Need to buy a mridangam

[vinayvenkat]

Hi,

I'm a beginner and just started taking lessons in mridangam. i'm located in VA, US. Wanted to check if anyone could help me buy a mridangam thats in a reasonable condition. Amazon and ebay have really expensinve ones.

Thanks
Vinay

[prashanth12]

Who are you taking lessons from?

I'm learning the Mridangam as well and I go to my teacher for anything related to buying or repairing mridangams. The teachers will usually have their own contacts that they can use for such things, usually much better than buying something off ebay.

[carnaticlaw]

I'm a beginner and just started taking lessons in mridangam. i'm located in VA, US. Wanted to check if anyone could help me buy a mridangam thats in a reasonable condition. Amazon and ebay have really expensinve ones.

How are mridangams made? please educate me. I heard some one say that they have to be made from barks of trees that have "listened" to recitals of vedas by the river. And the leather from the cow.

Please give me the recipes and I will give you a free mridangam, trust me.

[hariniraghavan]

Is the free mridangam offer open only to vinayvenkat or anybody who will educcate you about it?
Harini.

[Nick H]

carnaticlaw... there is no tree bark used in the construction of a mridangam, but there is a large chunk of wood and, in a long-past, perhaps even mythical, age, that tree would have absorbed chants and music. Whether it was ever true or not, it is a beautiful idea.

You can find the recipe for mridangam in several of the textbooks --- but, as with all great dishes that require more than basic kitchen skills, the result of trying to follow them would probably have similar results to my efforts at making dosa!

vinayvenkat... Unfortunately, you have, in USA, to cover the cost of shipping, and to contribute to the profits of the dealer to allow him too to live in the USA. Is this a bad deal? Not when you consider the air fare you would have to pay to fetch one from Chennai!

Of course, there are many other reasons to visit Chennai, and if it is at all possible for you, then I expect your teacher will recommend a mridangam maker to you. It helps if they think they are making the mridangam for a musician, rather than his student!

[carnaticlaw]

Is the free mridangam offer open only to vinayvenkat or anybody who will educcate you about it?

Just for that Mukhari varnam, I can extend the offer to you

[mahakavi]

CL:
I understand that the basic wood material that is used to make mridangam is obtained from the jackfruit (palAppazham) tree. That tree does not grow everywhere. I don't know if it listened to the chant of vEdAs either. But, for sure, you need the cowhide to cover the two ends of the mridangam. India Today publised an article a few years back on the subject of using cowhide in making mridangam. Only Thamizh Christians indulge in this profession. According to the article, (contrary to the belief of "ignorance is bliss" crowd), the hide is obtained from young tender cows which are slaughtered specifically to obtain hide for producing the mridangam covers. I hope the cow that got slaughtered went to heaven after hearing the vEdic chants. The magazine interviewed lots of such workers for that story. Also those who produce those instruments (like our old nandanAr) do not meet the person (face-to-face) who ordered the instrument. They deposit the instrument at the door and leave. These are some of the dark secrets of making and supplying mridangam.

A few years ago UKS (the doyen of mridangam) experimented with the materials engineering group at IIT/Madras using a synthetic polymer to replace cowhide. Not much is known at this time on that project--whether it continues or failed. Perhaps our rbharath or srikant 1987 can update us.

[carnaticlaw]

young tender cows which are slaughtered specifically to obtain hide for producing the mridangam covers.

MK,

this is enough for me. you made my day. WWWOOOOOOW!!! wWHAT A PIECE OF INFORMATION to feed me? Long live carnatic music and the divinity associated with it.

[mahakavi]

CL:
Here is the source article titled, Thyagaraja's cow. It is from Outlook India (not India Today as I mentioned earlier) published in 2003.
http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?221354

[carnaticlaw]

quoting from the article

The hides of three animals go into the making of a mridangam: goat, buffalo and cow. Buffalo skin is used to make the ropes (vaar) that run along the hollow jack-wood frame and also for the thoppi (cap) on the left head that provides the bass effect.

beautiful.

