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29-541: The nadaswaram is a double reed wind instrument from South India . It is used as a traditional classical instrument in Tamil Nadu , Andhra Pradesh , Telangana , Karnataka and Kerala and in the northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka . This instrument is "among the world's loudest non-brass acoustic instruments". It is a wind instrument partially similar to the North Indian shehnai , but much longer, with

58-497: A hardwood body, and a large flaring bell made of wood or metal. In South Indian culture, the nadasvaram is considered to be very auspicious, and it is a key musical instrument played in almost all Hindu weddings and temples of the South Indian tradition. It is part of the family of instruments known as mangala vadyam (lit. mangala "auspicious", vadya "instrument"). The instrument is usually played in pairs, and accompanied by

87-483: A central spine, whereas European or "short scrape" reeds typically feature a more homogenous, tapered thickness across the entire reed. The construction of the American reed can help facilitate a "darker" timbre, whereas European reeds may foster a "brighter" sound. The orchestral double reeds all employ a similar embouchure . Players pull their lips over their teeth to protect the reed from their teeth, and then vibrate

116-522: A flat shaper and the centre portion is thinned (profiled) using a profiling machine which could be as simple as a wooden dowel and scraping knife to sophisticated machines with planes on a rod and a barrel to hold the cane that has accuracy down to .001" . The cane is folded end to end to form the two blades of the reed. The unprofiled end of the cane is shaped into a tube with the aid of a mandrel and bound with three (or four in some reed making techniques) strategically placed wires. A turban made out of thread

145-419: A pair of drums called thavil ; it can also be accompanied with a drone from a similar oboe, called the ottu . The nadasvaram is referred to in many ancient Tamil texts. The Cilappatikaram refers to an instrument called the "vangiyam". The structure of this instrument matches that of a nadasvaram. Since there are seven holes played with seven fingers, this was also called as the "eḻil". This instrument, too,

174-451: A small ivory or horn needle is attached to the instrument, and used to clear the reed of saliva and other debris and allows free passage of air. A metallic bell ( keeḻ anaichu ) forms the bottom end of the instrument. Traditionally the body of the nadasvaram is made out of a tree called aacha (Tamil ஆச்சா; Hindi अंजन) , although nowadays bamboo, sandalwood, copper, brass, ebony, and ivory are also used. For wooden instruments, old wood

203-524: Is a softer cane than Arundo donax . When soft materials are used, adding layers to the reed can increase the stiffness while also maintain suppleness; for example, Myanmar's hne reed can have up to six layers of leaves from the palmyra palm tree which technically transform the double reed into a sextuple reed. It is also possible to make reeds from synthetic materials such as polypropylene , which tend to last longer because they are less sensitive to temperature and humidity fluctuations. However, since

232-408: Is added on the third wire. It provides a hand hold for the reed that is not a sharp wire. The folded tip is cut off to allow the blades to vibrate and final adjustments to the interior of the reed using a reamer to precisely finish the tube to fit the bocal dimensions, and to the exterior (blade) using a reed-scraping knife or tip profiler, are carried out. The reed is then ready to fit to the bocal of

261-466: Is considered the best, and sometimes wood salvaged from demolished old houses is used. The nadasvaram has seven finger-holes, and five additional holes drilled at the bottom which can be stopped with wax to modify the tone. The nadasvaram has a range of two and a half octaves, similar to the Indian bansuri flute, which also has a similar fingering. Unlike the flute where semi and quarter tones are produced by

290-462: Is in the positioning of the rolled-in lips, and the musculature employed to control a sound. Oboe reeds, being much longer relative to their width, require concentrated pressure near the tip with more pressure from the sides of the mouth, whereas bassoon reeds are played with lips slightly more pouted and not necessarily aligned vertically. Similarly, the Armenian duduk does not require rolled-in lips and

319-485: Is played in Tamil Nadu , and is popular among the Tamil diaspora . The nadasvaram contains three parts namely, kuḻal , thimiru , and anasu . It is a double reed instrument with a conical bore which gradually enlarges toward the lower end. The top portion has a metal staple ( mel anaichu ) into which is inserted a small metallic cylinder ( kendai ) which carries the mouthpiece made of reed. Besides spare reeds,

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348-409: Is sold in several forms: as tubes, gouged, gouged and shaped, or gouged and shaped and profiled. Bassoon cane has the further option of being profiled before purchase. There are also many options with regard to staples and shaping equipment, which all have a subtle effect on the tone quality a reed will produce. Differences in reed construction that may be visually minor can have a substantial impact on

377-608: The Thillana Mohanambal movie director AP Nagarajan dedicated this movie to legend Karukurichi Arunachalam . Double reed The size and shape of the reed depend on the type of double-reed instrument which is of two groups, conical and cylindrical. Even within families of instruments, for example, the oboe family, the reed for the oboe is quite different from that for the cor anglais (English horn). Oboe reeds are usually 7 mm (0.3 in) in width, while bassoon reeds are wider, from 13.5 to 15.9 mm (0.53–0.63 in). Since

406-531: The Tamil movies, two released in the 1960s, namely Konjum Salangai (1962) starring Gemini Ganesan and Thillana Mohanambal (1968) starring Sivaji Ganesan, featured nadasvaram playing characters. For the Konjum Salankai movie, Karukurichi Arunasalam Pillai provided the nadasvaram music. Madurai Sethuraman and Ponnusamy brothers were employed for the nadasvaram playing duo characters Sivaji Ganesan and A.V.M. Rajan for

