Indian classical music

There are 24 images in this gallery. Click on any photo to see a larger version.
Click for full price list and ordering information.

Udit Pankhania and Tarun Jasani at Walton Church, The Open University, 25-Jun-2008

$Udit Pankhania tunes his Tabla. The skin is tensioned by a number of cords that run down the sides; inside each pair of cords is a large wooden toggle. The further down the barrel of the drum the toggle is moved, the tighter the skin is made, raising the pitch.\n\nThe black circles in the middle of each drum skin, which enable an even wider variety of sounds to be made, are built up in layers of rice starch mixed with coal dust.$ $Udit Pankhania tunes his Tabla. The skin is tensioned by a number of cords that run down the sides; inside each pair of cords is a large wooden toggle. The further down the barrel of the drum the toggle is moved, the tighter the skin is made, raising the pitch.\n\nThe black circles in the middle of each drum skin, which enable an even wider variety of sounds to be made, are built up in layers of rice starch mixed with coal dust.$ $Udit Pankhania tunes his Tabla. The skin is tensioned by a number of cords that run down the sides; inside each pair of cords is a large wooden toggle. The further down the barrel of the drum the toggle is moved, the tighter the skin is made, raising the pitch.\n\nThe black circles in the middle of each drum skin, which enable an even wider variety of sounds to be made, are built up in layers of rice starch mixed with coal dust.$ $Udit Pankhania tunes his Tabla. The skin is tensioned by a number of cords that run down the sides; inside each pair of cords is a large wooden toggle. The further down the barrel of the drum the toggle is moved, the tighter the skin is made, raising the pitch.\n\nThe black circles in the middle of each drum skin, which enable an even wider variety of sounds to be made, are built up in layers of rice starch mixed with coal dust.$ $Udit Pankhania tunes his Tabla. The skin is tensioned by a number of cords that run down the sides; inside each pair of cords is a large wooden toggle. The further down the barrel of the drum the toggle is moved, the tighter the skin is made, raising the pitch.\n\nThe black circles in the middle of each drum skin, which enable an even wider variety of sounds to be made, are built up in layers of rice starch mixed with coal dust.$

Tarun Jasani tunes his Sarod. As you can see, the fingerboard has no frets and the strings are metal wire, not synthetic, but the player only uses his fingers, not a slide - I imagine it can be painful when you're just learning!

Tarun Jasani tunes his Sarod. There are two sets of tuning pegs, the further ones for the longer strings, which are spaced further apart, and the closer ones for a second set of strings that are close together.

$Udit Pankhania (left, playing Table) and Tarun Jasani (right, playing Sarod) at Walton Church, The Open University, 25-Jun-2008.\n\nThe body of the Sarod is of course hollow and has a top layer of goat skin; the bridge is made from bone and because of the use of metal strings, wears down with time.\n\nThe box in the middle at the back is an electronic drone; being electronic, its pitch doesn't drift in different conditions, meaning the two players have something they can tune to. Its sound would traditionally be played by another musician on a Tambura.$