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Sarangi

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For the Nepali instrument, seeSarangi (Nepali).For the village in Iran, seeSarangi, Iran.
Sarangi
Classification
Related instruments

Thesārangīis abowed,short-neckedthree-stringed instrumentplayed in traditional music from South Asia –Punjabi folk music,Rajasthani folk music,Sindhi folk musicandBorofolk music (there known as theserja) – in Pakistan, South India and Bangladesh. It is said to most resemble the sound of the human voice through its ability to imitate vocal ornaments such asGamaksor Gamakam(shakes) andmeends(sliding movements). TheNepali sarangiis similar but is afolk instrument,unornate and four-stringed.

History[edit]

Surjeet Singh tuning his Sarangi

According to some musicians,[who?]the wordsarangiis a combination of two words:seh('three' in Persian) andrangi('coloured' in Persian) or Persiansad-rangi,sadfor 'hundred' in Persian ('hundred coloured) corrupted assarangi.[citation needed]The termseh-rangirepresents the three melody strings. However, the most common folk etymology is thatsarangiis derived fromsol rang('a hundred colours') indicating its adaptability to many styles of vocal music, its flexible tunability, and its ability to produce a large palette of tonal colour and emotional nuance.

The repertoire ofsarangiplayers is traditionally very closely related to vocal music. Nevertheless, a concert with a solo sarangi as the main item will sometimes include a full-scaleraagpresentation with an extensivealap(the unmeasured improvisatory development of the raga) in increasing intensity (alaptojortojhala) and several compositions in increasing tempo calledbandish.As such, it could be seen as being on a par with other instrumental styles such assitar,sarod,andbansuri.

It is rare to find a sarangi player who does not know the words of many classical compositions.[citation needed]The words are usually mentally present during the performance, and a performance almost always adheres to the conventions of vocal performances including the organisational structure, the types of elaboration, the tempo, the relationship between sound and silence, and the presentation ofkhyalandthumricompositions. The vocal quality of sarangi is in a separate category from, for instance, the so-calledgayaki-angofsitarwhich attempts to imitate the nuances ofkhyalwhile overall conforming to the structures and usually keeping to thegatcompositions of instrumental music. (Agatis a composition set to a cyclic rhythm.)

TheNepali sarangiis also a traditional stringed musical instrument ofNepal,commonly played by the Gaine orGandarbhaethnic group but the form and repertoire ofsarangiis more towards the folk music as compared to the heavy and classical form of the repertoire inIndia.In Nepal, the sarangi is viewed as an iconic musical instrument to identify the Gandarbha people.

Structure[edit]

A sarangi laid flat

Carved from a single block oftun(red cedar) wood, the sarangi has a box-like shape with three hollow chambers:pet('stomach'),chaati('chest') andmagaj('brain'). It is usually around 2 feet (0.61 m) long and around 6 inches (150 mm) wide, though it can vary as there are smaller as well as larger variant sarangis as well.The smaller ones are more stable in hand. The lower resonance chamber orpetis covered withparchmentmade out of goat skin on which a strip of thick leather is placed around the waist (and nailed on the back of the chamber) which supports the elephant-shaped bridge that is usually made of camel or buffalo bone. (Originally, it was made of ivory orBarasinghabone but now that is rare due to the ban in India). The bridge in turn supports the huge pressure of approximately 35–37sympathetic steel or brass stringsand three main gut strings that pass through it. The three main playing strings – the comparatively thicker gut strings – are bowed with a heavy horsehair bow and stopped not with the fingertips but with thenails,cuticles, and surrounding flesh.Talcum powderis applied to the fingers as a lubricant. The neck has ivory or bone platforms on which the fingers slide. The remaining strings are sympathetic, ortarabs,numbering up to around 35–37, divided into four choirs having two sets of pegs, one on the right and one on the top. On the inside is achromaticallytuned row of 15tarabsand on the right adiatonicrow of ninetarabseach encompassing a fulloctave,plus one to three extra surrounding notes above or below the octave. Both these sets oftarabspass from the main bridge to the right side set of pegs through small holes in thechaatisupported by hollow ivory/bone beads. Between these innertarabsand on either side of the main playing strings lie two more sets of longertarabs,with five to six strings on the right set and six to seven strings on the left set. They pass from the main bridge over to two small, flat, wide, table-like bridges through the additional bridge towards the second peg set on top of the instrument. These are tuned to the important tones (swaras) of the raga. A properly tuned sarangi will hum and cry and will sound like melodious meowing, with tones played on any of the main strings eliciting echo-like resonances. A few sarangis use strings manufactured from the intestines of goats.

Pakistan[edit]

The sarangi is aMughal-eramusical instrument. Its usage has been declining in Pakistan since the 1980s, as a result of the deaths of several master players and its high cost - aroundRs.120,000/- (US$400).[1]

Notable performers[edit]

Sarangi players in India[edit]

Sarangi players in Pakistan[edit]

Other sarangi players[edit]

  • Yuji Nakagawa, Sarangi – a Japanese citizen who learnt to play the instrument in India under the tutelage of Dhruba Ghosh

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^"Sound of Mughal-era sarangi instrument fading away in Pakistan".The Express Tribune.2022-04-08.Retrieved2022-04-08.

Further reading[edit]

  • Bor, Joep, 1987: "The Voice of the Sarangi", comprisingNational Centre for the Performing Arts Quarterly Journal15 (3–4), December 1986 and March 1987 (special combined issue), Bombay: NCPA
  • Magriel, Nicolas, 1991Sarangi Style in North Indian Music(published Ph.D. thesis), London: University of London, available on amazon.com
  • Qureshi, Regula Burckhardt, 1997: “The Indian Sarangi: Sound of Affect, Site of Contest”, Yearbook for Traditional Music, pp. 1–38
  • Sorrell, Neil (with Ram Narayan), 1980:Indian Music in Performance,Bolton: Manchester University Press

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toSarangis.
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