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India’s ancient 7-string ‘roaring veena’, long linked to the mythologies of Lord Shiva, offers a restrained, austere beauty

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–Raga instruments (full list)–

• Home | Megalist | Search •

—Bahauddin Dagar (Kaunsi Kanada)—

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“For every instrument, there is a pace of life. A beenkar must never be in a hurry. But in the West, it is very hard to be relaxed, and not get bothered about things. You have to change your entire outlook…We cannot compromise with the instrument’s rituals, even if we die of hunger.” (Bahauddin Dagar)

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—Rudra Veena Basics—

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[COMING SOON: click here to hasten the project’s expansion, so all 365+ raga pages can eventually look more like these]

(Swami D.R. Parvatikar / Zia Mohiuddin Dagar)

 

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• Notable performers: Bahauddin Dagar (1970-), Carsten Wicke (1970-), Jyoti Hegde (1963-), Hindraj Divekar (1954-2019), Asit Kumar Banerjee (c.1946-), Asad Ali Khan (1937-2011), Zia Mohiuddin Dagar (1929-1990), D.R. Parvatikar (1916-1990), Wahid Khan (c.1840-1933), Bande Ali Khan (c.1830-1896)

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—Jyoti Hegde (Lalit)—

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• Get started with learning raga! •

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—Classifiers—

• Form: double-gourd 7-string fretted lute, plucked with the fingers or a wire plectrum
• Origin: unclear, likely developed via gradual modification of ancient veenas (similar designs were in use prior to the late-15th-century Mughal invasions)
• Scale length: often in excess of 1 metre (~40”)
• Range: variable, up to around 42 semitones (~3.5 oct.)
• Sa pitch: Highly variable depending on tradition and stringing preference: Dagarvani beekars (including Zia & Bahauddin Dagar) usually set their Sa to around G#/A, whereas Asad Ali Khan and his Khandarbani disciples go a shade lower to G – although, given the rudra veena’s extraordinary multi-octave range, it isn’t always clear which saptak contains the ‘home Sa’ (i.e. you could choose to interpret many of Asad Ali Khan’s pieces as using a superlow E/F home tone) [see my Survey of Sa Tunings for more].

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—Setup—

• Tuning: Dagars have 8 strings

(refer to a Dagarvani tuning guide)

• More Info •

• https://www.darbar.org/article/bahauddin-dagar-interview
• https://ragatip.com/dr-veena-baba-parvatikar-musical-monk-of-the-himalayas/

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—Jyoti Hegde interview—

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Q

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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–