Origin of Sruti Petti (box)

Miscellaneous topics on Carnatic music
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vgvindan
Posts: 1430
Joined: 13 Aug 2006, 10:51

Post by vgvindan »

இன்றைக்கு கர்நாடக இசையில் சுருதிப் பெட்டிக்கு சுருதி நிர்ணயம் வெள்ளைக்காரர்கள் அறிமுகப்படுத்திய சுருதிக்குழல் (pitch pipe) அடிப் படையில் செய்யப்படுகிறது. இது தொடர்பான சான்றுகளை 'தொல் இசைப் புதையல்கள் - புதிய இசைக்கான தேடல்' (Ancient Music Treasures - Exploration for new Music) என்ற ஆங்கிலப் புத்தகத்தில் நான் விளக்கியுள்ளேன். இதனை இந்திய இசைக்கான சுருதிப் பெட்டி வியாபாரத்தில் முன்னணியில் உள்ள ராடல் (Radel) நி்றுவனமும் உறுதி செய்து எனக்கு மடல் அனுப்பியுள்ளார்கள்
Veerapandian S.A.
http://www.musicresearch.in/categorydet ... p?imgid=82
"Sruti setting for Sruti Box used in CM is based on pitch pipe introduced by British. - this has been confirmed by Radel - the company which is in the forefront of manufacture of Sruti Box"

In the following website, there are 103 research papers on music which can be downloaded.

http://www.musicresearch.in/contents.php

Nick H
Posts: 9473
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 02:03

Post by Nick H »

That's quite a site! One for the scholars among us.

Thank you for telling us about it.

skandyhere
Posts: 28
Joined: 08 Aug 2007, 05:35

Post by skandyhere »

Just wanted to put in my few words of appreciation for the kind of articles Sri vgvindan quotes here. And as nick mentions, it's for the scholars - a breed of which I am not a part of. But it serves as very interesting reading, and I would love to see them continuing.

Nick H
Posts: 9473
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 02:03

Post by Nick H »

I downloaded one article on tala.

Yes, a lot of it is beyond me, but largely because I can't follow the song examples. A lot of it I can follow, and it is good stuff.

knandago2001
Posts: 645
Joined: 05 Sep 2006, 10:09

Post by knandago2001 »

vgv: Going back a little further, references to a tambura-type plucked instrument (nakhaj vaadya) are available around the 15th century onwards. Is it possible that pitch was fixed in "the early days" with the help of wind instruments, perhaps with a flute?

cmlover
Posts: 11498
Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:36

Post by cmlover »

Just wanted to put in my few words of appreciation for the kind of articles Sri vgvindan quotes here. And as nick mentions, it's for the scholars - a breed of which I am not a part of. But it serves as very interesting reading, and I would love to see them continuing.
True! Let us acknowledge independently that VGV is a great scholar himself. Just look and read his masterful interpretations of the Thyagaraja kritis!

vgvindan
Posts: 1430
Joined: 13 Aug 2006, 10:51

Post by vgvindan »

daily business of tuning the tanpura is a valuable stimulation to further develop our aural perception. Tuning a tanpura makes great demands on our hearing faculties and requires us to make a conscious effort (svara-sadhana). When tuning the tanpuras, the artists attune themselves to the raga that is going to be performed. I believe that for the audience these are also valuable moments of involving anticipation. The audience is given time to settle down and can appreciate the atmosphere which is being created by the tuning process. The late Dagar-brothers (if not all members, past or present, of the family) would not previously decide what they were going to sing at a concert, sometimes to the distress of organizers. This decision was made spontaneously during the tuning process, or rather, some raga manifested itself while tuning. This conscious effort or svara sadhana is so important as in the tuning process the artist seeks to create a particular resonance or colour of sound that will suit the chosen raga. This is related to the concept of raga svaroop, which means essentially that a particular intonation of one or more svaras can evoke the image or feeling (rasa) of a particular raga. All these essential and subtle elements of svaroop are hampered by the use of EST.
(EST - Electronic Substitute Tanpura)
(Martin Spaink, Toscana, 2003)
http://www.medieval.org/music/world/martin_est.html
Last edited by vgvindan on 09 May 2008, 15:02, edited 1 time in total.

vgvindan
Posts: 1430
Joined: 13 Aug 2006, 10:51

Post by vgvindan »

9 . Why does Radel use the western system of representing pitch instead of the Indian system?

Indian classical music has two systems, each with different ways of referring to the pitch. (eg., C# is referred to as 1 1/2 in Carnatic music whereas it is referred to as Black 1 in Hindustani music). Radel's customers are from not only the entire country, but from all over the world. Since the Western system of representing pitch is what is seen on pitch-pipes, we have used this system on our instruments. Along with every instrument, a reference chart is provided (usually on the bottom side of the instrument) to relate the Hindustani and Carnatic systems of pitch to the western system of reference.
FAQ - Radel
http://www.radelindia.com/user_faq.aspx

vgvindan
Posts: 1430
Joined: 13 Aug 2006, 10:51

Post by vgvindan »

Refer to post No 7.
The weblink was erroneously given looping back to this page itself. The correct weblink (regarding Tanpura) is given now in the post - http://www.medieval.org/music/world/martin_est.html
Sorry for the error.
V Govindan

martin
Posts: 68
Joined: 23 May 2008, 04:58

Post by martin »

vgvindan wrote:
daily business of tuning the tanpura is a valuable stimulation to further develop our aural perception. Tuning a tanpura makes great demands on our hearing faculties and requires us to make a conscious effort (svara-sadhana). When tuning the tanpuras, the artists attune themselves to the raga that is going to be performed. I believe that for the audience these are also valuable moments of involving anticipation. The audience is given time to settle down and can appreciate the atmosphere which is being created by the tuning process. The late Dagar-brothers (if not all members, past or present, of the family) would not previously decide what they were going to sing at a concert, sometimes to the distress of organizers. This decision was made spontaneously during the tuning process, or rather, some raga manifested itself while tuning. This conscious effort or svara sadhana is so important as in the tuning process the artist seeks to create a particular resonance or colour of sound that will suit the chosen raga. This is related to the concept of raga svaroop, which means essentially that a particular intonation of one or more svaras can evoke the image or feeling (rasa) of a particular raga. All these essential and subtle elements of svaroop are hampered by the use of EST.
(EST - Electronic Substitute Tanpura)
(Martin Spaink, Toscana, 2003)
http://www.medieval.org/music/world/martin_est.html
Surprised (in a pleasant way) to find a quote from my 2003 article here on this forum, in the sense that for a caller in the desert it is heartening if what one is saying gets around. Thank you.

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