and Benjamin Britten. Among those noted both as violists and as composers are Rebecca Clarke and Paul Hindemith. Contemporary composer and violist Kenji Bunch has written a number of viola solos.
The term "violist" is not used universally in English; some players, generally British, prefer "viola player", as the word "violist" is used in the UK to mean "player of the viol".

Sitar

The sitar (Hindi: सितार, Bengali: সেতার, Urdu: ستار, Persian: سی‌تار ) is a plucked stringed instrument predominantly used in Hindustani classical music, where it has been ubiquitous since the Middle Ages. It derives its resonance from sympathetic strings, a long hollow neck and a gourd resonating chamber.
Used throughout the Indian subcontinent, particularly in Northern India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, the sitar became known in the western world through the work of Pandit Ravi Shankar beginning in the late 1950s, particularly after George Harrison of The Beatles took lessons from Shankar and Shambhu Das and played sitar in songs including "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)". Shortly after, The Rolling Stones used sitar in "Paint It Black" and a brief fad began for using the instrument in pop songs.

Etymology and history:
In his Bharatiya Sangeet Vadya Dr. Lalmani Misra traces its development from the tritantri veena through the nibaddh and anibaddh tanpuras and later the jantra. Construction of the similar tanpura was described by Tansen. During the time of Moghul rule Persian lutes were played at court and may have provided a basis of the sitar. However, there is no physical evidence for the sitar until the time of the collapse of the Mughal Empire.
The Sitar also said to have been developed in the thirteenth century AD by "Amir Khusro" (Ab'ul Hasan Yamīn al-Dīn Khusrow Dehlavi, the Muslim saint of Delhi) from a member of the veena family of Indian musical instruments called the tritantri veena and to have been named by him after the Persian setar.The sitar is, like the setar, a member of the lute family while the north Indian veena is a zither, but it shares the veena's resonating gourds and sympathetic strings. There are doubts about Sitar being invented by Amir Khusro as he does not mention the sitar (no evidence to support he invented Sitar) but he does mention the tanbur and, by the mid 18th century, Indian tanburs were referred to as sitars.

Tuning:
Tuning depends on the sitarist's school or style, tradition and each artist's personal preference. Generally, the main playing string is tuned to the tonic of a piece which is called Sa or vaad and the drone strings both to that tone and to the samvaad or second note, which is usually the perfect fifth. The sympathetic strings are tuned to the notes of the raga being played: although there is slight stylistic variance as to the order of these, typically they are tuned:
I Sa= C,
VII Ni= B,

Mechanics

The mechanics of a sitar:
The sitar's curved frets are movable, allowing fine tuning, and raised so that sympathetic strings (tarb, also known as "taarif" or "tarafdaar") can run underneath them. A sitar can have 21, 22, or 23 strings, among them six or seven played strings which run over the frets: the Gandhaar-pancham sitar (used by Vilayat Khan and his disciples) has six playable strings, whereas the Kharaj-pancham sitar, used in the Maihar gharana ,to which Pt. Ravi Shankar belongs, has seven. Three of these (or four on a Kharaj-pancham sitar), called the chikaari, simply provide a drone: the rest are used to play the melody, though the first string (baajtaar) is most used.
The instrument has two bridges; the large bridge (badaa goraa) for the playing and drone strings and the small bridge (chota goraa) for the sympathetic strings. Its timbre results from the way the strings interact with the wide, sloping bridge. As a string reverberates its length changes slightly as its edge touches the bridge, promoting the creation of overtones and giving the sound its distinctive tone. The maintenance of this specific tone by shaping the bridge is called jawari. Many musicians rely on instrument makers to adjust this.
Materials used in construction include teak wood or tun wood (Cedrela tuna), which is a variation of mahogany, for the neck and faceplate (tabli), and gourds for the kaddu (the main resonating chamber). The instrument's bridges are made of deer horn, ebony, or very occasionally from camel bone. Synthetic material is now common as well. The sitar may have a secondary resonator, the tumbaa, near the top of its hollow neck.

Playing:
A sitar workshop in Islamabad, Pakistan.
The instrument is balanced between the player's left foot and right knee. The hands move freely without having to carry any of the instrument's weight. The player plucks the string using a metallic pick or plectrum called a mizraab. The thumb stays anchored on the top of the fretboard just above the main gourd. Generally only the index and middle fingers are used for fingering although a few players occasionally use the third. A specialized technique called "meand" involves pulling the main melody string down over the bottom portion of the sitar's curved frets, with which the sitarist can achieve a 7 semitone range of microtonal notes (it should be noted, however, that because of the sitar's movable frets, sometimes a fret may be set to a microtone already, and no bending would be required).