435-478: The art, Pillai embraced Arunachalam as his full-time student (Gurukulavasam). Arunachalam honed his skills under the guru over the years and established a name for himself. Arunachalam quickly became a much sought after artist. Arunachalam's fame soared when he played for the Tamil movie Konjum Salangai , in which the hero is a nadaswaram player. The song "Singaravelane Deva" was a hit and often played at local events. Though he did not continue acting, his career as

464-439: The bassoon. The parts of the bassoon reed starting at the tip are: tip, blade, collar (where the profiled cane ends and throat begins), throat, 1st wire, 2nd wire (where throat ends and tube begins), 3rd wire, and butt (where the tube ends). The construction of double reeds for the oboe family of instruments is similar in principle: like the bassoon's reeds, they consist of two pieces of cane fastened together with an opening at

493-494: The blades of the reed by blowing, while controlling the timbre and pitch with constant micromuscular pressure adjustments from the muscles of the mouth and jaw. Articulation is achieved by occluding the mouth of the reed with the tongue and then releasing it, with extended techniques such as double tongue, flutter tongue and growl all possible as on the other woodwind families. The principal difference between double-reed embouchures – both between and within instrument families –

522-405: The control of the air flow is distributed toward the lower half of the cheeks. All double-reed players employ and develop muscles at the back of the mouth to control their intonation via adjustments to the shape and pressure of the oral cavity surrounding the reed. There are three main groups of instruments based on the methods of playing: blowing directly into the reed, partially blowing into

551-468: The nadasvaram, and a few jazz musicians have taken up the instrument: Charlie Mariano (1923–2009) was one of the few non-Indians able to play the instrument, having studied it while living in India. Vinny Golia , J. D. Parran , and William Parker have performed and recorded with the instrument. The German saxophonist Roland Schaeffer also plays it, having studied from 1981 to 1985 with Karupaia Pillai. Among

580-410: The nadaswaram under Kattumalli Subbiah and Vilathikulam Swamigal, and under Kalakkad Subbiah Bhagavatar and Kalakkad Ramanarayana Bhagavatar for vocal music. Arunachalam's break came when he not only had the opportunity to meet Pillai, but also accompanied him on stage when one of Pillai's deputies, Natarajasundaram Pillai, fell ill just before a concert. Impressed with Arunachalam's talent and love for

609-477: The partial opening and closing of the finger holes, in the nadasvaram they are produced by adjusting the pressure and strength of the air-flow into the pipe. Due to its intense volume and strength, it is largely an outdoor instrument, and much more suited for open spaces than for indoor concerts. Some of the greatest early nadasvaram players include: ● Tiruvidaimarudur P. S. Veerusamy Pillai American composers such as Lewis Spratlan have expressed admiration for

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638-471: The performance of a double reed. Adjustments to reeds are, consequently, very frequent among double-reed musicians. The reedmaking culture varies between countries, cities, and individuals, and the reedmaker accepts that the life of each reed is extremely short. Among oboists, there are several distinct schools of reedmaking, notatably the American and European schools. American, or "long scrape" reeds feature two visible "windows" of removed cane separated by

667-520: The reed, and not blowing directly into the reed. piccolo heckelphone contrabass sarrusophone Karukurichi Arunachalam Palavesam Arunachalam (26 April 1921 – 6 April 1964) was a popular nadaswaram player. He was popularly known as Karukurichi Arunachalam after Karukurichi, his native village in the Tirunelveli District of Tamil Nadu . Arunachalam was born in 1921 to Palavesam and Chellammal. Arunachalam's father, who

696-402: The reeds of European instruments, cane from Arundo donax , a wetland reed species traditionally from southern France, is commonly used. The reeds of non-European instruments can be made from similar wetland grasses, bamboo or young leaves from toddy palm trees. For example, the reed of Japan's hichiriki can be made from either mountain bitter bamboo or Phragmites australis , the latter

725-424: The sound produced by the reed, and as a consequence professional double-reed players must exercise meticulous craftsmanship in creating a suitable-sounding reed for whatever repertoire they are playing, with yet further considerations such as whether the player is principal or sectional, or whether the reed will be suitable for every item on the program. Environmental factors such as humidity and temperature also affect

754-418: The tip. However, because the oboe does not have a bocal, the cane must be fastened to a metal tube (the staple ), the lower half of which is normally surrounded by a piece of cork . The staple is then inserted into the farrow at the upper end of the oboe. Players can buy reeds either ready-made, or in various stages of formation, such as part-scraped, reed blanks, or buy the staples and cane separately. Cane

783-403: The tone quality is dissimilar to that of a cane reed, synthetic reeds are not favoured by professional musicians. A variety of tools are used for splitting, chopping, gouging and shaping the cane in the reed-making process. For bassoon reeds, tubes of cane are first split lengthwise then gouged to a certain thickness using a gouging machine. The chosen piece of cane is then cut to shape using

812-414: The width of a reed affects its sound and response, reed makers experiment constantly to achieve the results they desire. Reed length, which broadly affects pitch, is much less consistent globally, as different orchestras tune to different frequencies. Auxiliary double reeds such as English horn and contrabassoon have their own sets of measurements, which are subject to the requirements of the player. For

841-422: Was allegedly impressed by the fame and prestige enjoyed by musicians, especially nadaswaram players, wanted to become a nadaswaram player himself. Another account says he was inspired by the virtuosity of the nadaswaram player Koorainadu Natesa Pillai. Though Arunachalam's father trained for several years, he was not successful. Arunachalam's father taught him to play the nadaswaram. Arunachalam trained further on

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