The
Sārangī is a
bowedIn music, a bow is moved across some part of a musical instrument, causing vibration which the instrument emits as sound. The vast majority of bows are used with string instruments, although some bows are used with musical saws and other bowed idiophones....
, short-necked
string instrumentA string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
of
IndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
which is originated from Rajasthani folk instruments. It plays an important role in India's
Hindustani classical musicHindustani classical music is the Hindustani or North Indian style of Indian classical music found throughout the northern Indian subcontinent. The style is sometimes called North Indian Classical Music or Shāstriya Sangeet...
tradition. Of all Indian instruments, it is said to most resemble the sound of the human voice – able to imitate vocal ornaments such as
gamakGamaka, also known as gamak or gamakam, refers to ornamentation that is used in the performance of Indian classical music. The unique character of each raga is given by its gamakas, making their role essential rather than decorative in Indian music...
as (shakes) and
meendIn Hindustani music, meend refers to a glide from one note to another. It is an essential performance practice, and is used often in vocal and instrumental music. On the veena, sitar, and other plucked stringed instruments, it is usually done by pushing the strings across the frets to vary their...
(sliding movements). It is also said to be the hardest Indian instrument to master.
History
The word
sarangi is derived from two
HindiStandard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
words:
sau (meaning "hundred") and
rang (meaning "colour"). This is because the sound of the
sarangi is said to be as expressive and evocative as a hundred colours. Its origins are unknown, however most people believe that it became a mainstream instrument in the mid 18th Century. Notoriously difficult to play and tune, the
sarangi has traditionally been used primarily for accompanying singers (shadowing the vocalist's improvisations),in recent times it has become recognised as a solo instrument by the efforts of Ram Narayan and Sabri Khan. Other current celebrated performers include Sultan Khan, Kamal Sabri, Dhruba Ghosh and Aruna Narayan Kalle, while eminent maestros of the past have included Bundu Khan, Nathu Khan, Sagiruddin Khan, Gopal Mishra and Shakoor Khan.
The repertoire of sarangi players is traditionally very closely related to vocal music. Nevertheless, a concert with a solo
sarangi as the main item will probably include a full-scale raga presentation with an extensive alap (the unmeasured improvisatory development of the raga) in increasing intensity (alap-jor-jhala) and several compositions in increasing tempi. As such, it is on a par with other instrumental styles such as for
sitarThe 'Tablaman' is a plucked stringed instrument predominantly used in Hindustani classical music, where it has been ubiquitous since the Middle Ages...
,
sarodThe sarod is a stringed musical instrument, used mainly in Indian classical music. Along with the sitar, it is the most popular and prominent instrument in the classical music of Hindustan...
, and
bansuriThe bansuri is a transverse alto flute of Bangladesh, India and Nepal made from a single hollow shaft of bamboo with six or seven finger holes. An ancient musical instrument associated with cowherds and the pastoral tradition, it is intimately linked to the love story of Krishna and Radha, and is...
. This full-fledged raga development has its roots in the
DhrupadDhrupad is a vocal genre in Hindustani classical music, said to be the oldest still in use in that musical tradition. Its name is derived from the words "dhruva" and "pada"...
style of raga presentation.
Sarangi music is often vocal music. It is rare to find a
sarangi player who does not know the words of many classical compositions. The words are usually mentally present during performance, and performance almost always adheres to the conventions of vocal performance including the organisational structure, the types of elaboration, the tempo, the relationship between sound and silence, and the presentation of
khyalKhyal is the modern genre of classical singing in North India. Its name comes from an Arabic word meaning "imagination". It is thought to have developed out of the qawwali singing style. It appeared more recently than dhrupad, is a more free and flexible form, and it provides greater scope for...
and
thumriThumri is a common genre of semi-classical Indian music.The text is romantic or devotional in nature, and usually revolves around a girl's love for Krishna. The lyrics are usually in Uttar Pradesh dialects of Hindi called Poorbi and Brij Bhasha...
compositions. The vocal quality of sarangi is in a quite separate category from, for instance, the so-called
gayaki-ang of
sitarThe 'Tablaman' is a plucked stringed instrument predominantly used in Hindustani classical music, where it has been ubiquitous since the Middle Ages...
which attempts to imitate the nuances of
khyal while overall conforming to the structures and usually keeping to the
gat compositions of instrumental music. (A
gat is a composition set to a cyclic rhythm.)
The
sarangi is also a traditional stringed musical instrument of
NepalNepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
, commonly played by the Gaine or
GandarbhaGandarbha or Gaine is a Dalit community which belongs to the Indo-Aryan ethnic group. from central hilly region of Nepal. By tradition they make their living by singing Gandarbha Geet or Gaine Geet, a type of folk song. They use Sarangi, a type of violin as their main musical instrument...
ethnic group.
