Reliable Shruti instruments

[msakella]

Most reliable Shruti instrument:
To make their concert-music more mellifluous all the musicians should regularly use this kind of reliable electronic automatic Tambura not only in their concerts but in their daily practice also which inspires and encourages the artist to sing or play well IN Shruti but not WITH Shruti.
As you all know the traditional Tambura consists of 1 mandra-panchama, 2 madhya-shadjas and 1 mandra-shadja, which means you must become satisfied to sing along with only two notes, Shadja and Panchama but with Shadja of 2 octaves, mandra and madhya-sthayis. This is just like having our meal with only two items and becoming content with them. But one must always think to have more number of items in his meal to make it more delicious and enjoyable. The same applies to music also and we should always make our music more mellifluous and enjoyable by adding more relevant notes of the Raga to be sung to our Shruti. Having considered this aspect I have experimented upon the mixture of these notes in our Shruti.and succeeded. The details are as follows.
Until the introduction of the electronic Tambura in the recent past we are compelled to become dependents upon this traditional Tambura only which produces only two notes, i.e., Shadja and Panchama as mentioned above.. Nowadays, as these electronic Tamburas are very easy to carry, doesn’t need a player or thread (jeevaali) at all, can be tuned properly to any Shruti within a few seconds, there will not, generally, be any fluctuation in Shriti, can be changed to any Shruti within a few seconds etc., etc., many artists preferred to switch over to this electronic Tambura. Nowadays, no fool goes by foot to Varanasi when there are umpteen modes of journey to quicken the process of journey considerably. Thus, according to the necessity, now, umpteen varieties of electronic Tamburas are also available in the market but creating confusion to the artists in respect of its selection and many artists are preferring to have a natural sound of the Tambura . But, to my surprise, irrespective of the cost, I did not find even a single Tambura carrying natural sound devoid of any wobbling sound of notes. In some Tamburas this wobbling is so minute that even the artists are unable to trace it but after its purchase they are turning a volte-face if some sensitive artist points out the wobbling. So, to overcome all these problems, I have designed a more reliable electronic automatic Tambura and been using it since last 15 to 20 years. To whomsoever I have introduced this instrument, they all, having become addicted to this instrument, are refusing to sing along with any other Shruti instrument at all even though this instrument is not much nearer to natural sound. Along with other electronic musical instruments like Metronomes, Tamburas and Shruti-boxes, this instrument is also produced by one of my disciples who is also a Diploma holder in Karnataka-violin. His name is Mr Paul Sudhakar and he is available on telephone No.040-27730012 & 9848283388. Now, I shall define this instrument.
This instrument is an electronic-automatic-tambura. If we tune only one note as Adhara-
Shadja all the other remaining notes of it will become tuned automatically. Tamburas of 3 octaves i.e., mandra, madhya and tara-sthayis are provided in the tambura-section of this instrument. In addition to the usual mandra-panchama, 2 madhya-shadjas and madra-shadja like in the manual Tambura, each Tambura of each of the 3 Sthayis is provided with shuddha-madhyama and upper-shadja also. Each one of these 3 Tamburas can be used either with Panchama or with Madhyama or without Panchama or Madhyama and with all Shadjas. More over these 3 Tamburas can also be used either independently or simultaneously as per the need and choice of the user. In this instrument, apart from this Tambura-section, there is another section of harmonium-reeds also. In this reeds section two octaves i.e., madhya and tara-sthayis, each of Shadjas, Antara-gandharas, Shuddha-madhyamas, Panchamas and Chatusshruti-dhaivatas are also available, all to be used either independently or simultaneously as per the need and choice of the user.
There is no exaggeration if I tell that unless the user of this instrument have the requisite knowledge in operating both the sections of Tambura and the Harmonium-reeds of it his singing will un-doubtedly become chaotic with the operation of un-wanted notes.
This instrument has to be tuned basing upon the notes of the Raga to be sung. At the first instance, before tuning it, it is very important to know the details of the inter-relation of notes. Panchama and Madhyama should never be tuned simultaneously and in the same manner Madhyama and Antara-gandhara also should never be tuned simultaneously. Shadja, Panchama and Antara-gandhara is a very nice combination to be tuned while singing Ragas consisting Antara-gandhara i.e., Mohana or Shankarabharana etc. For the Ragas having Sadharana-gandhara better to avoid the mandra-sthayi-tambura as the mandra-sthayi-shadja always produces the upper-partial i.e., Svayambhoo-svara, Antara-gandhara. Generally, the upper-partials disappear in the upper octaves. For Panchama-varja-ragas Panchama must be avoided. For Ragas like Shreeranjani or Bageshree the mandra-sthayi-tambura should, at first, be put off and, both in Tambura and reeds, Shuddha-madhyama should be put on along with Chatusshruti-dhaivata according to the taste of the user. For the Raga Hamsanandi, Antara-gandhara and Chatusshruti-dhaivata should be put on avoiding Panchama.. This is just like preparing ‘Sambar’ using the proportion of the ingredients according to the taste of the individual. This instrument, costs $50/- each (Packing and mailing charges extra) and is the only one of its kind. This is manufactured only by placing an order. (recently when I have demonstrated this instrument in the presence of Sangita Kalanidhi Dr.Shripada Pinakapani, he exclaimed it and suggested to demonstrate it in the Music Academy, Chennai in the forth coming season. I have written the same to the authorities of the Music Academy, Chennai and if they are interested I shall do the same).
Still there is another Tambura of its kind, in which, along with the facilities of the above instrument, another instrument, which gives out the plucking sound of 8 strings, is also included in it. This sounds like the ‘Svaramandal’ of which the different strings should be tuned to the notes of the Raga sung by the artist like in Hindusthani-music. In this instrument the notes of 2 octaves i.e., madhya and tara-sthayis of Shadjas, Sadharana-gandharas, Antara-gandharas, Shuddha-madhyamas, Panchamas, Shuddha-dhaivatas and Chatusshruti-dhaivatas are provided in it and any of these notes could be fed to any of these strings as per the users choice. The facility to control the plucking speed of these strings is also provided in this instrument. This instrument costs $100/- each and is manufactured only by placing an order. This is for kind information of all the musicians.

