Interesting video of Automatic acoustic tanpura player:
I wonder if this product is already available in the market?
Automatic acoustic tanpura player
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VK RAMAN
- Posts: 5009
- Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 00:29
Re: Automatic acoustic tanpura player
I like the brand name "Shanti". Om is more fitting I guess
Last edited by VK RAMAN on 24 Apr 2011, 00:33, edited 1 time in total.
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uday_shankar
- Posts: 1475
- Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:37
Re: Automatic acoustic tanpura player
This is a delightful device - ideal for anybody who does not have the wherewithal to hire a human tambura player but loves the acoustic sound. Flute mali practised alone to the accompaniment of an old-fashioned "shruti potti" by working its bellows with his feet. My flute teacher shri T S Sankaran also did the same. That should be the next invention along these lines...a silent compressor that can generate enough pressure to operate the bellows...also create an ebb and flow in the volume to simulate the real thing...
Judging by the "enthusiastic" response to this post in this forum, I fear this device may not be popular among Carnatic musicians or rasikas
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Judging by the "enthusiastic" response to this post in this forum, I fear this device may not be popular among Carnatic musicians or rasikas
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thenpaanan
- Posts: 671
- Joined: 04 Feb 2010, 19:45
Re: Automatic acoustic tanpura player
My first reaction to the picture was "wish I had thought of that". My second reaction was "I wouldn't have thought of that in a million years". My third reaction was "what a simple idea!" Great for acoustic tambura buffs like me who did not learn in their formative years to play tanpura and sing at the same time. The one question I have is this: the video shows the device playing on a modern shortened tanpura, not a regulation issue one. Do you need that particular tanpura model to go with the strummer?uday_shankar wrote:This is a delightful device - ideal for anybody who does not have the wherewithal to hire a human tambura player but loves the acoustic sound. Flute mali practised alone to the accompaniment of an old-fashioned "shruti potti" by working its bellows with his feet. My flute teacher shri T S Sankaran also did the same. That should be the next invention along these lines...a silent compressor that can generate enough pressure to operate the bellows...also create an ebb and flow in the volume to simulate the real thing...
Judging by the "enthusiastic" response to this post in this forum, I fear this device may not be popular among Carnatic musicians or rasikas
As for the enthusiastic response, some readers may be delayed in their response while they try to remember which attic they put their tambura in
Extremely picky individuals may cavil that even the plucking of tanpura strings is an art in itself. True. Irregardless....
-Then Paanan
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Nick H
- Posts: 9473
- Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 02:03
Re: Automatic acoustic tanpura player
Whether or not this can rival a human hand (won't its consistent timing be a bit, err... consistent?) it is still a genius invention, and all the more so for its simplicity.
Hats off to KZ!
Hats off to KZ!
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sruthi
- Posts: 204
- Joined: 21 Sep 2010, 19:59
Re: Automatic acoustic tanpura player
Ken Zuckerman is a highly respected sarod player from the Ali Akbar Khan school: http://youtu.be/Q7AFhAcH4Zc
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vasanthakokilam
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Re: Automatic acoustic tanpura player
Nice calming sound. What are the swaras played in a typical tanpura?
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mahavishnu
- Posts: 3341
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Re: Automatic acoustic tanpura player
VK, although the carnatic tanpura is usually tuned to lower pa; sa sa sa, this one has a lower nishAdam built in, as is common in Hindustani music. I have often wondered if they have the Ni present even when they sing pentatonic ragams like Mohanam/Bhupali...
The invention itself reminds me of an automatic pankhawallah, from the days of the Raj, that eventually paved the way for the modern ceiling fan! Apparently, it was a good source of employment. One could sit and listen to good music with members of royalty, for minimum wage and the king's remembrance.
Someone already had the bright idea and has applied for a patent and IP rights http://india.bigpatents.org/names/97939
The invention itself reminds me of an automatic pankhawallah, from the days of the Raj, that eventually paved the way for the modern ceiling fan! Apparently, it was a good source of employment. One could sit and listen to good music with members of royalty, for minimum wage and the king's remembrance.
Someone already had the bright idea and has applied for a patent and IP rights http://india.bigpatents.org/names/97939
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kmrasika
- Posts: 1279
- Joined: 10 Mar 2006, 07:55
Re: Automatic acoustic tanpura player
Ok... but nothing beats the resonating sounds of the fingers continously plucking the strings patiently with given tempo.
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gobilalitha
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Re: Automatic acoustic tanpura player
post no 9. Truly said. but the poor tambura player is the most neglected artist .Continuously strumming for 3 hours suffering unbearable pain in the fingers, but very poorly paid by the musician. I know about a top ranking vidwan being paid Rs twenty thousand and the tambura artist brought by the vidwan himself paid rs 50.Not omly the amount, discrimination even in the size of the garland.i think that the tambura artists should form an association!!! 