History of tambura

[thenpaanan]

Has anyone come across a history of the use of tambura/tanpura in Carnatic music?

What were the earliest instances of the use of the tambura? I do not recall seeing sculptures of people holding a tambura on ancient temple friezes much as one sees a veena or mridangam or other extinct instruments. Even the word "tambura" does not seem to be of local origin. But even Purandaradasa is commonly depicted holding a tambura.

If there was a time when Carnatic music or its antecedent was sung without a tambura accompaniment I wonder what it was like. And when did the sound of tambura acquire the almost religious significance that we see by, say, Tyagaraja's time.

Would there have been a concept of sruti alignment without a tambura (different from the notion of correct note interval values that define the character of a ragam)?

Could it be that even the notion of a relative scale for singing rather than an absolute one came about because of the appearance of the tambura?

Is there a historical evolution of how the tambura was built -- its materials and construction?

How did the physical construction of the tambura dovetail with the common sruthis of singers in historical times and particularly with the (much ballyhooed) historical tendency of male singers to drop their sruthi?

Is the history of tambura in Hindustani music much different from Carnatic?

Yours in curiosity,
Thenpaanan

PS. Mods, I could not find this topic already in discussion. If so please feel free to merge as appropriate.

[arunk]

I remember seeing an article on this a while ago (possibly from Music Academy Journal). But basically for the tampura as we see today to be in play, you need the system to reach a stage with a fixed-sa leading to the need of the drone. (As the theory derived from interpreting texts goes) That happened post-grama system i.e. no earlier than 13th-14th century. In the antecedent system to carnatic system (or hindustani system), which is the the grama system, sa did not have this special role - it was just like the other swaras.

Arun

[thenpaanan]

I remember seeing an article on this a while ago (possibly from Music Academy Journal). But basically for the tampura as we see today to be in play, you need the system to reach a stage with a fixed-sa leading to the need of the drone. (As the theory derived from interpreting texts goes) That happened post-grama system i.e. no earlier than 13th-14th century. In the antecedent system to carnatic system (or hindustani system), which is the the grama system, sa did not have this special role - it was just like the other swaras.

Arun

Right. I wonder what caused what -- did the creation of a fixed sa lead to the use of a drone for accompaniment or did the appearance of an attractive background drone sound lead to the adoption of fixed sa convention?

Also, there must have been precursors to the tambura which were experimented with before folks arrived at the rather complex sound and construction of the tambura. Do we have any clues or hints as to what these might have been (aka paleology for tambura)? Perhaps the ektara?

It is utterly surprising that we know so little about this vital instrument of our music.

-Thenpaanan

[arunk]

I subscribe to the theory that the advent of fretted vina
=> led to merging of two gramas i.e. all "scales'/murchanas which people knew were derivatives of each other (there is textual evidence of this knowledge) could now be played by keeping the same "base pitch" i.e. tonic.
=> leading to one-tonic
=> leading to a need of a strong reference of that one tonic pitch
=> leading to tampura

(This is not my own theory - I have read the inference in other sources)

I may have a copy of that article that talks about history of tanpura (not sure). I will see if I can dig that up.

Arun

[cmlover]

Tambura is traditionally associated with sage Narada.
Hence searching the puranas will give us a clue and time-line..
I wonder whether there is a reference in Bhagavatam?

[varsha]

Tamburi meetidava , bhavaabdhi dhaatidhava

Another Time Line

[vidya]

Thenpanan,


Folk drones in the form of Ektar obviously predate the Tambura and have been around for a long time. It is also said that some early harp type musical instruments may have had a drone string. But its use,
prominence and function is largely unclear since the absence of a fixed tonic, the variability of Sadja and Pancama, the grama system and the presence of the cyuta pancama would all work against the possibility, prevalence and use of a tambura in earlier times in Indian Music. So when these factors disappeared giving way for Shadja as the resting note and the tonic note the Tambura and its prototypes started to evolve.
Most people believe that perhaps the beginnings of the Tambura was in the time of the Svaramelakalanidhi as a starting point (Mid 1500's). A few are of the opinion that it is a Middle Eastern / Iranian import
while others think it is an indigenous development. (See BCDeva , JMAM 1952 PP-126-152).

Etymologically Tambura is attributed to the mythological Tumburu (Ahobala in the Sangita Parijata specifically says tamburam tumburor vAdyam meaning Tambura is the instrument of Tumburu).The term Tambura is etymologically and to the root tumbaH meaning gourd. The earliest textual occurrence of the term is the Sangita Parijata(SP) dated around 1660. The second Khanda (Chapter) deals with vadhya or instruments. The text makes reference to taumburam and says that it is of two types nibaddha and an anibaddha. However interpretations vary as to whether these only refer to a fretted/fretless instrument and whether these were drone or some early sitar prototypes. This is very similar to the case where Bharata mentions a citravINa but this is hardly the citravIna that we see today. The mere occurrence of a name does not constitute proof to the ancientness of an instrument which is known to us today with a certain name and form. Dr.Allyn miner in her work on the evolution of the Sitar and Sarod in the 17th and 18th centuries further adds that in the 1700's we have PratapSingh's Sangit Sar(SS) which elaborates and provides additional information on Tambura and its construct. In the SS,there is a description of nibaddha and anibaddha types and details of how the tambura is made with a gourd and wooden board and some explanation of the strings. A specimen of this is housed in the museum in Jaipur. Then in the, Mughal period there is the occurrence of the Tambura in its drone accompaniment to the voice is first found in the 16th 17th century paintings in the time of Akbar and Jahangir. The main development is the increase in length and size. But this is close to the instrument that we see today.

