Indian Music Instruments

India is separated in 28 states. Most of them have their own languages, traditions and even different folklore. The traditional music in these states is also different. Each state has it's own, typical melodies which are played on a specific instruments. Today I am going to meet you with some of these instruments and make you familiar with their specifications.

Bulbul tarang – this is a string instrument, which also can be seen in Pakistan. It has two sets of strings. One of the sets is for the main melody and the other one is for drone. The melody strings are set under a plate with keys. These keys are very similar to typewriter's keys. The sound of bulbul tarang is close to the sound of human voice and it is commonly used like accompaniment for singing. The name of the instrument literally means “waves of nightingales”.

Ektara – It is mostly used in Bangladesh. It has only one string and it is used in the mantra singing traditions. The instrument itself has a very simple structure. The only string is stretched between two wooden sticks which are fixed together in the ends. These stick are used for neck. When the neck is flexing the sound is changing. At the one end is placed a coconut. It's role is to create acoustic. The instrument has different sizes and it's purposes can vary from playing bass to playing soprano. As bigger it is as higher the tones are.

Santur – This is a string instrument mostly made of wood. On the wood are positioned metal bridges in order to keep the strings stretched. The strings of this instrument are made of steel and they are tied on pins on the left side. The santur has seventy strings and still, this is 30 less then it's predecessor.

Of course these instruments are not all of the instruments in India. There are also different flutes, bagpipes and many more. It can be interesting to learn about all of them in all of their varieties.

Indian Rock Scene

We are all familiar with the traditional music of India. It is very unique and it is interesting to listen. Now imagine how this music can be mixed with rock. The end result is Indian rock music. It has a long history and it was progressively developing, along with the mainstream rock music in USA and UK.

The history of rock music in India starts in the mid 60s. Those days, in India, was a firm called Gramophone Company of India, which made the access to modern music, like pop and rock, much easier. The founder of the company later became president of a big promoting company in the United States. His name is Bhaskar Menon. After him many promoting companies were founded in India. Some of them international. Today India is one of the largest and fastest developing markets in the world.

Chronology of Indian rock music:
60s-70s – In those times the music industry in India wasn't much developed. Most of the bands mixed the traditional sound of Indian music with the modern rock and pop. Popular bands from this period are Mystiks from Bombai, the Beat – X from Madras and etc. These bands were influenced by post-hard rock songs and the new British Invasion songs.
Later, with the arrival of the MTV era, the tastes were changed. Most of the bands were influenced by the heavy metal sound of the American bands so they harden their styles too. They started to sound more like death metal or progressive rock. A typical band is “Rock Machine”. They, like others, harden their style in the late 80s and began to use new techniques influenced by the west.
In the 90s, the sound became even harder. New styles like Trash, Punk and Brit pop had a huge impact on the tastes of the audience. In consequence new bands became popular. One of them started to play in a style which was mix of ancient Indian music and modern sound. It was called raga rock.

Today the rock scene in India is bigger than ever. It includes bands which perform in all styles of modern rock. These bands are playing music of a very high quality and soon can become recognisable in other countries except India.

Indian music

Music was always special to the Indians. The musical phenomenon in India is based on a single melody and is one of the most best types (systems) of classical music. To make the melody, various strings, wind instruments and several kinds of drums and cymbals are being used. There are also traditional Indian music instruments like the santur for example.

The raga was the term that set the base for Indian music. It was firstly discussed in the Brhaddesi – work attributed to Matanga. In the 13^th century, Sarngadeva, author of the Sangitaratnakara, listed 264 ragas. In the 16^th century, songs originaly composed in Sanskrit, were now make up by using the various dialects of Hindu such as Braj Brhasa, Bhojpuri and others. Persian and other languages made big impact on north India. The lyrics of Surdas, Kabir and other popular styles were huge success in the public eye view. By the 16^th century the distinction between Hindustani and Carnatic music styles was sharp. Till the 18^th century Hindustani, due to the Muslim presence, was more open to the outside world of the music, but now Carnatic musicians were able to learn how to play on a foreign instruments. Even the violin was used for the making of Carnatic music and by the 20^th century the musicians who play on violin had very good performances.

In 1960s Indian music found adherents in the West. Rave Shankar was heard alongside the Beatles in the famous album called Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Like Shankar, other good musician, made there home in the United States and for the first time Indian music started capturing the hearts of the young Western students. However India's music was always associated with film music. The films, in Hindu, Tamil, or other Indian language were described in the West as “musicals”.