Rudra veena

Form and construction

The rudra veena is classified either as a stick zither or tube zither in the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system. The veena's body (dandi) is a tube of bamboo or teak between 137 and 158 cm (54 and 62 in) long, attached to two large tumba resonators made from calabash gourds. The tumbas on a rudra veena are around 34 to 37 cm (13 to 15 in) in diameter; while veena players once attached tumbas to the dandi with leather thongs, modern instruments use brass screw tubes to attach the tumbas.

Traditionally, the bottom end of the dandi, where the strings attach below the bridge (jawari), is finished with a peacock carving. This peacock carving is hollow, to enhance the resonance of the instrument. This hollow opens into the tube of the dandi, and is covered directly by the main jawari. The other end of the instrument, holding most or all of the pegs, is finished with a carved makara. Like the peacock at the other end and the dandi tube connecting them, the makara pegbox is also hollow.

The rudra veena has twenty-one to twenty-four moveable frets (parda) on top of the dandi. These frets are made of thin plates of brass with flat tops but curved wooden bases to match the shape of the dandi, each about two to four centimeters (0.75–1.5 inches) high. While these frets were once attached to the instrument with wax, contemporary veena players use waxed flax ties to attach the frets. This allows for players to adjust the frets to the individual microtones (shruti) of a raga. By pulling the string up or down alongside the fret, the veena player can bend the pitch (meend) by as much as a fifth.

A modern rudra veena has a total of seven or eight strings: four main melody strings, two or three chikari strings (which are used in rhythmic sections of the rag to delineate or emphasize the pulse, or taal), and one drone (laraj) string. These strings are made of steel or bronze, and run from the pegs (and over the nut if coming from the pegbox) down to the peacock, passing over the jawari near the peacock. A rudra veena will have three jawari; a main one covering an opening on the hollow peacock, and two smaller ones on the sides of the peacock, supporting the chikari and drone strings. These jawari and other strings supports are traditionally made of Sambar stag antler; however, India has banned trade in Sambar deer antler since 1995, due to the deer's declining population and vulnerable status. Strings are tuned by turning the ebony pegs to tighten or loosen the strings; the antler string supports can be moved for fine tuning.

Unlike European stringed instruments, where strings are almost always tuned to the same notes on all instruments—a modern cello, for example, will usually have its open strings tuned to C₂ (two octaves below middle C), followed by G₂, D₃, and then A₃—the rudra veena follows Hindustani classical practice of a movable root note or tonic (moveable do). The four melody strings are tuned to the ma a fifth below the tonic; the tonic (sa); the pa a fifth above the tonic; and the sa an octave above the tonic. Thus, if the lowest ma string was tuned to D₂, then the four melody strings would be tuned to D₂, A₂, E₃, and A₃; if the lowest ma string was instead tuned to B♭₁, then the four melody strings would be tuned to B♭₁, F₂, C₃, and F₃

History

Its origin is undated; however the instrument is known to be ancient enough and is linked to Shiva. The rudra veena declined in popularity in part due to the introduction in the early 19th century of the surbahar, which allowed sitarists to more easily present the alap sections of slow dhrupad-style ragas. In the 20th century, Zia Mohiuddin Dagar modified and redesigned the rudra veena to use bigger gourds, a thicker tube (dandi), thicker steel playing strings (0.45–0.47 mm) and closed javari that. This produced a soft and deep sound when plucked without the use of any plectrum (mizrab). The instrument was further modified as the shruti veena by Lalmani Misra to establish Bharat's Shadja Gram and obtain the 22 shrutis.