Tabala

The tabla (or tabl, tabla) (Hindi: तबला, Marathi: तबला, Kannada: ತಬಲ, Telugu: తబల, Tamil: தபேலா, Bengali: তবলা, Nepali: तबला, Urdu: طبلہ, Arabic: طبل، طبلة‎) is a popular Indian percussion instrument used in Hindustani classical music and in popular and devotional music of the Indian subcontinent. The instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres. The term tabla is derived from an Arabic word, tabl, which simply means "drum."
Playing technique involves extensive use of the fingers and palms in various configurations to create a wide variety of different sounds, reflected in the mnemonic syllables (bol). The heel of the hand is used to apply pressure or in a sliding motion on the larger drum so that the pitch is changed during the sound decay.

History:
The history of this instrument is uncertain, and has been the subject of sometimes heated debate. Rebecca Stewart suggested it was most likely a hybrid resulting from the experiments with existing drums such as pakhawaj, dholak and naqqara. The origins of tabla repertoire and technique may be found in all three and in physical structure there are also elements of all three: the smaller pakhawaj head for the dayan, the naqqara kettledrum for the bayan, and the flexible use of the bass of the dholak.

Sitar player Shahid Parvez Khan at a concert accompanied by the great Tabla wizard of the Benaras Gharana Pandit Samta Prasad
A common legendary account[3] credits the 13th century Indian poet Amir Khusrau as the inventor by splitting the single South Indian mrudangam drum into two or the North Indian pakhawaj in two. ('toda, tab bhi bola - tabla': 'When broke, it still spoke' - a fairly well-known Hindi pun) None of his writings on music mention the drum, but this apparent tradition of late invention, combined with the absence of the instrument in South Indian music, and that the tabla closely resembles a Mrudangam cut into two,the closed-ended, paired design that relates it to the Western clay-drums and tympani, altogether supports the view that the tabla is a comparatively recent development in northern Indian music. Other accounts place the invention of this instrument in the 18th century, and the first verifiable player of this drum was Ustad Suddhar Khan of Delhi.
The Muktesvara temple (6th-7th century) and Bhuranesvara (and three other cave temples) of Badari in Bombay (6th century) contain depictions of the puskara drum. Musicians often placed the puskara's smaller vertical drum (called 'alinga'), on their lap and played more than one drum at a time. Similar regional instruments include the Punjabi dukkar, the Kashmiri dukra, the duggi in eastern Uttar Pradesh, and the mridangam. The mridangam (Southern equivalent of the Northern pakhavaj) is the principal drum in Carnatic music. The dhol (dholak) of eastern Afghanistan is related in terms of both construction and playing style. The main distinction of the tabla is the pairing of two different types of single-headed drums, whereas the dukkar, dukra, and duggi are pairs of the same type and the mridangam and dhol are double-headed, barrel-shaped drums.

Nomenclature and construction:
The smaller drum, played with the dominant hand, is sometimes called dayan (lit. "right"; a.k.a. dāhina, siddha, chattū) but is correctly called the "tabla." It is made from a conical piece of mostly teak and rosewood hollowed out to approximately half of its total depth. The drum is tuned to a specific note, usually either the tonic, dominant or sub-dominant of the soloist's key and thus complements the melody. The tuning range is limited although different dāyāñ-s are produced in different sizes, each with a different range. Cylindrical wood blocks, known as ghatta, are inserted between the strap and the shell allowing tension to be adjusted by their vertical positioning. Fine tuning is achieved while striking vertically on the braided portion of the head using a small hammer.
The larger drum, played with the other hand, is called bāyāñ (lit. "left"; a.k.a. dagga, duggī, dhāmā). The bāyāñ has a much deeper bass tone, much like its distant cousin, the kettle drum. The bāyāñ may be made of any of a number of materials. Brass is the most common, copper is more expensive, but generally held to be the best, while aluminum and steel are often found in inexpensive models. One sometimes finds that wood is used, especially in old bāyāñs from the Punjab. Clay is also used, although not favored for durability; these are generally found in the North-East region of Bengal.
Both drum shells are covered with a head (or puri) constructed from goat or cow skin. An outer ring of skin (keenar) is overlaid on the main skin and serves to suppress some of the natural overtones. These two skins are bound together with a complex woven braid that gives the assembly enough strength to be tensioned on the shell. The head is affixed to the drum shell with a single cow or camel hide strap laced between the braid of the head assembly and another ring (made from the same strap material) placed on the bottom of the drum.
The head of each drum has an inner called the Syahi (lit. "ink"; a.k.a. shāī or gāb). This is constructed using multiple layers of a paste made from starch (rice or wheat) mixed with a black powder of various origins. The precise construction and shaping of this area is responsible for modification of the drum's natural overtones, resulting in the clarity of pitch and variety of tonal possibilities unique to this instrument. The skill required for the proper construction of this area is highly refined and is the main differentiating factor in the quality of a particular instrument.

