Santoor: India musical instrument

The Indian santoor is an old string musical instrument native to Jammu and Kashmir, with origin in Persia. An embryonic ancestor of this kind of musical instrument was fabricated in Mesopotamia. This archetype traveled to various parts of the east and each of the regions customized their own version of the musical instrument.

source of picture: kksongs.org

The santoor instrument is a trapezoid-shaped hammered dulcimer usually produced of walnut, with 72 strings on it. Special-shaped mallets are lightweight and are held in between the index finger of the hand and the middle fingers of the hand. A typical version of the musical instrument has two sets of bridges, providing a range of three octaves. The musical instrument is more rectangular and can have more strings than the Persian version of the instrument that commonly has about 72 strings.

In the ancient Sanskrit texts, the musical instrument has been referred to as Shatatantri vina. In India, the musical instrument was used as an accompaniment musical instrument to the folk music of the Kashmir. The santoor is performed in a style of music called ‘Sufiana Mausiqi’. The Sufi mystics made use of the santoor as an accompaniment to their hymns.

The trapezoidal framework of the instrument is commonly produced out of the walnut or maple wood. The top and the bottom boards of the instrument sometimes can be either veneer or plywood. On the top board, also called sound board, wooden bridges are deposited, in order to seat spread metal strings across. The strings of the instrument, grouped in units of three or four are tied on pins or nails on the left side of the musical instrument and are spread over the sound board of the instrument on top of the bridges to the right side of the instrument. On the right side of the instrument, there are steel tuning pegs for the instrument or tuning pins, as they are generally known, that permits tuning each unit of strings to a needed musical note or to a frequency or a pitch.

The santoor is performed while sitting in an asana known as ‘Ardha-padmasana’ position and placing it on top of the lap. While performing, the broad side of the instrument is closer to the waist of the player and the shorter side of the instrument is away from the player. The instrument is played with a pair of light wooden mallets or hammers with the both hands of the player. The musical instrument is a very delicate musical instrument and is very profound to light strokes and glides. The strokes are performed often on the strings either closer to the bridges or slightly away from the bridges. Both patterns result in various tones. Sometimes strokes by one hand of the player can be muffled by the other hand by using the face of the palm to create difference.