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| Volume 1, No. 1 - June 2001 | << Back to formatted version |
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Santoor
HISTORY
STRUCTURE AND TECHNIQUE In the Sufiana Santoor the parallel sides facing the performer are 20-21 inches approximately in the ratio of 1:2 (the ratio 1:2 has also a traditional and historic background) where as the other 2 sides are again 20-21 inches. The thickness of the box is round about 4 to 4 1 /2 inches. The inside, which is hollow, serves as a resonator. Initially the strings would have been made of flax and gut and at present Steel and Brass / Copper is used. These strings are laid over the shaft passing from left to right, controlled by the keys on the right side of the instrument. Under a group of four strings one small bridge is inserted. The height of the bridge is kept slightly more than the height of the side planks placed on the shaft that is usually 1 inch approximately. In this process, hundred stings are laid over 25 bridges and each group of four strings are tuned to one note and the instrument is tuned accordingly. The sound of the note is produced with the striker called kalam (Kasht as referred to in Sanskrit) which is 6 inches long. Indian Santoor can mostly be heard in the classical concerts or Sufi mehfils (gatherings/baithaks). It is also being used in film music and other classical categories. However, it may be categorically mentioned that Santoor has never been used in any folk style either in past or in the present. However, the Santoor of Sopori Baj which is being played by Pandit Bhajan Sopori and his disciples has been innovated from time to time by the master players of this style in the valley. This instrument has three sides of 25 inches and the neck side is in the ratio of 1:2 i.e. 12 ½ inches (the opposite side facing the performer). This instrument has a ‘guard’ (Tumba) beneath, which is towards the rear side of the instrument. The instrument thus is placed on the left foot and the rest of the body lies in the lap of the performer which is an asana (posture) called ‘Ardhasampada Asana’ in which Santoor is played in this Gharana. 100 strings are divided and laid over 43 bridges giving the instrument a dimension of more than 3 octaves. It has also the ‘sympathetic’ or ‘resonance’ strings (Tarab), like Sitar or Sarod, to give the instrument a resonatory tonal accuracy. Pandit Bhajan Sopori introduced the ‘Pressure Techniques’ with which pressure is applied on certain strings to produce ‘Meend’ and ‘Gamak’, which are the essential parts in the Indian classical style. The Santoor is also played with the accompaniment of Pakhawaj in this Baj which has become a trendsetter in the history of Santoor.
SUFIANA GHARANA AND SOPORI BAJ This process paved the way for extending the versatality of the Santoor and adopting proper Tantrakari Ang of the Sitar. The same Santoor was used and the tradition of its playing continued with the then child prodigy Bhajan Sopori in the fifties. Since singing with the Santoor was a Parampara of the Gharana, Pandit Bhajan Sopori’s constant experimentation gradually resulted in the extension of the bridges, developing the lower octave the mandra saptak and the tar saptak as a full octave. Pandit Bhajan Sopori had seen his grand father singing and playing the Tilana ‘Na Dir Dim De Re Na’ and thus he had sufficient reasons to believe that the Bols like ‘Da Ra Dir’ could be introduced systematically onto the instrument and all the complicated Bols could be played as well with the technical perfection Pandit Bhajan Sopori’s replaced the Sehpai (small traditional stand for the traditional Santoor) and added a Gaud (Tumba) underneath the Santoor (in early sixties) for the clarity of the higher octave and to balance the pressure techniques for the variation of main glides played by the maestro on Santoor and created another 2 1 /2 octave range in his instrument. This is supported by the sympathetic strings called Tarab which can be heard more clearly while the bol is created by the palm rather than the striker and also while using the pressure technique. This technique has a special background in the historical prospective. The asana used for this style of playing is called ‘Ardhasampada Asana’. In this asana, the Santoor has a ‘guard’ (Tumba) beneath, which is towards the rear side of the instrument, placed on left foot, keeping