PART I

I would like to share some interesting information on the sarod - Its past, history, ancestry, its present form, its development through the ages, the people behind its evolution, its influences, its roots and its future.

Sarod is carved out of wood, about 3 ft in length, having a round parchment covered sound box, a fretless steel fingerboard and metal strings. It is plucked with a coconut shell called Java. It is one of the sweetest, most beautiful, melodious, rich and haunting musical instruments. The sound is bold, expressive and resonant - one that touches the heart of the listener. One can produce amazing variations of the tone with it.

The Sarod has an interesting history too. Where does it come from? Who made it? We will attempt to analyze this in two parts. In the first one, we will look at the present sarod and how it has evolved to its form, size, shape and construction. In the other part, we will look into the various people who went into evolving it the way it is today and the various styles of playing it or gharanas that have thereby evolved over the past. Sharood in Persian language means mausiki. music. Some refer to it quite appropriately as Swarode. We will now try and trace its developmental path.

Sarod's ancestory:
Let us begin with the basics: Research shows that the simplest stringed instrument in the mediaeval times was like a bow. From that single string, most of the notes were being emitted by craftily controlling the tension and simultaneously plucking the string. Bows of different sizes emitted different sounds and this triggered the science of sound..pitch, octave, the difference in notes, etc. Gradually, with numerous experiments and accidental findings, proper instrument began to take form. Hollow stems gave magnified volume. This initiated the science of the air chamber of the instrument. Sometimes the stem itself was the air chamber; sometimes a bigger air chamber was introduced at the end of the hollow stem, which gives you the sitar, tanpura and this family. And sometimes the air chamber was extended partially down the stem, being the biggest at the base and tapering away towards the neck. This gives the rabab, the lute and to some other instruments.

Now coming to the Indian instruments, all stringed instruments, whatever their shapes and sizes were generally termed as veenas. Depending on the shapes, sizes and other things they acquired different names: Saraswati veena, Rudra veena, Dhayak veena, Vichitra Veena, Tritantri veena. Two or three names standout in particular which have relevance to the sarod: one was the Sharadiya veena, the other was the Rudra veena. They were much alike and nearly three or four hundred years ago, or even earlier, they had travelled to Afghanistan and been adapted for their own special purpose. There, it was developed into what we call today the Kabuli Rabab and the Seni Rabab. Seni Rabab was used by the martial during their march. The Kabuli rabab was for folk music. It was probably played with the bow. This can be guessed from the fact that it has a `waist' which all bow instruments have.

In parallel, there was an evolution of the Indian rabab. The Indian rabab was somewhat like the Afghan rabab but much larger in size. Instead of steel strings there were catguts; instead of a steel plate there was a polished wooden fingerboard. This instrument due to its limitation was not suitable for Indian classical music, especially the Dhrupad form which was prevalent then.

There was trade going on between Afghanistan and India then. Musical instruments were also exchanged. Some traders, along with their Rababs, came over to India and settled here. One was Ghulam Bandegi Khan Bangash and his grand son Ghulam Ali Khan. Let us now listen to a clipping of the Rabab.. Rabab.mp3

As we heard, the Rabab did give a rich and sweet sound. But still not good enough for our musical form.. It had no meends, no glides and no murkis. Only staccato notes as in a mandolin were possible. Also the string is made of guts and lacks in boldness.

Now, Ghulam Ali Bangash came in with the Rabab and they were keen to learn music. So he and others were inducted into Tansen's musical training. Dhrupad was a prevalent form of music then. So in the instrumental side, Tansen's descendents had streamed out into the Beenkar based dhrupad. Let us listen to a small clipping of a typically Dhrupad gayaki ang. dhrupad.mp3

Now we can see how the Dhrupad singing with all its deep meends and gamaks offered a challenge to their favorite instrument, the Rabab. So, after the Rabab came in, the other branch that evolved was the Rabab based dhrupadias. When these people learned dhrupad, they naturally wanted to translate dhrupad into their instrument but the instrument was not obliging, which was what lead to the exploration for a better instrument. Eventually, the Sarod evolved from here. Not merely the Sarod but through another channel the Sursringar also evolved. It is interesting to note here how the Sursingar was invented.It too is a close cousin of the sarod. The hide of the rabab drum during the rainy season got damp and so did the sound from it. The hide was replaced with the tumba of a sitar or surbahar, and the wooden fingerboard with a steel plate. This instrument was no longer vulnerable to the rains or damp.

Sarod was likewise developed in all these families; each family claims that they were the originators of the modern sarod. It was the constant quest for improvement, that Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan and Ustad Allauddin Khan, gave the latest finishing touches to the sarod. They made the drum bigger and rounder, and added four extra strings, which were called tanpura strings. The tonality of the instrument improved, and the meends, the glides were longer sustained. Later, both had different variations of the sarod, which we will look into as we go on.

Now we listen to a clipping of an early form of Sarod. The player is Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan.. Note how close it still sounds to the rabab, and how the gut string has been converted to metal strings, and that longer meends are possible too. hafiz1.mp3

Now come to the basic style of playing this newly developed sarod. They were actually rabab players all the time. Dhrupad and Rabab did not go along well. Long glides of alap and slow movements were not possible. So the sarod was developed. But the basic technique they had developed in playing was that of the rabab. Here due to lack of meends and ghasits, only staccato notes were prominent. This means that the left hand that produces the swaras was less developed than the right hand, which produced the bols.

Let us here again listen to a clipping that illustrates this point of bol based baaz..Again the player is Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan. Even though the sarod they made had the potential to have all the meends and gamaks, the playing was still then influenced by the rabab where the right hand was more prominent than the left.. hafiz2.mp3

So there were numerous bol patterns that were developed, such as da ra, da ra da da ra da da ra etc. A host of vocabulary of pluckings of different kinds, cross-plucking, and complex plucking, developed. And that together with the short ghaseet taans, gave a peculiar flavor.

We now listen to the various bols or the syllables of the sarod baaz that evolved from the rabab baaz. (bol.mp3...coming soon) These two i.e., the bols and ghaseet taans constitute the basic baj of the rabab. Human ingenuity fashioned many beautiful things with these two materials. Sarod has got that as its fundamental basis. This is illustrated here in this clipping where the bols and ghasits are combined. (bolghasit.mp3...coming soon)

Of course now it is improved, and can play long glides. So the veena-based alaps with long glides are also possible, which was not the case in earlier playing due to instruments limitations. But still, the sarod's own territory is rabab - the various bol patterns and the ghaseets.

The gharanas for Sarod: Part 2

***

If you wish to contribute to this section (any topic of your interest in the field of music), please click here.