What is a tambura?
Tambura is the name used in southern India for a long-necked string instrument similar to a sitar or a lute. In northern India, the instrument is typically called a tanpura. It has a rich, metallic droning sound that provides a looping background in support of a melody, yet does not offer a rhythm.
How many strings does a tambura have?
Tambura, also spelled tamboura, tamburi, or tandura, long-necked fretless Indian lute. It has a hollow neck, measures about 40–60 inches (102–153 cm) in length, and usually has four metal strings tuned (relative pitch) c–c′–c′–g or c–c′–c′–f. Precision tuning is achieved by inserting bits of wool or silk between...
What is a tanpura instrument?
The tanpura (Hindi: तानपूरा) or tambura, tanpuri is a long-necked plucked string instrument, originating from India, found in various forms in Indian music. It does not play melody but rather supports and sustains the melody of another instrument or singer by providing a continuous harmonic bourdon or drone.
What is the difference between a sitar and a tambura?
The tambura is a hollow-body instrument with four to five strings, but unlike a sitar, has no frets. It's typically three to five feet long, constructed of wood and most often jackwood. The bowl-shaped section of the tambura is 10 to 18 inches wide and slightly convex.
What material is tanpura made of?
Tanpura is a stringed instrument made of brass and wood. This is a traditional instrument that is found in various parts of North India. The strings are plucked continuously with the index and middle fingers of the right hand, throughout the performance. It provides the basic sruti or svara to the performer.
What wood is tanpura made from?
Wood used is either tun or teak; bridges are usually cut from one piece of bone. Tanjore style: this is a south Indian style of tambura, used widely by Carnatic performers. It has a somewhat different shape and style of decoration from that of the miraj, but is otherwise much the same size.
What kind of instrument is tambura?
plucked drone instrumentThe tambura or tanpura is a plucked drone instrument used to accompany instrumental or vocal performances. The four strings are played open rather than being depressed to alter the note. This example is considerably smaller than the typical tambura. A very small version is sometimes known as a tamburi.
How does tambura produce sound?
When the strings are plucked, the vibrations move through the soundboard, called a tabli, and into the hollow body and gourd to produce sound. Traditional Tanpuras look similar to the sitar but, among other things, lack frets and have only four to five strings.
Is tanpura made of pumpkin?
Tanpuras are not made of garden-variety pumpkins – each pumpkin used for the instrument weighs 40-45 kg and has to be sun-dried just so to retain its shape. In Agrawal's photos, visitors can see the pumpkins still on the vine, only vaguely resembling the final musical product.
When was the tanpura made?
Indian tanpura is supposed to have come in its modern shape around 500 years ago when it started featuring in paintings of that era.
How many strings are there in a tanpura?
4 stringsThe tanpura is an instrument that acts as the reference chord in Indian classical music. It has a resonator and 4 strings, but no frets, as the notes are always played whole.
Which of the tanpura style is made of jackfruit?
Udukkai is made up of jackfruit tree wood and goat skin. Udukkai consists of 3 portions.
Why is tanpura used?
The Tanpura is an essential accompanying instrument which provides a point of reference for creating other sounds; musicians or singers can freely improvise over the drone. Drone in music is a sustained sound, unbroken throughout the performance of a song or a concert.
How many knobs are there in a tanpura?
4Brown Wooden FEMALE TANPURA, For Musical Function, Number Of Stop Knobs: 4Usage/ApplicationMusical FunctionMaterialWoodenColorBrownNumber Of Stop Knobs4BrandSAPTASWAR MUSICALS1 more row
How do you restring tanpura?
0:3911:51How to Re-string a Tanpura - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipThe second peg is the upper one sometimes. This is number one string sometimes this is number twoMoreThe second peg is the upper one sometimes. This is number one string sometimes this is number two string instead of this one it really depends on the spacing. The first one goes around to the left.
Why Tumba is used in a tanpura?
The air cavity inside the tumba and the rest of the body is set into forced vibrations, which leads to the amplification and projection of the basic tone. The best wood to make tanpuras from is Spanish Cedar (tun wood). Teak is also used for this purpose.
Definition - What does Tambura mean?
Tambura is the name used in southern India for a long-necked string instrument similar to a sitar or a lute. In northern India, the instrument is typically called a tanpura. It has a rich, metallic droning sound that provides a looping background in support of a melody, yet does not offer a rhythm.
