Music Equipments

All people in this world are known to celebrate birth, marriage, death and many more festivities with music. Celebration does not include just singing, musical instruments play an important part too in celebrations. So, let us indulge ourselves in present and play and read about a few musical equipments or musical instrument s. Here we are going to pick few musical equipments and write a bit about music instruments.

Shennai Musical Instrument:

No marriage is incomplete with out the Shennai (she - ha - na - e) as it is called in Hindi. One Mastero that comes to my mind when I write about Shennai musical instrument is Ustad Bismillah Khan. Shennai musical instrument brings in the tune by the wind.

Shennai is a wind instrument. Shennai musical instrument is like an elongated tube and Shennai widens at the end. Imagine a long bamboo bark with eight holes in it and Shennai wideness as it reaches the end. Shennai musical instrument is very difficult to play and needs specific finger movement and breathing techniques. If you want to listen to this we advise pick up Ustad's CD's and get blown by the music using Shennai musical equipments.

Basuri musical instruments:

Lord Krishna had basuri with him 24/7, he is known as the Basuriwala. Basuri (ba - su - ri) is known as the Flute. Mastero who excels in Basuri is Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasai. Basuri or the Flute is carved out of a bamboo. Basuri is also the wind musical instrument. Basuri is held by one in a vertical position and has six to seven holes. The music is very soothing and captivates its audience instantly. It is said that the flute has its history dated back to 30,000 years in. The Indian Flute has 2 varieties one is the earlier mentioned Basuri which is used in the Hindustani and the Venu or the Pullanguzal which is used in Carnatic. If you got to know it better pick up a CD or read bout it and immerse yourself in the delicate music a fusion of wind and breathing.

Tabla Musical Equipment:

Have you heard about drums and does your head bounce back and forth and tap your feet when you hear them? If you do then Tabla (ta - ba - laa) is the right instrument for you. Tabla musical instrument is accompanied with other instruments to create an amazing rhythm of music and lyrics and also while vocal. Tabla musical instrument comes in 2, which means it has 2 drums. They are known as the Dayan (Right) and Bayan (left).Ustad Amjad Ali Khan is the man for Tabla music. It is loved for its percussive style, as a backing for many dance styles.

Jal Tarang Musical Instrument:

Jal Tarang musical instrument is an ancient musical instrument. Jal means water and Tarang means waves. Water is poured into say 15 cups made of various sizes like bronze for e.g. and the music is created by hitting softly on these cups filled with water. The pitch of the music is changed by the amount of water in each cup. Listen to Milind Tulankar or the noted Dr. Lalamani Misra to get to know what the music feels like.

Musical instrument Sitar:

Do you know what instrument does Pandit Ravishankar Play? Bingo! You got the answer right. The prime musical instrument called the Sitar (ci - ta - ar). This comes from the Veena family. Sitar is said that the famous musician Amir Khusrao in the early 13th century discovered this from the Veena. Sitar has strings like the guitar, however it is not a small instrument. Sitar is rested on the right shoulder and the right hand is used to pluck the strings and create music. This might look very easy to an onlooker; however it requires high end concentration and coordination. Pandit Ravishankar made this popular in the western worlds and played along with the Beatles in one of there albums!!!

harmonium Musical instrument:

Last but not the least the Harmonium (har- mo - ni - yum); Harmonium is essential for this instrument to be at the beginning at any compositions. Harmonium has a key board which is very similar to the piano however the body is much smaller. Harmonium is portable so one can carry it and take it around unlike the piano. While playing one hand is on the keyboard while the other is pumping the instrument. Harmonium is used in bhajans, qawalli's and so on.

There are many more instruments that give us the essence of true music and without them we would be like a tree without leaves or say an ocean without water.