the rest of the body of the Santoor close to the body of the performer. The Santoor is always played from the left side for the Shudh Thath and from the right side for the Komal Swaras. In Sufiana Gharana and Sopori Baj, Santoor is essentially played on the left side and additional notes whenever required are added from the right side. However as it is interpreted that the heart happens to be on the left side, the emphasis has to be on the left side but the truth is much more than this. The Santoor of this Baj has 43 bridges while retaining the number of strings within hundred. The tone thus generated from the instrument is as per the technical requirement of the raga system of Hindustani classical system. In this Gharana stress is laid on the alaap, jod-alaap, variety of gats, taan patterns and bandish in various taals. The Raga should justify its texture as per the shastras-grammar of the Indian classical system. The Taal patterns are not merely taken as a source of counting but to be co-relating to the effect generated by a Gat or composition. In this style, Raga is a source of meditation, the Taals co-relate to the counting of mantra and the laykari and the chandkari is the stage of ecstasy or zikhar in Sufi terminology. The two kalams are to be properly balanced to generate the required depth of the notes. The pair of kalam is like the two wings of the bird which once stretched out equally enables the bird to soar high in the sky. THE ARTISTS
PANDIT BHAJAN SOPORI Pandit Bhajan Sopori, the Santoor Virtuoso and Music Composer, has been the pioneer in establishing the Santoor on national and international platforms as a complete solo instrument. The quiet and unassuming maestro has come long way since he created history by being the first person to play the Indian Classical music on the Santoor way back in the early 1950s. In his five decades of dedicated work he has explored various dimensions of the Santoor, carrying out many path-breaking innovations. He has increased the range of the Santoor from the conventional one-and-a-half to more than 3 octaves, balanced the ‘Kalam’ (strikers) with ‘boles’ and attached the ‘Tarab’ and ‘Tumba’ for enhanced tonal quality, etc. These innovations combined with his strong base in traditional ‘Raag-Sangeet’ allow for a systematic exposition of the Raag combining both the ‘Gayaki’ and the ‘Tantrakari Ang’ (style) in his recitals, demonstrating all the essential stylistic nuances of Hindustani Classical Music such as Meend, Glides, Gamak, Boles, including the 'Dhrupad Ang' with the accompaniment of the Pakhawaj. His recitals are known for their high degree of technical virtuosity combining highly intricate ‘layakari’, legendary ‘chhandkari’, speedy ‘taan’ patterns running through three octaves and a melodious ‘alaap’. He has thereby expanded the scope of the Santoor as a classical instrument and formally established the Sopori Baaj in the realm of Indian Classical Music for which he is hailed as the “Saint of Santoor” and the “King of Strings”. It is also entirely to the credit of the Sopori Family that Hindustani Classical and Light Music acquire legitimate space in the Kashmir Valley. A highly learned person, Pandit Bhajan Sopori, has done his Masters degree in both the Sitar and the Santoor besides having a Masters degree in English Literature. He has also studied Western Classical Music at Washington University, USA. Pandit Sopori is the only classical musician to have composed music for more than 4000 songs in various languages of the country including Persian, Arabic, etc. He combines a profound knowledge of music and musicology and has carried out immense research on Naad (sound) and ‘sound therapy’. One of his highly commended albums on ‘sound therapy’, “Naad Yoga on the Santoor”, was released by a pharmaceutical company. Panditji has led the revival of Sufism to spread the message of humanism and the patriotism amongst the masses, especially the youth. He has composed Guru-Baani, Shabads, Vedic Chants and Sanskrit mantras like ‘Mahamrityunjaya’, ‘Durga Kavach’ and ‘Surya Upasana’. Panditji has also composed and introduced three new Raags: Raag Laleshwari, Raag Patwanti, and Raag Nirmalranjani. He has composed various patriotic songs, which are loved by the people of all age groups, like “Bharat Bharat Hum Iski Santaan”, “Hum Honge Kaamyaab”, “Bharat Ki Beti”, “Vijayee Vishwa Tiranga Pyaara”, “Vande