[smala]

An site worth several visits for percussionists....http://www.nscottrobinson.com/southindiaperc.php

[carnaticlaw]

one more:

When asked if they would oppose the proposed ban on artistic grounds, top mridangam players Outlook spoke to—Murthy, Sivaraman, Karaikudi Mani and TVG—dodged the question.

maatu kari maari oru suvaiyaana saapadu engaiuyme kidaikaadhu. please dont waste it on mridangam.

[smala]

Fiber glass "Balarama" mridangas used in ISKCON.

http://www.krishnaculture.com/Merchant5 ... _Code=MI-M

[carnaticlaw]

s-p,

the fiber glass mrdangam is ok. please tell me about Maatu thol mridangam. Have you ever had beef briyani? do you know how tasteful it is? I love it. You might wanna try it out sometime.

[ragam-talam]

this topic has been discussed before: http://rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php? ... 4&start=25

CL - not sure why you keep talking about your dietary habits etc here. Enough provoking.
Or did you forget to take your medicine today?

[carnaticlaw]

I forgot to take my medicine. Thanks for reminding me. Its Friday. Wanna talk to me after I take my medicine?

What was provocative? I am quoting from an article from outlook. Did you read it? Did you see how disgraceful the entire thing is? And also, I love beef biriyani. I am just sharing it with people and strongly recommend it just based on taste (i don't know about health benefits).

Address the mridangam-cow issue now. I think ( i am not sure) you Hindus think cow is holy. Please correct me if I am wrong.

what is carnatic community doing to protect those cows? I need those cows for my biriyani. please answer now.

[carnaticlaw]

r-t,

naan brahmanan kidayaadhu, sudran. so talk to me like how a brahmin will talk to a shudra (that is , if you are a brahmin). and I will reply to you like how a shudra will reply to a brahmin.

no provocation. just exercising identities.

thanks

[carnaticlaw]

so this is what it boils down to - none of you address the slaughtering of cows, but still continue listening to the "thaalams" : )

So nick, our Brit, what do you think of the bovine mridangams?

still want to beat <edited> "the leather"?

[vasanthakokilam]

CL, you have become a high maintenance item for me which I do not relish. I have other things to do. Watch your language and do not give work for the moderators.

If this is just an isolated incident, I would not have written this. Today, I had to watch all your posts like a hawk.
Take it easy, participate in a non-provacatory manner ( yes, even if you interpret others' responses to you as provocative ). You do not have to raise the stakes. Thanks.

[carnaticlaw]

alright VK,

still want to beat <edited> "the leather"?

guys , fill in the blanks.

[carnaticlaw]

VK,

I totally agree,

but in a music forum there is no place for religious sentiments.

I love CM, you love CM, thats it. If there is a slightest injection of religion, then its a different story.

thanks
CL

[vasanthakokilam]

CL: Let me tell a few things why you are annoying me. You are giving me a lot of work to do in terms of moderating you.

Let me be frank..

1) CM and religion is interconnected. There will be injection of religion. You can not dictate that. But that does not mean you can go on about your own personal agenda of brahmin baiting or in general caste baiting... Our tolerance for that is very small.

2) You have your pet peeves, you do not have to express that in every unrelated thread. You do not have to wear your pet peeves on your sleeves all the time. Participate in the thread's subject if you can, other wise step out.

3) Yes, we all love CM. Let us leave it at that.

( I am writing this with regret that I have to write this in this thread. We will clean this up later )

I very much appreciate your cooperation on these matters.

( Others: Do not get into a debate on these matters here )

[carnaticlaw]

ok,

i will start something in the lounge.

cm and religion are interconnected - elaborate, please. how about the mridangam-cow thing? isn't it nice?

annoyance - oh yes, thats one thing every individual has to deal with on a daily basis. no more on this.

thanks

[Nick H]

So nick, our Brit, what do you think of the bovine mridangams?

Well, for a start, I know what animals contribute to the making of the mridangam, and you either do not, or chose to discriminate against the other two.

[hariniraghavan]

Just for that Mukhari varnam, I can extend the offer to you [/quote]

Thanks
Harini.

[carnaticlaw]

Well, for a start, I know what animals contribute to the making of the mridangam, and you either do not, or chose to discriminate against the other two.

are u really english?

[Nick H]

I'll check my passport and get back to you on that.