Kanjira: India musical instrument
The kanjira is a south Indian frame drum. The drum is a musical instrument that belongs to the tambourine family. The musical instrument i...
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The kanjira is a south Indian frame
drum. The drum is a musical instrument that belongs to the tambourine family.
The musical instrument is mainly used in concerts of Carnatic music as an
accompanying musical instrument for the mridangam. The kanjira have been used
in the country of India since the 1880s, and was added to the classical music
during the 1930s.
source of picture: kanjira.fr
Analogous to the Western tambourine,
the musical instrument is made up of a circular frame that is manufactured of
the wood of the jackfruit tree. The instrument is 7 and 9 inches in width and 2
to 4 inches in depth. The musical instrument is covered on one side with the
drumhead that is manufactured of monitor lizard skin. The other side of the
musical instrument is left open. The frame has a single slit that contains
three to four small metal discs that jingle when the instrument is performed.
The musical instrument is a
relatively Indian drum to perform, especially in the southern part of Indian
Carnatic music, for reason including the complication of the percussion styles
used in the Indian music. The musical instrument is usually played with the
palm of the hand as well as the fingers of the player’s hand. While the left
hand of the player supports the drum, the player of the instrument plays the
drum with the right hand. The fingertip of the player’s left hand can be used
to curve the pitch of the musical instrument by applying pressure near the
external rim of the instrument. Unlike the mridangam and ghatam, the kanjira is
not tuned to a specific pitch.
Normally, without, the instrument has
a very high pitched sound. to get a good bass sound from the musical
instrument, the player of the instrument reduces the tension of the drumhead by
sprinkling water on the inside of the kanjira. This process may have to be done
always during a concert to maintain a good sound from the musical instrument.
Meanwhile, if the musical instrument is moist, the kanjira will have a dead
tone, needing 5 to 10 minutes to dry. Tone is also affected by the exterior
temperature and moisture circumstances around the musical instrument. Players
of the instrument typically carry a pair of this musical instrument so that
they can keep at least one perfectly tuned condition at any given time.