In terms of the development in the South, Purandara dasa's lyric Tamburi meetidava (as mentioned by Varsha) indicates the presence of some drone accompaniment to singing. I have not seen any references to sculptures or paintings but there may be some in the Saraswati Mahal. So if someone is looking to find the history of the Tambura, as it applies to the drone instrument the Tambura and not the Fretted instrument the Tambur look no earlier than the 1600s.

[uday_shankar]

So when these factors disappeared giving way for Shadja as the resting note and the tonic note the Tambura and its prototypes started to evolve.

However, regardless of the grama and/or the presence of a "chyuta" panchama, a single string to denote a tonic (algthough it makes no sense in a completely plucked harp-like instrument, like Bharata's vinas, where ANY string can be chosen as tonic) can be present and may be useful. The notion of a panchama in addition to shadja for a drone is quite unnecessary and I often experiment with just having shadja for shruti. This helps in getting a fix on some pitches like for example the so-called "trishruti rishaba"(10/9) for example. The presence of a strong panchama biases the ear strongly towards its third harmonic, i.e., the so-called "chatushruti rishaba" (9/2^n) and under those circumstances it is almost impossible to get a good fix on the trishruti rishaba. Again, while the presence of the panchama doesn't hinder the generation the so-called "trishruti dhaivata" (5/3, the best-sounding position for D2, in my opinion), the latter has a nice quasi-consonance with the shadja which can be heard well with the panchama absent in the overall tonal spectrum. Nagaswaram players till recently did not have anything except an "othu oodal" shadja for a reference. Take the ektaar...unlike classical musicians, folk musicians cannot be accused of getting fancy and pretentious with their sounds. Therefore, the ektaar, as a rough and ready tonic, has a definite utility...certainly as a pitch reference but also perhaps as something to strum duriung a pause or interlude during singing/storytelling. What's more interesting is that the ektaar is not strictly a "tonic" reference in folk music. Often, if the refrain they sing is "notated" by sophisticates like us, we find that the ektaara is actually at some note like rishaba or madhyama! This is even more apparent in middle-eastern folk music that pluck a single stringed instrument before breaking into song.

[uday_shankar]

if the refrain they sing is "notated"

What I meant to say is that if we mentally (and often absentmindedly) ascribe swaras to the music being sung...

[nivedita]

Here is an extract from an article I wrote about four years ago. Vidya, Uday, and others--If there are errors/factual inconsistencies, please do point them out.

There is another school of thought that believes that the tambura was derived from a Persian instrument called the Tambur. According to Allyn Miner (Sitarist and researcher), the appearance of the Tambur in India was first recorded in the 11th century during the occupation of Punjab by Mohammad Ghaznavi. Ameer Khusrau, the court musician of Allaudin Khilji, described the Tambur in detail in the 13th century, after which there have been frequent references to this instrument in various treatises. The Tambur was also described in detail in the Mughal paintings of that period.

During the 14th and 15th centuries, folk instruments like the ektara, dotara, chautara, tuntune, upang and gopijantra became very prominent. They were used to provide the drone and also as accompaniments. In fact, these instruments were also used to provide the basic rhythm. Dr. Suneera Kasilwal, in her book ‘Indian Classical Instruments’, says that the following three factors led to the development of the Tambura (‘Tanpura’ in Hindustani music) in India.

1. The necessity for an exclusive drone instrument in classical music.
2. The influence of the already existing Persian Tambur.
3. The overpowering influence of folk music, which had a treasure of drone instruments.

Although Dr. Kasilwal sites the influence of Persian music on Indian music and the development of the Indian Tambura, the Persian Tambur and the Indian Tambura had several major differences.

Indian Tambura
Drone Instrument
Non-fretted
Wide, flat bridge, like in the veena
Held vertically

Persian Tambura
Melody Instrument
Fretted
Thin bridge, like in violin and guitar
Held horizontally


Possible Links from around the World

Besides Persia, countries in South Eastern Europe also use a family of instruments called Tamburitzas (or ‘Tamburas’ in Croatian and Serbian). These instruments are fretted and are used primarily in folk music. They are popular in Croatia and Serbia.

Croatian Tambura

The Turks also use a very similar stringed instrument called Tambura. In Bulgaria, an instrument similar to the mandolin is used for both drone and melody. It is referred to as the Bulgarian Tambura.


Bulgarian Tambura

[vidya]

The notion of a panchama in addition to shadja for a drone is quite unnecessary and I often experiment with just having
shadja for shruti. What's more interesting is that the ektaar is not strictly a "tonic" reference in folk music. Often, if the refrain they sing is "notated" by sophisticates like us, we find that the ektaara is actually at some note like rishaba or madhyama! This is even more apparent in middle-eastern folk music that pluck a single stringed instrument before breaking into song.

