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Lesson 1: History and Introduction to the Khol (Mridanga)
INTRODUCTION
One of the most revered,
enjoyed, and vintage sounds that represents one of the facets of Indian
spirituality and East Indian culture is the mridanga
drum. The mridanga drum had its advent nearly five
hundred years ago around the mid-1400s when Lord Caitanya
Mahaprabhu appeared on Earth. It is said that the mridanga is Lord Krsna’s flute
incarnated, also an expansion of Lord Balarama, on
earth. When Lord Krsna was planning for His avatara as Lord Caitanya, His
flute wanted to accompany Him. Lord Krsna said that
the flute would not be a practical medium of carrying the spiritual vibrations
around. Hence, the mridanga came to existence as a
drum that is nice and loud, and easy to play. Since then, Bengali music and Gaudiya Vaisnava kirtans have been blessed with this avatar of the flute of
Sri Krsna.
The word mridanga comes from the word “mrit”
and “anga” which mean “clay” and “body,”
respectively. As one may deduce from the literal definition, the original mridanga was made out of clay. Throughout time, the term “mridanga” has been used to describe any two headed drum. Midanga either refer to this drum or the South Indian drum.
Hence, musicians refer to the drum as khol. Khol literally means “open
sound.” There have been various devotional songs where the mridanga
drum has been properly identified with the word khol.
Hence, the words mridanga and khol are interchangeable.
TYPES OF KHOLS
The main type of khol is
the original clay khol,
which has a body made of terracotta clay. Figure 1.1 is a
mridanga drum that has terracotta clay as its body
fastened with leather straps connecting two skinned heads. The skins are made
goats or cows that have been naturally dead.
Figure 1.1 Clay Khol
Throughout time, other materials such as fiberglass and brass have been used as bodies for khols.
Figures 1.2 and 1.3 show the fiberglass and brass khols respectively. With the only difference being
the body, their setup is virtually the same. The fiberglass skin model is more
popular than the brass model, due to the fiberglass having a more superior
sound. The clay, however, will produce the most superior sound of the three.
Figure 1.2 (Fiberglass khol)
Figure 1.3 (Brass khol)
Ever since Srila Prabhupada, founder and acarya of
ISKCON, came to the United States to preach the message of Krsna
Consciousness, there were a few issues that took place. The first issues were
temples receiving mridangas at a very slow rate, due
to shipping issues. Also, many temples received mridangas
without the presence of Srila Prabhupada.
Due to lack of knowledge on caring for it properly, many devotees took a clay
drum for an outdoor kirtan, and come back with the
drum broken. To accommodate having mridangas sent to
new temples and replacing worn out mridangas, Srila Prabhupada requested his
disciple, Isan Dasa, to
invent a new type of mridanga.
In the late 1960s, Isan Dasa prepared a mridanga that allows mass production. The body is made out
of a thicker fiberglass with heads made out of plastic. Unlike the skin models,
each head allows an independent tuning mechanism via an Allan key. This allows
a quick head change, if any damage were to occur. In addition, they were nice
and loud, a fact Srila Prabhupada
enjoyed with this model. Finally, the biggest bonus with this new prototype is
its durability. Under normal usage, this drum should last almost a lifetime.
This invention is known as the Balarama mridanga. Figure 1.4 shows a Balarama
mridanga.
Figure 1.4A(Balarama mridanga)
Since the heads are not made of natural skins,
they don’t sound as authentic as the original clay khols.
However, they do have a pretty decent approximate sound that it works for most kirtans.
As of late 2009, “tilak”
mridangas were produced. There is no difference
between the tilak-less and tilak
mridangas as far as sound quality, playing technique,
and construction.
From left to right, they are known as Balarama (white), Nityananda/Gopal Krsna (blue),
Varaha (red), Caitanya (yellow), and Syamasundara/Jagannatha (black) mridangas.
Figure 1.4B (Examples of tilak
mridangas)
PARTS OF A KHOL HEAD
Figure 1.5 (Parts of the khol
head labeled)
The most important parts of the khol are going to be the heads in which the sounds emanate
from when struck. The word for the head of a drum is called a puri. Hence a khol head is a khol puri. There are four important parts of the khol puri that must be discussed.
The four parts are gajara,
kinar, maidan, and syahi.
The gajara is the
outermost rim that is a braid of leather. This is where the tuning straps are
woven through. Of the entire puri, the gajara is not played.
The next layer inwards is the kinar or the “rim”. This is the
first layer of skin that is playable. Another lesser known function of the kinar is to filter and control sounds. This will allow us
to play certain sounds in the future.
The open layer of skin is called the maidan or
“mid-field.” This is the section between the kinar
and the syahi.
