All about electronic music and another contemporary trend in music and Art in general
Todo acerca de la música electrónica y otras tendencias contemporáneas en Arte y Música
The Misa digital guitar is an experimental new instrument, similar to an electric guitar in shape, but with an interface designed to easily and intuitively control digital audio.
Most musicians today use some form of audio synthesis or sampling in their music. Virtually any type of sound can be created using these methods. Traditionally, digital piano keyboards have been the dominant instrument for controlling these sounds real-time in a musical setting.
At Misa, we provide a new instrument that not only unites traditional guitar playing technique with digital sound, but allows digital guitarists to use playing techniques that are not possible or comfortable on a digital keyboard!
Thursday 29 November 2012
Sitar
The sitar is
a plucked stringed instrument used
mainly in Indian classical music, which is believed to have been derived from
the ancient Indian instrument Veena and modified by a Mughal court musician to
conform with the tastes of his Persian patrons and named after a Persian
instrument called the setar (meaning "three strings"). Since then, it
underwent many changes, and the modern sitar evolved in the 18th century India.
It derives its resonance from sympathetic strings, a long hollow neck and a gourdresonating chamber.
In his Bharatiya Sangeet Vadya Dr. Lalmani Misra traces
its development from the Tritantri veena through the nibaddh and anibaddh Tamburas (so
named after Rishi Tumbru), also called tanbur and
later the jantra. Construction of the similar tanpura was
described byTansen.
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.
Mechanics
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: theGandhaar-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 Ravi
Shankar belongs, and other gharanas such as Bishnupur,
has seven. Three of these (or four on aGhandar-pancham sitar or
"Vilayat Khan" style aka Etawa gharana), 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.
Sitar construction styles
Sitar is
derived from the Persian word "Seh-Tar". "Seh" means three
in Persian. "Tar" means strings. There are two popular modern styles
of sitar offered in a variety of sub-styles and decorative patterns. The two
popular styles are the "gayaki style" sitars (sometimes called
"Vilayat Khan style sitars") and the full decorated
"instrumental style" sitars (sometimes called "Ravi Shankar
style sitars"). The gayaki style sitar is mostly of seasonedtoon wood,
with very few or no carved decorations. It often has a dark polish. The inlay
decorations are mostly of mother of
pearl (imitation). The number of sympathetic strings is often limited to
eleven but may feature thirteen. Jawari grinding
styles are also different as is the thickness of the "tabli"
(soundboard).
The other type
of sitar, the instrumental style, is most often made of seasoned toon wood,
but sometimes made of (Burma) teak. It is often fitted with a second resonator,
a small tumba (pumpkin or pumpkin like wood replica) on the neck. This style is
usually fully decorated, with floral or grape carvings and celluloid inlays
with colored (often brown or red) and black floral or arabesque patterns. It
typically has thirteen sympathetic strings. It is said, that the best Burma
teak sitars are made from teak that has been seasoned for generations. Therefore
instrument builders look for old Burma teak that was used in
old colonial style villas as whole trunkcolumns for
their special sitar constructions. The sources of very old seasoned wood are
a highly guarded trade secret and sometimes a mystery.
There are
various additional sub styles and cross mixes of styles in sitars, according to
customer preferences. Most important, there are some differences (preferences)
in the positioning of sympathetic (Taraf) string pegs (see photo).
Amongst all sitar styles there are student styles, beginner models, semi-pro
styles, pro-models, master models, and so on. Prices are often determined by
the manufacturers name and not by looks alone or materials used. Some sitars by
certain manufacturers fetch very high collectible prices. Most notable are
older Rikhi Ram (Delhi) and
older Hiren Roy (Kolkata)
sitars depending upon which master built the instrument.
Though not
technically a sitar, the electric
sitar is a guitar with a special bridge, known as the
"buzz bridge", and sympathetic strings, to mimic the sitar. It has
6 strings, lacks movable frets, and is played the same as the guitar, but with
a more "exotic" musical style.
Tuning
Tuning depends
on the sitarist's school or style, tradition and each artist's personal
preference. The main playing string is almost invariably tuned a perfect fourth above the
tonic, the second string being tuned to the tonic. Moreover the tonic in the Indian
solfège system is referred to as 'ṣaḍja', 'ṣaḍaj', or the
shortened form 'sa', or else 'khaṛaj', a
dialectal variant of 'ṣaḍaj', not as
'vād', and the perfect fifth to which one or more of the drones strings is
indeed tuned is referred to as 'pañcam', not 'samvād'. [D.R.W.]