Structure
Carved from a single block of wood, the
sarangi has a box-like shape, usually around two feet long and around half a foot wide. The lower resonance chamber is made from a hollowed-out block of
tun (
red cedarAustralian Red Cedar , Toona ciliata is a forest tree in the family Meliaceae which grows throughout southern Asia from Afghanistan to Papua New Guinea and Australia. In Australia its natural habitat is now extensively cleared subtropical rainforests of New South Wales and Queensland...
) wood and covered with
parchmentParchment is a thin material made from calfskin, sheepskin or goatskin, often split. Its most common use was as a material for writing on, for documents, notes, or the pages of a book, codex or manuscript. It is distinct from leather in that parchment is limed but not tanned; therefore, it is very...
and a decorated strip of leather at the waist which supports the elephant-shaped bridge. The bridge in turn supports the huge pressure of approximately 40 strings. Three of the strings – the comparatively thick, tight and short ones – are bowed with a heavy horsehair bow and "stopped" not with the finger-tips but with the
nailsA nail is a horn-like envelope covering the dorsal aspect of the terminal phalanges of fingers and toes in humans, most non-human primates, and a few other mammals. Nails are similar to claws, which are found on numerous other animals....
, cuticles and surrounding flesh (talcum powder is applied to the fingers as a lubricant). The remaining strings are resonance strings or
tarabs (see: sympathetic strings), numbering up to around 35, divided into 4 different "choirs". On the lowest level are a diatonic row of 9 tarabs and a
chromaticThe chromatic scale is a musical scale with twelve pitches, each a semitone apart. On a modern piano or other equal-tempered instrument, all the half steps are the same size...
row of 15
tarabs, each encompassing a full
octaveIn music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music", the use of which is "common in most musical systems"...
plus 1–3 extra notes above or below. Between these lower
tarabs and the main playing strings lie two more sets of longer
tarabs, which pass over a small flat ivory bridge at the top of the instrument. These are tuned to the important tones (
swaraThe seven notes of the scale , in Indian music are named shadja, rishabh, gandhar, madhyam, pancham, dhaivat and nishad, and are shortened to Sa, Ri or Re , Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, and Ni and written S, R, G, M, P, D, N. Collectively these notes are known as the sargam...
s) of the raga. A properly tuned
sarangi will hum and buzz like a bee-hive, with tones played on any of the main strings eliciting echo-like resonances. A few sarangis use strings manufactured from the intestines of goats - these harken back to the days when rich musicians could afford such strings.
In India and Pakistan
- Navdip Singh Paras
- Chamkaur Singh Jalalabadi
- Abdul Latif Khan
- Ahmed Khan (musician)
- Aruna Narayan Kalle
- Datararra Kazino
- Dattaramji Parwatkar
- Deepak Paramashivan (Bangalore)
- Dhruba Ghosh
- Farukh Latif Khan
- Faiyaz Khan (Bangalore)
- Ghulam Sabir Khan (Ambalewale)
- Ghulam Farid
- Gopal Mishra
Gopal Mishra was an Indian journalist and columnist.-Career:Born in Bidyadharpur, Cuttack, Orissa in 1933, Mishra’s career spanned five decades, starting with the Oriya daily Prajatantra, followed by editorship of the English newspaper of the same group the Eastern Times.He worked several years...
- Harsh Narayan
- Ikram Khan
Ikram Khan is a famous sarangi player from Jaipur. He hails from a family of musicians belonging to the Sikar Gharana. He was initiated and groomed by his father, Ustad Nizamuddin Khan, who was also a very famous sarangi player from Jaipur...
- Kamal Sabri
- Khalifa Hafizullah Khan
- Mouddin Khan
- M.A. Banne
- Murad Ali
- Ram Narayan
Ram Narayan , often referred to by the title Pandit, is an Indian musician who popularized the bowed instrument sarangi as a solo concert instrument in Hindustani classical music and became the first internationally successful sarangi player....
- Vasanti Shrikhande
- Rafiq Ahmed Khan
- Ramesh Mishra
- Sabri Khan
- Sarwar Hussain
- Shakur Khan
- Sultan Khan
- Vinod Pawar
- Sabir khan
Sabir Khan is an Indian sarangi player. He belongs to Sikar gharana of music who have given several stalwarts to Indian classical music.-Early life:...
- Abubakar Javed
- Dilshad khan
Dilshad Khan is a Bengali Hindustani classical singer of the Patiala Gharana.-Early life and background:Dilshad Khan was born in Kolkata, and studied at St. Xavier's Collegiate School, Kolkata, where future music composer R. D. Burman was his classmate.He started learning tabla at the age of four,...
