Popular Nepali Musical Instruments

1. MADAL

The Mādal is a double-headed hand drum that is widely regarded as a backbone of percussion in Nepali folk music. This membranophone is cylindrical in shape, with a slight bulge in the middle whose main frame is made of wood or clay.

The leather on the two heads of the drum is what vibrates and produces sound upon striking with hands. In all likelihood, the madal originated in India and has been adopted by the Newari community along with other sections of Nepali society.

The name of madal is said to have originated from the word 'Mardal', which itself is derived from 'Mridung', a classical Indian instrument. It was initially said to have been associated with a particular caste, the Magars, but has now become one of the most widely used instruments in Nepali music. The madal is used to accompany folk singing and dancing throughout Nepal and the Eastern Himalayas, invariably played by a male drummer.

The left face of the Madal is called the Nat and the right face the Madina. The popular Taals (beats) played on the Madal to accompany the Nepali folk songs include Samla, Virani, Kheyali, Tappa, Garsha and Chakra. Two types of Nepali mandalas are known to exist – the Purvali and the Paschimi. The former is larger and has a lower pitch than the latter.

Typically, a wooden log is carved so as to form a hollow cavity, called ghar “Home” in Nepali. The heads of the drum are made of double-layered goat skins, and a black paste made of flour, iron filings, and egg is burned in to a circular area in the centre of each head. This circle significantly alters the sound of the drum, giving it a bell-like quality. The larger and smaller heads are often referred to as male and female respectively. The sound of the drum is surprisingly low in pitch given the instrument’s small size, thanks in large part to the presence of this circular tuning paste on both heads.

The Madal is by far the most important percussion instrument in Nepali music and has become indispensable to a number of folk song and folk dance traditions in Darjeeling and the Eastern Himalayas.

2. NEPALI SARANGI

The Nepali Sarangi is a folk musical instrument popular in the Himalayan regions, but largely unknown to the outside world. A chordophone played by bowing, this is an instrument with similarities to the folk instruments of many cultures.

The Sarangi is considered to be most similar to the Sarinda, an important instrument of the Santhals of West Bengal, Bihar and Odissa. The Sarangi is made entirely of a piece of wood, animal skin (either goat or sheep) and some adhesive. The instrument is carved out of a single log of wood which then is hollowed out from the inside.

Having a neck (manto) and hollowed-out double-chambered body (upper body - chatti, mid body - kokha and lower body - ped), they are made from woods of trees like Saaj, Aap and Laukri, depending on the availability. While the upper chamber is left open, the lower opening is generally covered up with dried skin of goat or sheep (chala). The headstock of the instrument (kalas) is often carved into a small bird, perhaps as a symbol of connectedness, between the melodious tune of the sarangi to the sweet sounding Himalayan birds. Similar to the modern violin, the neck of a Sarangi is fretless. The strings are tied upon and tuned with the help of the pegs called ‘murra’ made up of wood.

There is no definite size of Sarangi and it greatly differs according to the players' preference. The Nepali Sarangi consists of only four strings, as opposed to the Sarangi of the Indian folk music traditions of Punjab and Rajasthan, which has about thirty strings.

The original strings of the Nepali Sarangi were made up of sheep intestine. It is said that during major Hindu festivals like Dasain (Dusshera) many animals would be sacrificed. The Gandharbas received intestines of sheep and cattle during this season and would keep them all at one place. The fine nerves which were used to prepare the strings would be left behind only once the entrails were completely rotten. This therefore took anywhere between 3-4 weeks. Once ready, these were then woven to make strings. However, these days, the gut strings have been replaced by nylon and steel strings.

The bow, referred either as a ‘Dhanu’ or ‘Ghotli’ was traditionally made out of horse’s tail hair. However, in the modern days, nylon bowstrings have become common.