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= D
§VII Ni= C#
§I Sa= D
§II Re= E
§III Ga= F#
§IV Ma= G
§V Pa= A
§VI Dha= B
§VII Ni= C#
§I Sa= D
§II Re= E
§III Ga= F#
(the last three
in the upper octave). The player should re-tune for each raga. Strings are tuned by tuning pegs,
and the main playing strings can be fine-tuned by sliding a bead threaded on
each string just below the bridge.
In one or more
of the more common tunings (used by Ravi Shankar, among others, called
"Kharaj Pancham" sitar) the playable strings are strung in this
fashion:
§Chikari strings:
Sa (high), Sa (middle), and Pa.
§Kharaj (bass)
strings: Sa (low) and Pa (low).
§Jod and baaj strings,
Sa and Ma.
In a
"Gandhar Pancham" (Imdadkhani, school of Vilayat Khan)
sitar, the bass or kharajstrings are removed and are replaced by a
fourth chikari which is tuned to Ga. By playing thechikari strings
with this tuning, one produces a chord (Sa, Sa, Pa, Ga or Sa Sa Ma Ga or Sa,
Sa, Dha, Gha depending on the raga).
To tune the
sympathetic strings to raga Kafi for example: I Sa, vii ni
(lower case denotes flat(komal) I Sa, II Re,
iii ga, III Ga (Shuddh or natural,
in Kafi the third is different ascending and descending), iv ma, V Pa, VI Dha,
vii ni, I Sa, II Re, iii ga.
There is a lot
of stylistic variance within these tunings and like most Indian stringed
instruments, there is no default tuning. Mostly, tunings vary by schools of
teaching (gharana)
and the piece that is meant to be played
Playing
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
"meend" involves pulling the main melody string down over the bottom
portion of the sitar's curved frets, with which the sitarist can achieve a
seven 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). Adept players bring in charisma through use of special techniques
like Kan, Krintan, Murki, Zamzama etc. They also use special Mizrab Bol-s, as
in Misrabani[3] and
create Chhand-s even in odd-numbered Tal-s like Jhoomra.
El sitar es un instrumento versátil con sonido
delicado y brillante, apropiado para expresar el lento desarrollo de losragasasí como para servir a la
interpretaciónvirtuosa.
Historia
Se cree que fue introducido enIndiadesdePersiadurante el periodomogol(a lo largo de la franja de la
antigua Persia abundan instrumentos de nombre y diseño muy relacionados con el
actual sitar:tar,sehtar, etc.). Otros musicólogos atribuyen
su invención aAmir Jusru,
importante músicocortesanomusulmándelsiglo XIII.
Cuerdas, construcción, técnica
Todas las cuerdas se pulsan con una púa
("mizrab") situada en el dedo índice, excepto las simpáticas, que
eventualmente se tocan con el dedo meñique. El sitar tiene un total de 18 a 26
cuerdas de acero: 4 cuerdas para la melodía, 3 que proporcionan el acompañamiento
armónico y rítmico, y entre 11 y 19 cuerdas afinables que vibran por simpatía y
con su resonancia añaden cuerpo y textura al sonido (aunque en ocasiones pueden
ser pulsadas con el meñique, como se dijo antes).
El sitar es algo más pequeño que el antiguo "saraswati vina", el otro instrumento de
cuerda importante de la India. Está fabricado con dura madera deteca. El mástil recto lleva un diapasón mucho
más ancho que el de la guitarra y es hueco permitiendo así que las cuerdas
puedan ser sujetas a las diferentes clavijas en el interior del mismo y
actuando al mismo tiempo como caja de resonancia, con entre 16 y 20trastesmóviles de latón o plata, de curva
suave, que son colocados por el instrumentista paratemperarla escala que dichos trastes
producen. Según elraga(modo melódico que se inspira en un tema poético) que
se vaya a interpretar,el instrumentista afinará de distinto modo las cuerdas de
simpatía (las cuales, al ser tocadas con el meñique, producen la peculiarcascadade notas, tan característica de la
música india). En el extremo inferior del mástil posee una caja de resonancia
decalabazacurada. Algunos sitares vienen con otra caja de
resonancia más pequeña, también de calabaza, situada debajo del extremo
superior del mástil. Actualmente, muchos de ellos tienen la segunda calabaza
fabricada en madera torneada, imitando a la susodicha hortaliza. Como
pegamento, se suelen utilizar las tradicionales colas basadas en mucílagos de
plantas (de la familia de la chirimoya) o bien deluthier(basadas en pescados, huesos, etc.),
todo ello reforzado con clavos confeccionados a partir de astillas de caña.