Maataram”, “Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna”, “Naman Tujhko Mere Bharat”, etc. for the national integration . His compositions bear the distinctive stamp of his virtuosity and erudition and have been sung by eminent vocalists of the country. His classical version of “Saare Jahan Se Achhaa …” and instrumental version of “Vande Maataram” are recognized pioneering efforts. Panditji has used his Santoor and his compositions to highlight the concept of oneness and foster unity enshrining the idea of national integration, humanism and peace amongst the common man and the youth in particular. Moreover, he has extended the various possibilities in Santoor playing and prepared a formal system, the Sopori Baaj, on the basis of which further research and experimentation may be carried out on the Santoor. For his enormous contributions, he has received numerous awards including the prestigious:
ABHAY RUSTUM SOPORI Abhay has been learning instrumental and vocal music both from his Grandfather Pandit Shamboo Nath Sopori and his illustrious father. He has a profound sense of music that he has inherited from his traditional Sufiana Gharana, under the Guru-Shishy Parampara, with its roots of Santoor playing of more than 200 years. He has also learned Western Classical Music providing him a base for systematic compositional work. A remarkable and unique quality of his presentation is that he sings the composition along with its instrumental rendering, reviving the traditional Santoor playing. Performing along with the accompaniment of Pakhawaj is also a special characteristic of his Baaj (style). Some of the great asserts of his playing are lightning tempo, clarity and melodious sequence of notes and perfection in adapting the ‘Sopori Baaj’, the style created by Pt. Bhajan Sopori, demonstrating his keen sense of Gayaki (Vocal) and Tantrakari (Instrumental) Ang (technique) and all the essential stylistic nuances of his Baaj like ‘Meend’, ‘Gamak’, ‘Glides’, variety of ‘Taan, Bol, Chand and Laya Patterns’, etc. Abhay has made some innovations in his Santoor by introducing the ‘Open String concept’ to boost the lower octave of the Santoor and further developing the ‘Been Ang’ on Santoor. He has also invented, designed and introduced a new ‘30 stringed’ instrument in the world of music and named it ‘Sur Santoor’. Abhay has been awarded the prestigious ‘Youngs India Award – 2006’ and ‘Kalawant Samman - 2004’ for his excellence in music as a Santoor player and a Music Composer apart from other honours in India and abroad. He had been invited as the ‘visiting faculty’ by the University of Massachusetts (USA) to conduct classes on Indian music. Abhay’s debut in 1996 in a prestigious concert in Delhi was very well received by the music connoisseurs and critics. Since then he has performed at National and International platforms. Abhay has participated in some of the very prestigious National and International Festivals like ‘Sori Festival’, ‘Asian Music Festival’, ‘Sankat Mochan Festival’, ‘Harballabh Sangeet Festival’, ‘Swami Haridas Music Festival’, ‘Salt Lake Festival’, ‘Basant Utsav’, ‘Sharadh Purnima Sangeet Mahotsava’, ‘Pranav Sangeet Samaroh’, ‘Spic-Macay Concerts’, ‘Bandra Festival’, etc. He has performed in countries like USA, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, etc. His musical albums have received wide range acclamation by all. These include classical releases like ‘New Strings’, ‘Voice of Strings’, etc. as well as compositional releases like ‘Kabir Bani’, ‘Meera Kahaye’ etc. Abhay sang as a playback singer in the ‘National Award’ winning film ‘Bub’. He has also played for the Signature Tune of the ‘Aaj Tak’ news channel. As an established composer, Abhay has been the youngest classical musician to compose and conduct orchestras and folk ensembles. He has also composed music for various tele-films, serials and documentaries like ‘Tabla Ka Itihaas’, ‘Guldasta’, ‘Roshni’, ‘Do Shaheron Ke Kahani’, etc. He recently composed the appeal song ‘Aao Kadam Badhayain’, the greatest musical hit in the history of Jammu and Kashmir, for raising donations for the Kashmir earthquake victims, featuring some of the renowned and senior most classical musicians of India. Abhay is a double graduate in ‘Management’ and ‘Computer Applications’ besides being a National level hockey player. Courtesy : http://www.santoor.org |
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