The Kashmiri santoor is more rectangular and can have more strings than the original Persian counterpart, which generally has 72 strings. The santoor as used in Kashmiri classical music is played with a pair of curved mallets made of walnut wood and the resultant melodies are similar to the music of the harp, harpsichord, or piano. The sound chamber is also made of walnut wood and the bridges are made of local wood and painted dark like ebony. The strings are made of steel.

Notable santoor players of the twentieth century include Pandit Shivkumar Sharma and Pandit Bhajan Sopori.

Development

In India, "Santoor" was used as an accompaniment instrument to the folk music of Kashmir. It was a 100-stringed instrument played in a style of music known as the Sufiana Mausiqi. The Sufi mystics used it as an accompaniment to their hymns.

The original Sanskrit name of Santoor was "Shatha Tantri Veena" meaning a lute or a stringed instrument that has over hundred strings. Santoor is a Persian name to this same instrument "Shatha Tantri Veena" that has references back to Vedic literature.

Anatomy of the santoor

On the right side there are steel tuning pegs or tuning pins, as they are commonly known, that allows tuning each individual string to a desired musical note or a frequency or a pitch. The santoor is a unique Iranian string instrument that is not plucked or bowed but is played with a pair of light wooden mallets or hammers. The santoor is played while sitting in an asana called Ardha-padmasana position and placing it on top of the lap.

The santoor is a flat shaped instrument in the form of a trapezoid that means it is wider at one end and short at the other end. It is a wooden box that is broader in size for bass notes or low pitch notes and is tapered at the other side for the high-pitched notes. While playing, the broad side is closer to the waist of the musician and the shorter side is away from the musician. Both left and right hands are used to lightly strike the strikers on the strings. One can also choose to skillfully glide the strikers on the strings.

In any case, the santoor is a very delicate instrument and is very sensitive to such light strokes and glides. The strokes are played always on the strings either closer to the bridges or a little away from bridges. Both styles result in different tones. Sometimes strokes by one hand can be muffled by the other hand by using the face of the palm just to create variety.

See also

External links

Category:Hammered box zithers Category:Hindustani musical instruments Category:Pakistani musical instruments

Parviz Meshkatian (May 15, 1955, Nishapur – September 21, 2009, Tehran) (Persian: پرويز مشكاتيان) was a renowned Iranian musician, composer, researcher and university lecturer.

Biography

Meshkatian toured Europe and Asia and regularly performed in countries such as France, Germany, England, Sweden, Netherlands, and Denmark. In the spring of 1982 he published the book Twenty Pieces for Santour. In spring of 1992 Meshkatian and the Aref Ensemble won the first prize of the Spirit of the Earth Festival in England. Meshkatian's collaboration with Mohammad Reza Shajarian produced some of the most beautiful recordings of contemporary Persian traditional music. While continuing his work as a composer and a researcher, Meshkatian was teaching music at Tehran University.

Meshkatian died on September 21, 2009 of a heart attack. }}

External links

Category:1955 births Category:2009 deaths Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction Category:Iranian composers Category:Iranian musicians Category:Iranian santur players Category:People from Neyshabur Category:Persian classical musicians Category:Santur players Category:University of Tehran faculty

Early life

Career

Stylistically, Bhattacharya differs from many other santoor players in his varying uses of tones and timbres. He has a developed technique, including the sliding/glissando technique pioneered by Shivkumar Sharma, but also uses his fingernails in picking patterns by hammering with one hand and plucking with the other. An additional technique involves palm mutes during dramatic sections such as a tihai to produce a staccato melodic conclusion. Perhaps his most unusual and stirring contribution is a modified string at the bottom of the instrument, tuned to a very low pitch, which he presses on and bends during compositions to provide a meend-like robust underlayer or phrase ending.

Bhattacharya has also modified his santoor to include small blocks beneath each string which facilitate "fine tuning" during performances, because the santoor, with its 90-plus strings, goes out of tune frequently.

Discography

References

In 1967, he teamed up with flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia and Brij Bhushan Kabra to produce a concept album, Call of the Valley (1967) which turned out to be one of the greatest hits in Indian classical music. starting with Silsila and has two sons. is also a santoor player and they perform together since 1996. the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1986, the Padma Shri in 1991, and the Padma Vibhushan in 2001.

Awards (classical and film)

Discography

References

External links

Category:1938 births Category:Hindustani instrumentalists Category:Living people Category:People from Jammu and Kashmir Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri Category:Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan Category:Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Category:Santoor players

Early life and education

Career

He lives in Hyderabad and is married to Madhu: they have two children.

Works

collections of poetry :

a play:

novels and short stories:

poetry translation

References

External links

Kumar , Shiv K Kumar , Shiv K Kumar , Shiv K Category:1921 births Category:Living people Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature