Interesting article about the "new generation harmoniums"

[Piarpreet Kaur]

i saw this about a week back and found it again going through the website, thought id share it... i dunno how many of you are into keertan but here ya go, the "new" harmonium


http://www.sikhnet.com/news/harmonium-gets-makeover-finally

 

[COMTONDAJATT]

Very cool idea. I wonder if it will be cheap enough to catch on. Lot of people swear by their old school vajaas. Though I wish people would just ditch the harmonium outright and go back to having the sarangi or esraj as accompaniments even though its not really practical having to restring between musical pieces. Harmoniums work for light classical music and ghazals but gurmat sangeet and Hindustani classical music take on a whole different sound and feel with the sarangi because its notes can mimic the human voice like none other.

 

[LiLSandhu]

it looks pretty cool
i wonder if it sounds the same as traditional harmoniums

 

[Piarpreet Kaur]

yah, i love the sarang with the dhad, but the it depends... cos if its like a more meditation type of music or even certain types of shabads that are soooo amazing when well played with a tabla and harmonium... i think they represent different styles and different moods.

there is this guy called surinder singh hes a expert about naad yoga (yoga of sound/music) and its amazing how he backs up all this in gurbani and science.

sarangi to me it can sound like crying and like a good party it has a lot of "musical game", but harmoniums can be really REALLY beautiful if well played, the problem is to find a really good player that doesnt do that weird sound when changing hands...like out of tune type of thing. I am aware is part of the style but its a personal opninion...

 

[Saleem]

the goals of this 'new harmonium' are to be more comfortable so the player can not injure him/herself, and allow it to become part of modern day music. i'd say the solution would be to get rid of the bellows, have compressed air flowing into the harmonium, and the player can move a slider up/down to control level of airflow (and therefore the volume). you'd still get the natural sound (no synthesizer), but you allow the keyboard part to be more compact, long-lasting in performances, and ergonomic.

 

[LiLSandhu]

the goals of this 'new harmonium' are to be more comfortable so the player can not injure him/herself, and allow it to become part of modern day music. i'd say the solution would be to get rid of the bellows, have compressed air flowing into the harmonium, and the player can move a slider up/down to control level of airflow (and therefore the volume). you'd still get the natural sound (no synthesizer), but you allow the keyboard part to be more compact, long-lasting in performances, and ergonomic.

Agreeed

 

[COMTONDAJATT]

yah, i love the sarang with the dhad, but the it depends... cos if its like a more meditation type of music or even certain types of shabads that are soooo amazing when well played with a tabla and harmonium... i think they represent different styles and different moods.

there is this guy called surinder singh hes a expert about naad yoga (yoga of sound/music) and its amazing how he backs up all this in gurbani and science.

sarangi to me it can sound like crying and like a good party it has a lot of "musical game", but harmoniums can be really REALLY beautiful if well played, the problem is to find a really good player that doesnt do that weird sound when changing hands...like out of tune type of thing. I am aware is part of the style but its a personal opninion...

there are some great harmonium players and it takes great skill and dedication to become good, just wish they chose the sarangi instead to get good at.

ultimately it comes down to personal preference, a lot of people havent been exposed to the sarangi/esraj or hardkaur traditional gurmat sangeet in the west so getting used to the sound and role of the stringed instrument is different. the voice usually dominates over the harmonium easily but an expert sarangi player can make it the focal point of a performance. you pay less attention to the bol and more to the mood that the raag and instruments create. its magnificent.

 

[terabaap]

DAMN, i didnt know people on btf were this into classical music. sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet. yall some edumacated folks.

 

[Piarpreet Kaur]

Ya well, as u said it depends on the raag. But i like both. Have u heard of chardi kala jatha? They r gore and awesome...

 

[Ashveer]

Is the sarangi a traditional kirtan instrument? I thought it was only used by dhadis and it was the dilruba that was used in kirtan...

 

[COMTONDAJATT]

Is the sarangi a traditional kirtan instrument? I thought it was only used by dhadis and it was the dilruba that was used in kirtan...

i think the esraj/dilruba was the main traditional instrument for gurmat sangeet that was developed since the taus was freakin huge and impractical for traveling. sarangi and its variants were probably perferred by dhadhi jathas since they are even lighter and compact and you can play them standing up.

