The mbira is a wooden and metal musical instrument which comes from the culture of the Shona people of the southern African nations of Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The Shona have played mbiras for at least 1,000 years. Erica Azim, mbira player, teacher, and founder of The Mbira Organization (mbira.org), explained that in Shona culture the […]
The Saraswati veena is a plucked, stringed musical instrument from India whose origins date back to around 1700 BCE. This veena (also spelled vina), a member of the lute family, as are the chitra, vichitra, and rudra veenas. Dr. Tara Rajendran is a classically trained veena player (as well as a medical doctor – please […]
When she was only four years old, Dr. Tara Rajendran watched as her grandmother suffered from and eventually succumbed to leukemia. While certainly sad at this loss, she was taken, even at such a tender age, by how her grandmother seemed to feel less anxiety and pain whenever Carnatic music, the classical music of her […]
The sitar is a member of the lute family of stringed instruments; it is popular in northern India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, and is used to play classical music in the Hindustani tradition. The word sitar is derived from the Persian word sehtar, meaning “three strings.” Origin and Construction The precise origin of the sitar is […]
The oud is one of the oldest stringed instruments still in play today. Arabic tradition traces the oud back to Lamech, a descendant of the Biblical figures Adam and Cain. Indeed, oud-like instruments have been discovered at archaeological sites in Egypt and Mesopotamia (located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in what is today Iraq). […]
The balalaika is the quintessential Russian folk musical instrument, easily identifiable by its hollow, triangular body. The soundboard (top of the instrument) is made of a soft wood, usually spruce or evergreen, while the resonator (back) is built from multiple – three to nine – wooden sections, usually maple. Balalaika Family Members of the balalaika […]
The Hal Leonard Bagpipe Method is designed for anyone just learning to play the Great Highland bagpipes. This comprehensive and easy-to-use beginner’s guide serves as an introduction to the bagpipe chanter. It includes access to online video lessons with demonstrations of all the examples in the book. Lessons include: The practice chanter The Great Highland […]
Irish Bouzoukis are large relatives of the mandolin family, and are sometimes called octave mandolins or citterns. They evolved from the 1960s and 1970s Irish folk music revival, when Greek bouzoukis were used as background rhythm instruments and later adapted into a new instrument. The three main differences between the Irish bouzouki and Greek bouzouki […]
The Stylophone GEN X-1 is the latest portable analogue synthesizer by Dubreq. With a stylus, keyboard, and separate sound strip. it has an LFO (with square and triangle waves), a low pass filter (cutoff/resonance), an envelope (attack/decay), a sub octave -1 & -2 switch, built in delay and Pulse Width Modulation. From quirky beats to […]
The harp mandolin appeared in the early 1900s. This modern replica exploits the sympathetic vibrations gained with the four additional harp strings to give the mandolin sound a built-in echo chamber reverb effect. The harp strings can be plucked along with the mandolin, extending the range of the instrument. Tuned diatonically starting below the G […]