Yogapedia explains Tambura
The tambura is a hollow-body instrument with four to five strings, but unlike a sitar, has no frets. It's typically three to five feet long, constructed of wood and most often jackwood. The bowl-shaped section of the tambura is 10 to 18 inches wide and slightly convex.
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History
Tanpuras form the root of the ensemble and indeed of the music itself, as the tanpura creates an acoustic dynamic reference chord from which the ragas (melodic modes) derive their distinctive character, color, and flavour.
Construction
The body shape of the tanpura somewhat resembles that of the sitar, but it has no frets – as the strings are always plucked at their full lengths. One or more tanpuras may be used to accompany vocalists or instrumentalists.
Bridge and strings
The overtone -rich sound and the audible movement in the inner resonances of tone is achieved by applying the principle of jivari which creates a sustained "buzzing" sound in which particular harmonics will resonate with focused clarity.
Sizes and tunings
Tanpuras come in different sizes and pitches: larger "males", smaller "females" for vocalists, and a yet smaller version is used for accompanying sitar or sarod, called tanpuri. These play at the octave so as not to drown out the soloist's lower registers.
Further reading
Some reflections on the use of Electronic Tanpura and the intricacies of tanpura tuning. Medieval.org, Martin Spaink, 2003.
Overview
The tanpura (Hindi: तानपूरा) or tambura, tanpuri is a long-necked plucked string instrument, originating from India, found in various forms in Indian music. It does not play melody but rather supports and sustains the melody of another instrument or singer by providing a continuous harmonic bourdon or drone. A tanpura is not played in rhythm with the soloist or percussionist: as the precis…
History
Tanpuras form the root of the ensemble and indeed of the music itself, as the tanpura creates an acoustic dynamic reference chord from which the ragas (melodic modes) derive their distinctive character, color, and flavour. Stephen Slawek notes that by the end of the 16th century, the tanpura had "fully developed in its modern form", and was seen in the miniature paintings of the Mughals. Slawek further suggests that due to structural similarity the sitar and tanpura share a re…
Construction
The body shape of the tanpura somewhat resembles that of the sitar, but it has no frets – as the strings are always plucked at their full lengths. One or more tanpuras may be used to accompany vocalists or instrumentalists. It has four or five (rarely six) metal strings, which are plucked one after another in a regular pattern to create a harmonic resonance on the basic notes of a key.
Bridge and strings
The overtone-rich sound and the audible movement in the inner resonances of tone is achieved by applying the principle of jivari which creates a sustained "buzzing" sound in which particular harmonics will resonate with focused clarity. To achieve this effect, the strings pass over a table-shaped, curved-top bridge, the front of which slopes gently away from the surface of the strings. When a string is plucked, it has an intermittent periodical grazing contact with the bridge. When t…
Sizes and tunings
Tanpuras come in different sizes and pitches: larger "males", smaller "females" for vocalists, and a yet smaller version is used for accompanying sitar or sarod, called tanpuri. These play at the octave so as not to drown out the soloist's lower registers. Male vocalists use the biggest instruments and pitch their tonic note (Sa), often at D, C♯ or lower, some go down to B-flat; female singers usually a fifth higher, though these tonic notes may vary according to the preference of t…
Variants
Tanpuras are designed in two different styles:
• Miraj style: the favourite form of tanpura for Hindustani performers. It is usually between three and five feet in length, with a carved, rounded resonator plate (tabli) and a long, hollow straight neck, in section resembling a rounded capital D. The round lower chamber to which the tabli, the connecting heel-piece and the neck (dandh) are fixed is cut from a selected and dried gourd (tum…
Sources
• Ashok Damodar Ranade (1 January 1990). Keywords and concepts: Hindustani classical music. Promilla. ISBN 978-81-85002-12-5.source for Sangit Parijat is Ahobal Pandit, translated by Kalind-Hatvas, Sangeet Karyalaya 1971
• Wim van der Meer - Joep Bor: De roep van de Kokila, historische en hedendaagse aspekten van de Indiase muziek; Martinus Nijhoff / 's-Gravenhage 1982, ISBN 90 247 9079 4
Further reading
• Some reflections on the use of Electronic Tanpura and the intricacies of tanpura tuning. Medieval.org, Martin Spaink, 2003.