Santoor (hindustani, string instrument)

Profile          Artists          Tarun Bhattacharya - Raag Kalavati

Profile

The Santoor was originally known as 'Shata-tantri-veena', or 'hundred stringed lute'. Similar instruments are found in many countries of the world. The 'Yang Chin' in China, the 'Cimbalon' or 'Zymbalon' in Hungary and Rumania, 'Santoori' in Greece, 'Kentele' in Finland and 'Hackbrett' in Germany are all kindred forms of the instrument. When used for playing Indian classical music, the Santoor is played with a pair of curved mallets fashioned out of walnut wood and the resultant melodies are reminiscent of music on the piano, harp or the harpsichord.

For ages, the Santoor has been used in the Valley of Kashmir as a folk instrument. However Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, one of the most accomplished musicians of India, initiated and brought into use innovative structural changes that have given the Santoor a much wider range of expressiveness and appeal, and it is now accepted as a classical instrument in its own right.

The Santoor that Pandit Shivkumar Sharma plays has a melodic range of three full octaves, derived from a graduated set of 91 strings stretched over 31 bridges in a chromatic arrangements of notes. He essentially uses a technique of playing Santoor that enables him to sustain the resonance of the notes and to maintain their continuity by gliding upon the strings with the mallets. The resultant effect is akin to the meend, hitherto regarded as impossible on the Santoor. In effect, the Santoor has become a much more versatile instrument that is suitable for playing folk as well as Indian classical music.

Artists

Major artists in alphabetical order

• Pt Shivkumar Sharma
  
• Pt Bhajan Sopori