Jar tarang: India musical instrument

The jar tarang is an Indian melodic percussion musical instrument. It is made up of a set of ceramic or metal bowls tuned with water. The bowls are performed by striking the edge of the bowl with beaters, one in each of the player’s hand.

source of picture: binaswar.com

Earliest mention of the musical instrument is found in the Vātsyāyana's Kamasutra as playing on musical glasses that are filled with water.

The musical instrument is rarely seen or heard, though the gentle tinkle on its distinctive sound is quite attractive. Literary, the name of the musical instrument refers to ‘waves of water’ but indicates motion of sound generated or improved with the help of water. In the wave-instruments, it is the most popular and ancient musical instrument.  This traditional musical instrument is used in the Indian classical music.

The musical instr4ument developed on the pattern of songs of gamelan orchestra played in Java, Bali and Burma. Gongs of gamelan consists of copper and some other metal alloys and are prepared in various shapes to manufacture different musical notes. Holding bamboo sticks in both hands of the player having cotton on the striking extreme of sticks, the gongs are mildly struck to produce the needed sound. Some scholars said that in the ancient time, these were in monotonous use around the eastern boarder of the country.

The musical instrument finds its first mention in Sangeet parijaat. This medieval musical treatise categorizes this musical instrument under Ghan-Vadya. SangeetSaar said to be one with 22 cups to be a comprehensive jal tarang and one having 15 cups to be mediocre status. Cups of differing sizes were produced of porcelain or bronze. In the modern day,. Only the Chinese bowls are preferred by players of the musical instrument, numbering 16 in the standard use. Cups for Mandra Swar are bigger in size and the ones of the Taar Swar are smaller in size. Water is decanted into the cups and the pitch of the instrument is altered by adjusting the volume of water in the cup. The number of cups present depends on the melody that is being performed by the player of the instrument. Mostly, the bowls are arranged in a half-circle in front of the player of the instrument who can easily reach them. The player of the instrument gently hits the cups with the use of a wooden stick on the boarder to get the sound from the instrument. It is not easy to tune this musical instrument and as such needs some skills to tune. During performance, fine nuances can be reached if the player is accomplished. SangeetSaar said that if the player of the musical instrument can rotate the water through a quick little tad of the stick, nuances and greater variations of the note can be reached.

The musical instrument was also known as Jal-yantra in the medieval times. Poets of Krishna have mentioned this musical instrument, but there is not mention in literature before this time. Some modern day players of the musical instrument do attempt to manufacture Gamak usually in the face of sounds going twisted lacking needed control.

George Harrison performed the musical instrument on the little track of his album called ‘Gone Troppo’ in 1982.