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Essentially just an esraj amplified with a metal horn, the tar shehnai also summons the timbres of violin and shehnai
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—Kirpal Singh Panesar (Dhun)—
“One may think of the tar shehnai as having the same relationship to the esraj as the dobro guitar has to the standard guitar. Its history is not completely clear; but from what we do know, it is an interesting story: which actually begins in Europe and the USA. From the late 19th century, the introduction of the gramophone [catalysed] more efficient ways of acoustically coupling the weak mechanical energies from the disks and cylinders to the air, in the form of sound – and craftsmen realised that many of the requirements of the gramophone also applied to musical instruments…It appears that in the early 20th century, some of these instruments – including the ‘Japanese fiddle’ – found their way into South Asia…and someone, somewhere, got the idea of attaching a gramophone soundbox to an existing esraj…The tar shehnai had great popularity in early filmi, giving a certain ‘punch’ to interludes, but then fell into several decades of obscurity. The last decade has seen a resurgence of interest…the greatest motivation is the growing Gurmat Sangeet movement in the Sikh community, which has turned people’s attention to instruments that have not been popular for centuries…” (Hindu Online)
—More Info—
- Sa pitch: All artists root within a semitone or so of D (except this outlier by Sri Piara Singh, which appears to use a high F# on a folk tune: presumably enabled by a custom stringing) [see my Survey of Sa Tunings for more].
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• Hindustani Instruments: Anandi | Bansuri | Bass-Veena | Bazantar | Bulbul Tarang | Cello | Chaturangi | Dilruba | Electric Guitar | Esraj | Fretless Guitar | Harmonium | Jal Tarang | Jori | Mandolin | Mohan Veena | Nal Tarang | Pakhawaj | Piano | Rabab | Rudra Veena | Sagar Veena | Santoor | Sarangi | Sarod | Saxophone | Shehnai | Sitar | Surbahar | Sursagar | Sursingar | Swarmandal | Tabla | Tabla Tarang | Tanpura | Tar Shehnai | Taus | Vichtra Veena | Violin
–Survey of Sa tunings–
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George Howlett is a London-based musician, writer, and teacher (guitars, sitar, tabla, & santoor). Above all I seek to enthuse fellow sonic searchers, interconnecting fresh vibrations with the voices, cultures, and passions behind them. See Homepage for more, and hit me up for Lessons!
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