[Ashwin]

msakella,

This sounds fascinating, and Im sure many of us reading this forum and living outside India would love the opportunity to hear the instrument - would it be possible to post some kind of audio mp3 link?

Ashwin

[msakella]

Dear member, Chi. Ashwin, True. It is more fascinating than expected. Myself, all my disciples and many of my friends have become addicted to this instrument. Extremely sorry, it is not possible to me to post any kind of audio MP3 link of this instrument. Even such audio link will not serve the purpose. This instrument has to be demonstrated changing the tuning and notes while singing specific ragas. If you happen to go over this place, Hyderbad, please drop in and I shall make it convenient to demonstrate this for you. amsharma.

[vasanthakokilam]

msakellaji: A few questions on the Shruti instrument...

1) Since you mentioned it is made only upon order, what is the typical lead time between order placement and delivery?

2) I am considering this for a niece of mine, who is 10 years old, who has just started learning vocal music. If the teacher wants the standard tambura sound, is it easy to go back to that? Asking mainly to see if it may be too complex for her to set all the dials.

Thanks.

[meena]

akellaji

can u pl. post a picture of the instrument?

[msakella]

Dear moderator, vasanthakokilam, 1. The manufacturer needs, at the least, one week after placement of an order to get it ready for you. 2. Of course, it is very difficult to set it properly to a person who had just started learning music. I cannot suggest you to use this instrument to make learning music ‘difficult’ to your nice-niece-kid instead of making it ‘easy’. Even professionals feel it difficult to tune it properly. Surprisingly enough, every musician wants the sound of the standard Tambura but never realizes the drawbacks of it like a person who still wants to go to Varnasi by foot even in this modern age. God only should save the musicians! amsharma.

[msakella]

Dear moderator, meena, Extremely sorry for being unable to post a picture of this instrument as I do not have a picture of it. It is of 23 cm length, 15 cm height and 8 cm width. amsharma.

[vasanthakokilam]

msakellaji: I think I understand what you are saying.

For use by my niece, if she is the one who uses this most of the time, once it is set up for her by someone, does it need any tweaking once in a while ( or everytime you start it up )?

I am still trying to figure out ways in which this can be made to work for her but I do not know the details of what is involved in tuning it for an individual.

My guess is, initially it will be used like any other electronic sruthi box ( except superior as you have mentioned ) but after a while add the raga specific notes that the instrument is capable of.

I am basically looking for information along these lines to make the decision for her. Thank you for your help.

[msakella]

Dear moderator, vasanthakokilam, In these Automatic-electronic-musical-instruments, sometimes there may be some decrease or increase in the Shruti due to the fluctuations in the electrical supply. Even then, these differences are not clearly audible to the artist as all the different notes in the Shruti effect equally without making any distinctive difference at all between any of them. Generally, in any of such Shruti instruments, 2 Madhya-shadjas, 1 Mandra-shadja and 1 Mandra-panchama are available along with the required balance of volume of each one of them already set. But, in this instrument I have designed, in Tambura section, 3 Tamburas of 3 different Sthayis are incorporated which can be used either simultaneously or independently along with either Panchama or Shuddha-madhyama or devoid of both Panchama & Shuddha-madhyama but with Tara-shadja and in reeds section, notes of Madhya and Tara Sthayis each of Shadjas, Antara-gandharas, Shuddha-madhyamas, Panchamas, Chatusshruti-dhaivatas to operate them either independently or simultaneously. To get them tuned each one of them requires not only a lot of musical knowledge but also sense of beauty. Perfectly tuning of it is nonetheless than preparing a delicious meal. I have seen even many professionals failed to tune it properly. Every time the levels of volume of each one of them have to be balanced. That is why I suggest you to provide her a usual Electronic-automatic-tambura with only 4 notes as the above mentioned in the beginning. Please don’t make any experiments upon your niece. Let her grown up a little in music and then you can give her this instrument. In general, like the conventional Tambura, no Electronic-tambura either automatic or non-automatic is an exception of wobbling notes. But, many of our South Indians, are unable to find these minute differences. I can demonstrate this and prove this, if needed. OK. Wishing you and your neice all the best with the merry Christmas and New Year, amsharma.

[vasanthakokilam]

msakellaji, thanks very much. That clarified things for me.