Shatatantri

[Sumanth Sharma]

The post has the same subject as the forum name.

As we all know, earlier Santoor used to be made of a hundred strings and hence the name i.e. gunNavachak - Shatatantri, Believed to have originated from Afghanistan and Kashmir.

Let us make an effort to understand a few things about this magical piece of an instrument.

Question: It's is to my understanding that, once configured, only one or very few ragas can be played on a Shatatantri a.k.a Santoor and many strings have to be re-tuned for a different raaga. Does this hold good even now? - Or is there a new technology that obviates this process ?


PS: I am assuming folks will keep this thread moving on with answers and further Questions, Trivia and more regarding this great instrument

[hundredstrings]

Yes, to be able to perform a raga comprehensively, the santoor needs to be retuned.  How many bridges to be retuned depends upon the notes used in the raga.  There is no technology to bypass this.

Not just that, sometimes, the santoor needs to be tuned even while being performed.  You would have heard live recordings of Shivkumar Sharma wherein he does this.  For newcomers, it is hard to realize that the santoor is actually being tuned (so unobtrusive is his touch!). Surprisingly, I haven't seen anybody other than Shivji tuning the santoor in the middle of a performance (and when the tabla player is still playing the theka).

Since the strings are tuned and arranged in a certain way, some ragas are very suited for the santoor and some or not.  The lack of meend (or the glide) is another reason that some ragas that make use of heavey meends are not usually performed on santoor.  For example, Darbari Kanada, Desi, Nand etc.,

It is also true that some ragas are especially suited for santoor -- like Hamsadhwani, Kirwani, Charukeshi, Rageshree, Rasik Priya (one of the most interesting ragas ever, played only by Shivkumar Sharma in the Hindustani system) etc.

We should give total credit to Shivkumar Sharma for bringing out such a great variety of ragas on santoor, including ragamala dhuns (where many ragas make a fleeting appearance).  When he played Mishra Khamaj ragamala in Belgaum in Feb 2004 (Swamiji was in the audience), it was real ecstacy!  After the concert, Shivkumar Sharma didn't have body consciousness for about 15 minutes.  Such is the power of music and his mastery of the instrument.  In Mishra Khamaj, he usually brings our ragas like Kedar, Mian Ki Malhar, Jaijaiwanti, Shankara, Nand, etc.

[rks]

Wow, this make a wonderful read!  What I like most about Santoor music is that its sound is not overbearing -- it serves as the best choice for background music.  I am also totally impressed by the fast compositions played on it, may be there is no match to santoor when it comes to fast rhythmic play.