As there is no key change in a raga, it is possible (and preferable) to have a drone in the background that repeatedly plays the tonic and one or two other important notes in the raga. The drone serves several purposes: (1) it creates an ambience and fills empty spaces between notes; (2) it allows the musician to determine the correct pitch of the notes they are playing, and adjust accordingly; and (3) it serves as the sound against which each of the musician's notes are based, and thus brings out the feeling of each note: a note in and of itself has no feeling; it is only its relationship to another note that allows it to produce feeling.
This drone is most often produced with a "tanpura", a 4 to 6 stringed instrument, whose strings are repeatedly plucked for the duration of the performance. The drone is most often using the notes "low Pa - Sa - Sa - low Sa", though if the raga in question lacks Pa, but has shudd Ma (i.e. Malkauns), the Ma is used instead of the Pa. If the raga lacks both Pa and shudd Ma (i.e. Marwa or Puriya), one could use Sa, Ni, or Dha as the first note, depending on their preference. Another drone instrument is the swarpeti, a rarely heard pump organ that repeatedly plays "Sa".
This drone is most often produced with a "tanpura", a 4 to 6 stringed instrument, whose strings are repeatedly plucked for the duration of the performance. The drone is most often using the notes "low Pa - Sa - Sa - low Sa", though if the raga in question lacks Pa, but has shudd Ma (i.e. Malkauns), the Ma is used instead of the Pa. If the raga lacks both Pa and shudd Ma (i.e. Marwa or Puriya), one could use Sa, Ni, or Dha as the first note, depending on their preference. Another drone instrument is the swarpeti, a rarely heard pump organ that repeatedly plays "Sa".
No comments:
Post a Comment