- Dr Taimur Khan
- Bundoo Khan
Ustad Bundu Khan was born in Delhi in a family of musicians. He received his early training in sarangi from his father Ali Jan Khan and later from his uncle Mamman Khan...
- Nathoo Khan
- Umrao Khan
- Ghulam Mohammad
- Nazim Ali Khan
- Hamid Hussain Khan
- Khawar Hussain
- Sharfuddin Khan
- Piroo Khan
- Mubarik Ali Khan
- Nabi Bakhsh
- Zohaib Hassan Khan
- Zahoori Khan
- Allah Rakha Khan
- Abdul Wahab Ch.
In Nepal
- Parashuram Bhandari
- Jhalak Man Gandarbha
Jhalak Man Gandarbha is one of the most significant Nepali folk singers. He is popular for Gaine Geet or Gandarbha Sangeet, a popular type of folk song sung only by the Gaine or Gandarbha ethnic group of Nepal. He is the first Gaine singer to record Gaine song and is respected for bringing voice...
- Khim Bahadur Gandarba
- Tirtha Bahadur Gandarbha
- Hari Sharan Nepali
- Shyam Nepal
- Hiralal Gandarbha
- Rubin Gandarbha
- Diwas Magar
- Honimaya Gandharba (from Prabash, Palpa)
In UK
- Surjeet Singh
- Surinder Sandhu
Surinder Sandhu is a sarangi player and composer. He is a student of Sabri Khan of the Senia Rampur Moradabad gharana.Sandhu composes in multiple genres. His compositions combine jazz, western classical and Asian fusion music. Guests performers on Sandhu's albums include rock guitarist Steve Vai to...
(Disciple of Ustad Sabri Khan)
- Harjider Singh Matharu (Disciple Of Ustad Sabri Khan and Kamal Sabri)
Sarangi Makers
- Masita (meerut)
- Behra (meerut)
- Rajesh Dhawan (meerut)
- Raj Musicals (New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
)
Modern performers who have used sarangi in compositions
- World renowned music composer A. R. Rahman
Allah Rakha Rahman is an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and philanthropist. Described as the world's most prominent and prolific film composer by Time, his works are notable for integrating eastern classical music with electronic music sounds, world music genres and...
for his creation "Tum Ko" performed by Kavita Krishnamurthy in the feature film RockstarRockstar is a 2011 Hindi musical film directed by Imtiaz Ali, starring Ranbir Kapoor and debutant Nargis Fakhri, with music composed by A. R. Rahman. Eros International Ltd. co-produces the film with Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision Ltd...
.
- "Yuvan shankar raja
Yuvan Shankar Raja is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer, singer and occasional lyricist. He has predominantly scored music for Tamil as well as several Telugu films. His musical career began in 1996, at age 16, as he composed the film score for Aravindhan...
a" a well acclaimed Music director of India has used "Sarangi" in his 2009 tamil film "YogiYogi is a 2009 Indian Tamil action-drama film directed by Subramaniya Shiva, who earlier directed films like Thiruda Thirudi and Pori. Starring director-turned-actor Ameer Sultan, Madhumitha, Swathi, Ponvannan, lyricist Snehan, making his acting debut, and Ganja Karuppu in lead roles, the film is...
", "Yogi theme in saarangi" a 4:02 minute track, which is performed by "Ustad Sultan KhanUstad Sultan Khan was an Indian sarangi player and singer who performed Hindustani classical music. He was one of the members of the Indian fusion group Tabla Beat Science, with Zakir Hussain and Bill Laswell...
".
- Dance Of The Desert by Kamal Sabri (http://www.raaga.com/channels/worldmusic/moviedetail.asp?mid=WM00007)Album Music Today-2006
- Sarangi Funk by Kamal Sabri (http://www.raaga.com/channels/worldmusic/album/WM00043.html)Album Music Today-2009
- Massive Attack in the album 100th window Sarangi by Kamal Sabri
- One Giant Leap Sarangi by Kamal Sabri
- Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
, sarangi parts performed by Ramesh Mishra (featured on the track "Taste of India"Taste of India" is a song by American hard rock band Aerosmith. It was released in 1997 on the band's 12th studio album Nine Lives. It was released as a promotional single to rock radio, where it peaked at #3 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in 1998. The song was written by lead singer Steven...
" from the 1997 album Nine LivesNine Lives may refer to:*The common myth that cats have nine lives;- In film/television :*Ni Liv, Nine Lives, a 1957 Norwegian-language movie*The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat, 1974 adult animated film...
)
- Surinder Sandhu
Surinder Sandhu is a sarangi player and composer. He is a student of Sabri Khan of the Senia Rampur Moradabad gharana.Sandhu composes in multiple genres. His compositions combine jazz, western classical and Asian fusion music. Guests performers on Sandhu's albums include rock guitarist Steve Vai to...
