Dramyin: musical instrument of Bhutan

The dramyin which can also be called the ‘dranyen’ has many names according to the languages; Tibetan: སྒྲ་སྙན་, Wylie: sgra-snyan; Dzongkha: dramyin. It is a traditional Himalayan folk music lute that has seven strings. The musical instrument is primarily used as an accompaniment to singing in the Drukpa Buddhist culture and society in Bhutan and also in Tibet, Sikkim and Himalayan West Bengal. This musical instrument is mostly used in the religious ceremonies of Vairavana, Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism. Dramyin can be played by fingerpicking, strumming or even plucking. The chiwang, the dramyin which is a lute and lingm which is a flute consist of the basic instrumental inventory for traditional Bhutanese folk music.

source of picture: chandrakantha.com

The dramyin is a long necked, two-waisted and fretless lute that is usually hollowed out of a single piece of wood and can differ in size from 60 cm to 120 cm in length. Different from the contemporary guitar, the dramyin does not have a circle sound hole in the wooden sounding board rather it has rosette-shaped ones like a lute instrument. Of the instruments seven strings, only six continue to the peg box. That is to say that six tuning pegs are located in the peg box of the instrument while one is located in the neck of the instrument. The strings of the instrument are originally produced of animal gut although presently they are now being made from synthetic material like the nylon. The seven strings of the dramyin occur in double-course and one triple course and so by the time they get to the beg box they will become three courses. Culturally, the instruments are endowed with a single bridge. Resonance is achieved with a thick animal skin. Some older types of the instrument has sympathetic strings and under strings to produce more resonance. Some of the instruments come with plectrum attached to the base for plucking of the instrument. The plectrums were formally made of bone but today, they are made out of plastic or even wood. The musical instrument is often decorated and colorfully painted or carved with religious symbols and motifs to show its decency and the peg box of the instrument is satisfactorily carved into a C shape to resemble a type of sea monster called the chusing.

The triple course of the instrument contains the half string on the left side which is usually tuned an octave above the middle unison strings. One of the other two courses is tuned to an octave apart and the courses are normally plucked in unison while it is being played. A single note is played at a particular time thereby making for melodic and never harmony. A rhythmic fashion of the playing the instrument could be to achieve the aim of keeping time. The best way of plucking the instrument is up and down; one of the strings in the course is being plucked upward and the other one being plucked in a downward motion. The downward motion is specifically louder that the upward motion. The best way for tuning the instrument is: g G c’ c c f f. Dramyins are mostly used as an accompaniment while narrating stories for providing ambience and keeping time just as it is shown in Bhutanese film ‘Travellers and Magicians’. The dramyin is regarded as a secular instrument. The melodious sound that is being produced by the instrument is meant to attract the demons but the chusing that is being carved on the peg box acts to chase off the demons. The instrument is said to be associated with a guardian deity in the Dramyin Cham.