Gharānā — tabla tradition:
The term gharānā is used to specify a lineage of teaching and repertoire in Indian classical music. Most performers and scholars recognize two styles of tabla gharana: Dilli Baj and Purbi Baj. Dilli (or Delhi) baj comes from the style that developed in Delhi, and Purbi (meaning eastern) baj developed in the area east of Delhi. Delhi Baj is also known as Chati baj (Chati is a part of Tabla from where special tone can be produced).
Musicians then recognize six gharānās – schools or traditions – of tabla. These traditions appeared or evolved in presumably[citation needed] the following order:
Delhi gharānā
Lucknow gharānā
Ajrara gharānā, later followed by
Farukhabad gharānā
Benares gharānā
Punjab gharānā
Other tabla performers have identified further derivations of the above traditions, but these are subjective claims not universally recognized.[citation needed] Some traditions indeed have sub-lineages and sub-styles that meet the criteria to warrant a separate gharānā name, but such socio-musical identities have not taken hold in the public discourse of Hindustani art music, such as the Qasur lineage of tabla players of the Punjab region.
Each gharānā is traditionally set apart from the others by unique aspects of the compositional and playing styles of its exponents. For instance, some gharānās have different tabla positioning and bol techniques. In the days of court patronage the preservation of these distinctions was important in order to maintain the prestige of the sponsoring court. Gharānā secrets were closely guarded and often only passed along family lines. Being born into or marrying into a lineage holding family was often the only way to gain access to this knowledge.
Today many of these gharānā distinctions have been blurred as information has been more freely shared and newer generations of players have learned and combined aspects from multiple gharānās to form their own styles. There is much debate as to whether the concept of gharānā even still applies to modern players. Some think the era of gharānā has effectively come to an end as the unique aspects of each gharānā have been mostly lost through the mixing of styles and the socio-economic difficulties of maintaining lineage purity through rigorous training.
Nonetheless the greatness of each gharānā can still be observed through study of its traditional material and, when accessible, recordings of its great players. The current generation of traditionally trained masters still hold vast amounts of traditional compositional knowledge and expertise.
This body of compositional knowledge and the intricate theoretical basis which informs it is still actively being transmitted from teacher to student all over the world. In addition to the instrument itself, the term tabla is often used in reference to this knowledge and the process of its transmission.

Tabla terminology:
Ustad - a master of the tabla technique and gharana, or school. Hindus are referred to as Pandit.
Gharana - any of the six schools (Punjab, Delhi, Benares, Ajrara, Lucknow, Farukhabad) of tabla.
Syahi - the black spots on the tabla, also called gab. Composed of a dried paste derived from iron filings and applied in several separate layers to the head of the drum. Sometimes called the shyani.
Keenar - the outer ring of skin on the head of each of the two tabla drums. In Hindi, known as the chat.
Sur - The area between the gaab and the keenar. In Hindi, known as the maidan.
bol - both mnemonic syllables and a series of notes produced when stroked. E.g. Na, tin, Dha, Dhin, Ge, Ke, etc.
Theka - a standard series of bols that form the rhythmic basis of tabla accompaniment for a given tala.
Rela - a sort of rapid drum-roll.
Chutta - the cushions used when placing the tabla.
Baj, Baaj, or Baaz - a style of playing, different from the gharānā. Two main styles developed, Purbi Baj and Dilli Baj. Dilli, or Delhi, baj is the *style of bols and playing that originated in the city of Delhi. Purbi (meaning "eastern") developed in the area east of delhi. Both have different ways to play bols.
Bāyāñ or Duggi- The metal drum providing the bass notes in tabla.
Dayan or Tabla - The wooden drum providing the treble notes in tabla.
Lay (or Laya) - tempo.
tala - meter. Example: Dadra Tala, Ada Chautal, Teental, and the most common, keherwa.
Vibhag Section of a tabla taal where bols can be placed.
Tali - A vibhag signified by a clap.
Khali - A vibhag signified by waving of the hands.
Ghatta - Wooden dowels used to control the tension.