PRIYAANKA MATHUR
The
Jal-tarang
one of the
most rarely heard
instruments!
One of the oldest instruments in the world ‘Jal-tarang’ comes
from ‘Jal’ meaning water, and ‘tarang’ that connotes to the "waves
in water". Jal-tarang is an ancient Indian wave instrument
which continues to play till today in the Indian classical music
repertoire to produce both ‘Ragas’ and light melodies. Jal-tarang
is a unique instrument in the sense that it is both a percussion,
as well as a non-percussion instrument, used to play solo
performances accompanied by Tabla or as an accompanying
percussion instrument.
The instrument was developed in ancient India around the
17thcentury and finds its first mention in the music treatise
Sangeet Parijaat. This medieval musical treatise categorizes this
instrument under ‘Ghan-Vadya’(Idiophonic instrument) in Indian
music terminology wherein the sound is produced by striking the
surface of the instrument primarily to produce vibrations, without
the use of strings or membranes.
It is said that Alexander, on his return from India to Macedonia,
managed to take some Jal-tarang players with him. Vatsyayana's
Kamasutra mentions about a certain water instrument called
‘Udakavadya’ which is assumed to be the Jal-tarang as he mentions
playing on musical glasses filled with water is one of the 64 Arts
and Science to be studied by a maiden.
Jal-tarang was also called ‘Jal-yantra’ in the medieval times as
mentioned by the ‘Asht-chhap’ poets of the Krishna Cult. This
instrument seems to have evolved from the ancient Gong and
Gamelan made up of copper and other metal alloys that were
molded in different shapes, to create various musical notes that
were gently struck with bamboo sticks played with both hands.
The instrument was earlier played across the Java, Bali, and
Burma regions (Myanmar of today) and was in vogue in the
ancient period, being played across the eastern border of India.
The musical treatises ‘Sangeet Saar’ considered a 22 cups Jal-tarang
as a complete one, while the one with 15 cups to be of ordinary. The
cups ranged from small to big sizes and were made either of bronze
or porcelain. In the present era the preferred choice of the artists
are the china bowls instead of bronze or porcelain, and the total
number of cups preferred is around sixteen, while the number of
cups depends on the melody being played.
22
The
Score Magazine
highonscore.com
The Jal-tarang has a pleasant characteristic tone similar to the
Feng Shui wind chimes. In the 16th century Europe the glasses
were used in place of cups. Similar cups are seen being played
in Japanese Buddhist temples and in the music of the Kabuki
theatre, where water is used for fine tuning and for creating sound
ornamentations called ‘Gamaks’ in Indian music terminology that
are created by carefully bringing the sticks into contact with the
surface of the water.
The instrument includes a series of china clay bowls of descending
sizes laid in a semicircular manner while the player sits in the
center of the circle softly striking the cups on the edge with
wooden sticks to create the sound. The cups used to produce the
notes of ‘Mandra Saptak’ (lower octave) are large in size while
the ones used for the ‘Madhya Saptak’ (Middle octave) are medium
sized, followed by those used to produce the ’Taar Saptak’ (higher
octave) are small sized porcelain cups.
The cups are tuned to the notes of a Raga, being played by adjusting
the amount of water. The instrument works on the principal of
the motion of sound created or modified with the aid of water.
When the edge of the bowl filled with water is stuck with wooden
sticks it produces vibrations, that travels through the water and
are transferred to the surrounding air to produce sweet melodic
sounds. The instrument requires a skilled technique to play some
fine nuances and is not as easy to tune as it sounds and needs
proper guidance, practice and experience. While an accomplished
player can display his skills by playing some fine nuances and
vibrations if he is able to rotate the water through a quick yet soft
touch of the stick.
Very few artistes have adopted Jaltarang as their chosen
instrument for classical performances namely Milind Tulankar,
Ranjana Pradhan and Anayampatti S Ganesan and Dr. Ragini
Trivedi who is one of the first women Jaltarang players, who has
trained several students in this rare instrument. Due to its delicate
built and design besides the difficulties and the lack of ease that
the player faces, while trying to play the more complex Ragas,
Jaltarang is losing its popularity and is a dying art that needs to
be preserved!