The syahi, also known as the ank or gob, is the black circle
in the middle of the puri. This is made of clay, rice
pudding, iron fillings, wheat, and an unknown vegetable extract. The syahi allows lowered pitching, sound control, and the
unique sound that khols produce. Without this syahi, the drum would sound like a bongo with uncontrolled
sounds.
Usually, high quality khols
will use red colored syahis on both heads. The dayan head will have a red color
as a base followed by the black layer to top it off. The bass will have a red syahi. Carefully done black syahis
would work too, although it tends to rub off easily. In addition, they have
concentric circles (which is usually not visible after playing). Poor quality syahis will have one layer and will have a range of
material for the syahis.
OTHER PARTS OF THE
KHOL:
Figure 1.6
The anga is the body of the instrument.
The tasma are the straps that are woven in the traditional
models of the khol. These are tuning straps, NOT the
straps that you wear around yourself. The tasma will
only be found on any skin model. The Balarama drum
will not have a tasma, for each had its own tuning
mechanism.
The smaller head is known as the dyan. The bigger
bass head is known as the baya. Literally, the terms “dayan”
and “baya” mean “right” and “left” respectively. If
your right hand is stronger (i.e. you write with your right hand), then you
should have your dayan to
your right side. If your left hand is stronger, then your daya
should be with your left hand. Interestingly enough, for left handed players, the smaller head is still referred to as
the dayan and the bigger
bass head is still known as the baya, even though
their literal translations conflict with orientation.
POSTURE:
There are three ways where mridangas
are positioned with respect to the player. The three are briefly discussed
below.
1. Traditional: Sitting down, drum in front sitting on a
specialized cushion, such as a tabla cushion. This
style is rarely found these days.
Figure 1.7 (Khol sitting
on a cushion)
2. Lap: This is the more common sitting position. One sits
on the floor with the mridanga on the lap. Have the
carrying strap go through your head and around the body till if falls to the ground, or wherever the strap can have its final body
contact. If the drum is feeling too close or if it is too far
away from you, then you may have to readjust your strap length on the mridanga. If it slightly far, then you can just roll
it up towards you.
3. Standing: This is another important position, as many people
who play mridanga will play in kirtans.
After one has stood up, one should place the mridanga
over the head so that the strap contacts the neck. The hand playing the baya goes over
the strap, while the hand playing the dayan
remains under.
If you are a right
handed person, the right hand is under the strap, and the left hand is over
the strap.
If you are a left handed person, the left hand is under the strap, and
the right hand is over the strap.
CARE AND MAINTENANCE:
Whether it is how much money was spent on the
drum, or necessity of a good drum to practice with, or even the spiritual fact
that this is the incarnation of Krsna’s flute, any
reason will provide enough behoove one to take care of their drum. The skin
head mridangas, particularly the clay khol, will undergo a lot of changes due to the fact that
natural hides will contract and expand as heat and humidity levels change. In
addition, with the clay khol, the clay body is not
truly durable. It can break if improperly used, whether it’s the head or the
body. Here are four simple rules in order to ensure optimal lifespan of your
drum.
1. Do not leave khol in extreme temperatures! Khols react like humans! If you leave it in a cold room or
in a very hot room, it’ll feel ill. Leaving it in a cold room can cause the
heads to go dull. If you put it in a very hot room filled with moisture, it’ll
seep into the heads or break it. I have not seen or heard of any khol repairs in the U.S. Keep this in mind.
2. For all skin-headed khols,
get head covers. Heads covers are the best way to prevent weather
changes on the skins. Most new khols sold will come
with head covers. If you do not have head covers, please visit www.mid-east.com,
and purchase tabla head cushions.
3. For skin-headed khols, do not place the baya face down. Pressure
will cause the head to decrease in pitch and go flat. Plus, it can potentially
damage the head. Either let the khol lie down
laterally on a well-cushioned surface or purchase head covers and make sure the
head cover is the support for the baya and not the
ground.
4. Mridanga Sharing –
Lastly, through experience, I have seen it happen too many times, and I must
make a point about it here. If you have a good mridanga,
unless you know someone that can play well and handle it properly, do not share
your mridanga blindly. It may sound a bit stingy, but
there is a reason for this. In a great number of cases where due to rough (and
times, competitive) playing, I have seen busted heads as well as other defects
in syahi or even the anga
of the drum. Mridangas are drums that take a great
deal of time, labor, and resources difficult to acquire, in addition to being
expensive. Furthermore, the mridanga is supposed to
be a mellow drum that can be used effectively for kirtans.
If you want to bang nice and loud, get a Balarama mridanga and do just that. Do not bang excessively on any
skin headed models, especially if that skin headed model is not yours.
If you are in a situation where you must tell
someone not to use your mridanga, please be kind and
tactful when expressing your request.
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VIDEO CLIP Lesson 1: Introduction and History of the Khol
UPDATED: October 30, 2013