DRUMS OF THE WORLD
Himalaya
Kanjira Drum India
Kanjira Drum India
Lizard skin covered single headed, small wooden frame drum.
It is used primarily in concerts of Carnatic music (South Indian classical music) as a supporting instrument for the mridangam.
"The kanjira is a relatively difficult Indian drum to play, especially in South Indian Carnatic music, for reasons including the complexity of the percussion patterns used in Indian music. It is normally played with the palm and fingers of the right hand, while the left hand supports the drum. The fingertips of the left hand can be used to bend the pitch by applying pressure near the outer rim. It is not tuned to any particular pitch, unlike the mridangam or the ghatam. Normally, without tuning, it has a very high pitched sound. To get a good bass sound, the performer reduces the tension of the drumhead by sprinkling water on the inside of the instrument. This process may have to be repeated during a concert to maintain a good sound. However, if the instrument is too moist, it will have a dead tone, requiring 5–10 minutes to dry. Tone is also affected by external temperature and moisture conditions. Performers typically carry a couple of kanjiras so that they can keep at least one in perfectly tuned condition at any given time. Depending on dexterity, surprising glissando effects like on the Tabla are possible."
Excerpt from: Wikipedia® - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/kanjira
Die Kanjira wird in der linken Hand gehalten und mit den Fingern der rechten Hand gespielt. Durch anfeuchten der Echsenhaut lockert sich die Fellspannung, sodass Modulationen der Tonhöhe während des Spiels durch Druck der haltenden Hand auf das Fell möglich werden.
Bibliography:
Bruno Nettl; Alison Arnold (1998). The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: South Asia: the Indian subcontinent.
Siebenkaes, Marie-Luise. "Indian Musical Instruments"
Kanjirists: Past: G Harishankar, Pudukottai Manpoondia Pillai, Dakshinamurthy Pillai, H. P. Ramachar, Mayavaram Somusundaram, C. K. Shyam Sundar, Thirukadaiyur T. K. Dakshinamoorthy, V. Nagarajan. Present: B. Shree Sundar Kumar, K. V. Gopalakrishnan, B.S. Purushotham, N. Amrit, Anirudh Athreya, V. Selvaganesh, N. Ganeshkumar, K. S. Rangachari, K. V. R. S. Mani, C. P. Vyasa Vittala, C. S. Venkatramanan, Abhishek Raghuram, Alathur T. Rajaganesh, Guru Raghavendra, Latha Ramachar, Nerkunam S. Sankar, Neyveli B. Venkatesh, Papanasam S. Sethuraman, Thenkasi H. Paramasivam, Thiruvayur Saikrishnan, Thrikakkara Y. N. Shantharam, Tirupur G. Sridhar Kumar, Trichy V. V. S. Manian, Vivek Chellappa, Vinay Mallikarjan, Vivek Rajagopalan.
Lizard skin covered single headed, small wooden frame drum.
It is used primarily in concerts of Carnatic music (South Indian classical music) as a supporting instrument for the mridangam.
"The kanjira is a relatively difficult Indian drum to play, especially in South Indian Carnatic music, for reasons including the complexity of the percussion patterns used in Indian music. It is normally played with the palm and fingers of the right hand, while the left hand supports the drum. The fingertips of the left hand can be used to bend the pitch by applying pressure near the outer rim. It is not tuned to any particular pitch, unlike the mridangam or the ghatam. Normally, without tuning, it has a very high pitched sound. To get a good bass sound, the performer reduces the tension of the drumhead by sprinkling water on the inside of the instrument. This process may have to be repeated during a concert to maintain a good sound. However, if the instrument is too moist, it will have a dead tone, requiring 5–10 minutes to dry. Tone is also affected by external temperature and moisture conditions. Performers typically carry a couple of kanjiras so that they can keep at least one in perfectly tuned condition at any given time. Depending on dexterity, surprising glissando effects like on the Tabla are possible."
Excerpt from: Wikipedia® - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/kanjira
Die Kanjira wird in der linken Hand gehalten und mit den Fingern der rechten Hand gespielt. Durch anfeuchten der Echsenhaut lockert sich die Fellspannung, sodass Modulationen der Tonhöhe während des Spiels durch Druck der haltenden Hand auf das Fell möglich werden.
Bibliography:
Bruno Nettl; Alison Arnold (1998). The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: South Asia: the Indian subcontinent.
Siebenkaes, Marie-Luise. "Indian Musical Instruments"
Kanjirists: Past: G Harishankar, Pudukottai Manpoondia Pillai, Dakshinamurthy Pillai, H. P. Ramachar, Mayavaram Somusundaram, C. K. Shyam Sundar, Thirukadaiyur T. K. Dakshinamoorthy, V. Nagarajan. Present: B. Shree Sundar Kumar, K. V. Gopalakrishnan, B.S. Purushotham, N. Amrit, Anirudh Athreya, V. Selvaganesh, N. Ganeshkumar, K. S. Rangachari, K. V. R. S. Mani, C. P. Vyasa Vittala, C. S. Venkatramanan, Abhishek Raghuram, Alathur T. Rajaganesh, Guru Raghavendra, Latha Ramachar, Nerkunam S. Sankar, Neyveli B. Venkatesh, Papanasam S. Sethuraman, Thenkasi H. Paramasivam, Thiruvayur Saikrishnan, Thrikakkara Y. N. Shantharam, Tirupur G. Sridhar Kumar, Trichy V. V. S. Manian, Vivek Chellappa, Vinay Mallikarjan, Vivek Rajagopalan.