, The Fictionist with The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, SauRango Orchestra with Steve Vai and Cycles and Stories.
- Cheb i Sabbah
Cheb i Sabbah , born Haim Serge El Baz in Constantine, Algeria, is a club DJ based in San Francisco, California....
- Digital Bled
- Howard Shore
Howard Leslie Shore is a Canadian composer, notable for his film scores. He has composed the scores for over 80 films, most notably the scores for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, for which he won three Academy Awards. He is also a consistent collaborator with director David Cronenberg,...
(the Lothlórien portions of the score for The Fellowship of the RingThe music of the The Lord of the Rings film trilogy was composed, orchestrated, conducted and produced by Howard Shore. Shore wrote many hours of music for The Lord of the Rings, 10 hours of which have been released in The Complete Recordings CD/DVD boxed sets...
)
- Musafir
Musafir is a 2004 Hindi thriller film, directed and produced by Sanjay Gupta starring Sanjay Dutt, Anil Kapoor and Sameera Reddy. The film was controversial because of some sensual scenes, including kissing, between Kapoor and Reddy...
, or Gypsies of Rajasthan
- Nitin Sawhney
Nitin Sawhney is an Indian-British musician, producer and composer. His critically acclaimed work combines Asian and other worldwide influences with elements of jazz and electronica and often explores themes such as multiculturalism, politics and spirituality...
- Robert Miles
Robert Miles is an Italian record producer, composer, musician and DJ in electronica and alternative music.-Biography:...
(on his 2001 album OrganikOrganik is the third album by Robert Miles, released in 2001. The first he independently recorded and produced after quitting his record company, it marked a complete departure from the style of his first two albums.-Overview:...
)
- Secret Chiefs 3
Secret Chiefs 3 is an instrumental rock group led by guitarist/composer Trey Spruance . Their studio recordings and tours have featured different line-ups, as the group performs a wide range of musical styles including surf rock, Persian, Arab, Indian, death metal, film music, electronic music,...
- Steve Shelley
Steven Jay Shelley is an American drummer, best known as the drummer of alternative rock band Sonic Youth.-Biography:...
of Sonic YouthSonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
- Tabla Beat Science
Tabla Beat Science is a musical group founded in 1999 by Zakir Hussain and Bill Laswell. Its style consists of a mixture of Hindustani music, Asian Underground, ambient music, drum and bass and electronica. Laswell met with Karsh Kale , and they later teamed up with Talvin Singh and Trilok Gurtu...
- Tool
Tool is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1990, the group's line-up has included drummer Danny Carey, guitarist Adam Jones, and vocalist Maynard James Keenan. Since 1995, Justin Chancellor has been the band's bassist, replacing their original bassist Paul D'Amour...
(featured on the track "Reflection")
- Talvin Singh
Talvin Singh Matharoo , is a producer and composer and tabla player, known for creating an innovative fusion of Indian classical music and drum and bass...
- Robin Williamson
Robin Williamson is a Scottish multi-instrumentalist musician, singer, songwriter and storyteller, who first made his name as a founder member of The Incredible String Band.-Career:...
of the Incredible String BandThe Incredible String Band were a psychedelic folk band formed in Scotland in 1966. The band built a considerable following, especially within British counterculture, before splitting up in 1974...
(notably in the song White Bird on the Changing Horses album)
- Blind Melon's
Blind Melon is an American rock band active from 1989 to 1999, and from 2006 onward.Best remembered for their 1993 single "No Rain", the group enjoyed critical and commercial success in the early 1990s with their neo-psychedelic take on alternative rock...
track Sleepyhouse from their debut album Blind MelonBlind Melon is the eponymous debut album by the rock band Blind Melon, released on September 14, 1992 through Capitol Records. Fronted by singer Shannon Hoon, Blind Melon had a distinctive traditional rock sound, influenced by southern rock and psychedelic music...
External links
- Sarangi Video by Nasir Khan
- Resham Firiri A popular Nepali folk music with a Sarangi and madal
The Madal , double-headed drum of Nepalese origin , used mainly for rhythm-keeping in Nepalese folk music, is the most popular and widely used hand drum in Nepal.The Madal consists of a cylindrical body with a slight bulge at its center, closed on both ends .The madal has a...
.
- Nicolas Magriel's Sarangi Site most informative, a veritable treasure of information and archives
- sarangi.info - downloadable sarangi and vocal music, including the integral of two important books, The Voice of the Sarangi, Joep Bor; The Sarangi, by Ram Narayan and Neil Sorrell
- The Sarangi - This article on sarangis includes pictures of an exquisitely crafted sarangi by Paul Martin.
- Sadarang Archives Gallery of Pakistani sarangi players
- Nepali Sarangi Video from YouTube
Three historic sarangi from The Metropolitan Museum of Art