Uday,
Very true this! I have often wondered why the the ektAr and its variants as seen in street singers is at a note higher than Shadja - its utility does seem to be a case of interlude + interestingness + pitch reference.
as you point out. Also to be noted is that the nagaswaram's (nagasara) first appearance is only in a Kannada literary work of the 1500s. And we do not know if the use of ottu was a later development
or not.

Nivedita,
And Miner in her work also uses the terms 'tambur' and 'tambura' to denote the melodic fretted instrument (specimens of which was recorded in the 11th CE, Khilji's times etc) and its later namesake the drone tanpura which occurs no later than the 16th century. The question does remain as to whether the fretted Tambur had anything to do with this later development other than the commonality of the name itself based on which we assume evolutionary parenthood.

BC Deva and others who say that the fretless Tambura (and even the Tambur) is of indigenous origin cite Abdul Razak Kanpuri and his 'Al- Baramika' which gives the Indian term as tumba, which in Iran was modified into tumbura and in Arabia into tunbur There is also chapter in this book on the Musical Instruments of Baghdad. (See Deva, Pscychoacoustics of Music and Speech).

[uday_shankar]

And we do not know if the use of ottu was a later development or not.

I would think concurrent with the appearance of the nagaswaram for the following reasons 1) nagaswaram music is mostly tonic music and therefore benefits (needs?) from a tonic drone, not to speak of the inherent difficulty in maintaining the pitch on a difficult instrument like nagasvaram 2) probably no "musical" sound making device (as against cymbals, etc) of medieval times equalled the nagasvaram in loudness and therefore the only thing that could be heard above ones own din is the ottu oodal fellow next to you.

[uday_shankar]

I would think concurrent with the appearance of the nagaswaram for the following reasons 1) nagaswaram music is mostly tonic music and therefore benefits (needs?) from a tonic drone, not to speak of the inherent difficulty in maintaining the pitch on a difficult instrument like nagasvaram 2) probably no "musical" sound making device (as against cymbals, etc) of medieval times equalled the nagasvaram in loudness and therefore the only thing that could be heard above ones own din is the ottu oodal fellow next to you.

This is nonsense - I beg to differ sharply with myself.

Evereyone has seen a street fellow with a "boom-boom maadu" play a nagasvaram. He doesn't care about tonic or Sa reference, etc... He just plays a folk refrain. So nagasvaram may have beens essentially a folk instrument that evolved to play classical (i.e., strictly tonic) music.
Idle speculation is baaad.

[cmlover]

Uday
learn to 'otthu ooDal' with your own self first
You are off shruti

[vasanthakokilam]

Uday, on that counterpoint melody..!

OK, is the boom-boom mattukkAran melody tonic based? If so, what is in the refrain gives us the perception of tonic. Some long steady note? Something else? ( the same can be asked for the classical music also, but we can start with the folk refrain )

[uday_shankar]

OK, is the boom-boom mattukkAran melody tonic based?

No, it is not. It is just a free hanging tune.

If so, what is in the refrain gives us the perception of tonic. Some long steady note? Something else? ( the same can be asked for the classical music also, but we can start with the folk refrain )

A tonic is entirely in the heads of the tonically inclined. Due to some early conditioning, we are chronically tonically ingrained for life, in varying degrees. All subsequent structures, especially swaras, rAgas, arohanas, avarohanas, etc etc, only reinforce this idea.

Keep in mind that it makes sense to talk of tonic only in the context of a larger structure like an entire song, etc.. You might have noticed that many people are able to "hold the tune" for a section of a song but are not able to weave together multiple sections into a coherent "tonically proper" song. Case and point, everyone has heard someone start "Jana Gana Mana" and sing properly till "bhagya vidhata". Thereafter, they will begin "Punjab, Sindhu Gujarat..." at the wrong place but continue with the right melody. This is the vital fact - the only thing missing in these people's perceptions is the tonic that strings it into a coherent whole. Going back to the point at the beginning of this paragraph, it makes sense to speak of tonic only in the sense of the whole song "Jana Gana Mana". You cannot say that these people were singing Jana Gana Mana with one tonic and Punjab, etc with another. They were simply singing two different tunes, starting them from arbitrary places with no idea of a tonic. Similarly the boom boom maadu fellow simply plays a tune starting at a convenient spot on his nagaswaram.

Even classical music, quite deep classical music, gives clues of its early atonic origins. I will try to reload one of those "shruti Bhedam" demos I uploaded a while back. One particular one, involving Bhairavi and Punnaga Varali, is a convincing example of a melodic prototype that hearkens of a distant atonic past. I can almost imagine a proto-dravidian or a Shaivite saint of antiquity singing in those patterns, without regard to a shruti... This has nothing to do with raga, murchana, etc...For whatever reason, I tend to look at rAgas as mere patterns of sound instead of a coherent "whole". Therefore these patterns stand out in immediately my head. I am sure people who are writing computer programs to model rAgas and gamakas have a similar experience, if not aurally, definitely quantitatively.