Gottuvadhyam
Encyclopedia
Drone (music)
In music, a drone is a harmonic or monophonic effect or accompaniment where a note or chord is continuously sounded throughout most or all of a piece. The word drone is also used to refer to any part of a musical instrument that is just used to produce such an effect.-A musical effect:A drone...
strings, and about twelve sympathetic strings running parallel and below the main strings.
The approach to tuning is in some ways similar to the sitar
Sitar
The 'Tablaman' is a plucked stringed instrument predominantly used in Hindustani classical music, where it has been ubiquitous since the Middle Ages...
; in other ways it is similar to the Saraswati veena, but in many ways it is unique. It is played with a slide like a Hawaiian
Hawaiian
Hawaiian may refer to:* People from Hawaii* Hawaiian language* Native Hawaiians* The Hawaiians, a football team in the World Football League from 1974 to 1975* Hawaiian Airlines, a commercial airline* Hawaiian music...
guitar and the north Indian vichitra veena. The first two fingers on the right hand are usually used with plectra to pluck the metal melody strings while a cylindrical block made out of hardwood
Hardwood
Hardwood is wood from angiosperm trees . It may also be used for those trees themselves: these are usually broad-leaved; in temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen.Hardwood contrasts with softwood...
(often ebony
Ebony
Ebony is a dense black wood, most commonly yielded by several species in the genus Diospyros, but ebony may also refer to other heavy, black woods from unrelated species. Ebony is dense enough to sink in water. Its fine texture, and very smooth finish when polished, make it valuable as an...
), buffalo
Buffalo
-Bovine:* African Buffalo or Cape Buffalo * American Buffalo, North American colloquial name for American Bison * Wisent, or Eurasian Buffalo...
horn, glass, steel, or teflon held by the left hand is used to slide along the strings to vary the pitch. Sakha Rama Rao used to refer to the slide as 'gotu' and hence the name, gotu vadyam.
The chitravina was popularised in South India by Sakharam Rao
Sakharam Rao
Sakha Rama Rao is an Indian musician credited with having re-introduced the south Indian chitravina to the concert scene. However, it was his father, Srinivasa Rao, who made the pioneering effort towards the reincarnation of the chitravina in modern times. He was an ardent music lover and an...
of Tiruvidaimarudur
Tiruvidaimarudur
Tiruvidaimarudur is a town in Thanjavur District, Tamil Nadu state, India.About north-east of the Temple City Kumbakonam, this is one of the Taluk H.Q. in the Tanjore District. Tiruvidaimarudur has a rich heritage of fertility and people have habit of harvesting thrice in a year...
. It was later taken up and further popularised by Gotuvadyam Narayan Iyengar, who was a palace musician of the old state of Mysore
Kingdom of Mysore
The Kingdom of Mysore was a kingdom of southern India, traditionally believed to have been founded in 1399 in the vicinity of the modern city of Mysore. The kingdom, which was ruled by the Wodeyar family, initially served as a vassal state of the Vijayanagara Empire...
. His grandson Chitravina N Ravikiran (b. 1967) plays the instrument and is the inventor of a variant, the navachitravina.
Other exponents of the instrument include Budaloor Krishnamurthy Shastri, A Narayana Iyer, Mannargudi Savithri Ammal, Allam Koteeshwara Rao, M V Varahaswami, Allam Durgaprasad and Chitravina Ganesh. Seetha Doraiswamy, known more as a jalatarangam artiste, plays the Balakokila, a smaller version of the Chitraveena.
External links
- Chitravina page from N. Ravikiran site