 

[Piarpreet Kaur]

my best friend plays the dilruba and it is some amazing instrument... it works very well with raags that have a very sad mood... to be honest, its a beautiful but depressing sound at times specially when played for a woman's voice cos tone is lower, but its really touching.
sarangi is more portable u can play it standing up, where dilruba is a hell!!!! u gotta be sitting down, perfect posture and they got a longet stick with string to play it which (i dunno they name in english in spanish we say arch lol). it sounds like a typical string instrument but mellow...if u know what i mean. it looks a little bit like the tanpura or a sitar (in design) but is very different in sound and technique.

sarangis do with dhads....dilruba work well with lower pitched tablas and obviously with tanpura and at times a saranda, which is like sarangi but older and u gotta sit down for this one...very very very beautiful.


u guys should check this video out to see what im talking about, this is a video from a naad yogi, and the raag is a devotional raag called majh, its kind of expressing leaving attachment to maya and joining god...so it is not sad but its really really mellow, these instruments are for reflection and u know...all that serious stuff:

Prof. Surinder Singh & Students ~ Raag Majh

on the other hand check these dhadis, its like...im happy!!! yeah!!! i love this mood it gives me that chardi kala feeling like proud of being a sikh and happy to stay strong:

Dhadi jatha in Queens,NY


BTW i posted a post to see if anybody could help me trying to learn dhad and everybody promised and got NOTHING

anyways enjoy the vids!

 

[gursikhpreet1]

oh yeah i read-up on this article a couple days back.

my family and i do a lot of shabad kirtan at home and at gurdwara and all and we try to use traditional instruments and well as singing in the nidharat raag. in terms of gurmat sangeet, the taus, which was invented by guru gobind singh ji, and rabab (used by bhai mardhana) are used, along with the jori style of tabla (normal purha and pakawaj-style dhama)

i know that the harmonium was used by qawali singers a lot back in the day because their voices were not liked by some audiences and the vaaja it kinda covered up their voices. that's what i researched and discovered, however legends like nusrat fateh ali khan were amazinggg singers and i love their voice, so i don't know how accurate that is.

That being said, the vaaja isn't a great voice-accompanying instrument, compared to string instruments such as dilruba, sarangi, taus, violin, etc. Because, in terms of singing, the voice is able to sing at many different notes and we have the ability to 'slide' between notes and create certain tones that cannot be accomplished by the vaaja and other reed instruments. hence, with string instruments, you're able to achieve multiple tones, similar to the human voice.

here's a video of my sister and i playing the dilruba and tabla, respectively. i didn't really practice for the tabla solo so it's kinda ehh but lemme know

UMBC Tabla Solo

 

[COMTONDAJATT]

very nice. looks like you guys worked hard for those skills

i know that the harmonium was used by qawali singers a lot back in the day because their voices were not liked by some audiences and the vaaja it kinda covered up their voices. that's what i researched and discovered, however legends like nusrat fateh ali khan were amazinggg singers and i love their voice, so i don't know how accurate that is.

That is probably a made up story. Qawwali was mostly confined to the dargahs of Sufi saints until relativley recently when patronage at shrines decreased and Rajas and Nawabs werent there to foot their bills. Classical qawwali used sarangi, dilruba/esraj and even sitar for accompaniments but after the missionaries brought the harmonium in from europe in the early 1900s they qawwals found it much more practical because they did not have to constantly restring and retune between different raags. In a Sufi dargah each qawwali groupe is only allowed around 25-30 minute performances and the flexibility the harmonium afforded helped them change quickly if they felt the audience wasnt feeling the particular qawwali. They pretty much lived off of donations from the khadim's (caretakers) of the dargah so the better they entertained the audience and brought them to exstacy the more money they received at the end. I doubt it has anything to do with voices though because in a mehfil-e-sama (sufi gatherings at a dargah) the poetic text and its presentation are more important than the quality of voices. I probably rambled on too much in this reply, haha sorry.

 

[gursikhpreet1]

haha thanks

and yeah i don't think what i researched can be considered accurate haha but you're right and yea the vaaja is a European instrument. the new generation harmoniums seem interesting, i wanna see if people will actually switch vaaje and all hmm

 

[COMTONDAJATT]

it will probably come down to price and durability. plus it looks kinda space age, it would look odd in a gurudwara probably.

 

[H.S.]

Cool concept, but you do lose some raags on this new harmonium.

 

[Piarpreet Kaur]

Cool concept, but you do lose some raags on this new harmonium.

thats a pity but i think some people would pay that price to have this "new toy" and avoid the back pain. I know by twisting it u avoid bad postures but... one day playing around with one in the gurudwara trying to figure out if i liked it, my middle back got bad...

BTW gursikhpreet i like your sisters transitions, that prolly the hardest thing to do in a dilruba...and obviously your tabla needs no compliments.