Parts of a Nepali Sarangi:

• Tuning pegs - Murra

• Headstock - Kalas

• Nut - Sundari

• Neck - Manto

• Hollow upper body - Chatti

• Middle body - Kokha

• Lower body - Ped

• Bridge pin - Pucchi

• Leather covering - Chala

• Bridge - Charau

• Bow - Dhanu/Ghotli

3. DAMPHU

Damphu is a percussion instrument which belongs to the indigenous Tamang Community from the Himalayas. Although very different in its function, it greatly resembles a tambourine. It is a double-sided disc-shaped drum, covered with leather and with a round wooden rim. Technique wise, this instrument is anything but difficult to learn and simple to play. There are various accounts, stories and myths revolving around the invention of the Damphu. According to a popular legend among the Tamangs of Darjeeling, a famous hunter, Peng Dorje, once killed a deer and brought it home. Seeing the beautiful animal, Peng’s wife started weeping bitterly. Though Peng tried very hard to lift her mood, he was unable to do so. One day he brought a piece of wood and shaped it into a circle. Using thirty-two sticks, he tightened the dry skin of the deer to one side of the circle. Once, while Peng and his wife were singing the songs accompanied by the instrument, a fowl, the bird ‘Danphe’, was likewise moving to the tune. Dorje thus decided to name his instrument ‘Damphu’ after her. Therefore, while making the instrument, some Damphu makers also carve out a bird and attach it to the instrument. While there is another story where Peng Dorje is not the hunter but a king of the Tamang clan, the instrument is again named after Nepal's national bird the Daphne also known as the Himalayan Monal. It is even said that the Damphu symbolizes the Buddha, with the thirty-two bamboo sticks or ‘phurbas’ representing the Buddha's thirty-two symbols or ‘lakshanas’. The Damphu has now become an integral part of the Tamang lifestyle. The instrument resembles a Bodhrán, the Irish hand drum which is either embellished with images or is left plain. It can have a little stick or played just with bare hands. This stick used is made of a slim piece of bamboo and the skin of the instrument is fixed and held by the 32 wooden pegs. ‘Tamang Selo’, a musical dance form, performed by the Tamang community is incomplete without the beats of the Damphu. This instrument symbolises the culture and tradition of Tamang culture and is used in each significant occasion - prayers and rituals, ceremonies, weddings and even burial services. Tamangs tell their history through melodies accompanied by the beats on the Damphu.

4. AARBAJO

The Aarbajo is a four stringed lute which finds its origin in Nepal and is the traditional instrument of the Gaine musicians. In its structure, it looks very similar to the six stringed Tibetan Dramyin or the Himalayan Tunga, two popular folk instruments in the Himalayan regions of Tibet, Nepal, Sikkim and Darjeeling. The Aarbajo, which is a rhythmic instrument has an interesting association with the Sarangi, which is primarily used as a melodic instrument. The Gaines consider Aarbajo to be the male counterpart of the female Sarangi. They call it “bhale sarangi” in Nepali, that literally translates to “male sarangi”. While it formed the primary instrument of the Gaines until the 1990s, it has now become relatively insignificant. Considering that the Gaine community in Darjeeling have been using the Sarangi since decades, it is difficult to even imagine a Gaine with the Aarbajo instead of the Sarangi. The entire instrument is carved from a single piece of wood. The most common type of wood is the Khirro wood which is locally available.The instrument measures 100 cm long approx., and is about 22 cm wide. The bowl is about 17 cm deep. The instrument has four strings in total and is tuned to lower C, middle C, G and higher C, over three octaves. The soundboard of the instrument consists of either goat or sheep skin. According to Nepali literature, historically, the instrument was used by the Gandarbha community at festivals, such as the Chait Dasai, popularly celebrated in the Himalayan regions of Nepal, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Darjeeling. Although it is considered to be the oldest of the Gandarbha musical instruments, the Aarbajo is on the verge of disappearing. According to Dilu Gandharba, a prominent Aarbajo player “ the instrument which not very long ago, was the most important tool for living is no longer played by the present generation Gandarbhas”. The danger for the instrument comes as people migrate to foreign countries, in hopes to have a better life and the instrument is no longer passed on to the next generation. The only few musicians playing the Aarbajo to this day belong to the Gaine communities of Lamjung and Kaski districts in Western Nepal.

5. BINAYO

Binayo is one of the most peculiar musical instruments found in Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim Darjeeling and many parts of the Eastern Himalayas. This traditional Kiranti musical instrument is instantly recognized by its sharp and distinctive “twang” sound.

Binayo is generally made from Malingo, a variety of bamboo that combines flexibility with strength. It is played by plucking its metal wire reed with the forefinger being gripped between the teeth. It is primarily a wind instrument played by blowing the air and requires some dexterity of the fingers and a good lung capacity on the part of the player. An instrument that definitely packs a punch above its weight, the Binayo measures a whopping 6 inches long and 1 inch in width.

While Binayo was initially the traditional instrument of the Rais and Kirats, it has today become one of the most loved musical instruments and features prolifically in several Nepali folk and popular songs.