Recent from talks
Alapini veena
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Alapini veena
The ālāpiṇī vīṇā was a medieval stick-zither veena in India, with a single string and a gourd resonator. Later forms added more strings. The instruments became prominent in Indian music after 500 C.E. as instruments of court music. Alongside the eka-tantri vina and kinnari vina it replaced the harp-style veenas and lute-style veenas. The instruments were used in Southeast Asia, both mainland and island nations, and were recorded in sculpture and relief sculpture.
Although the stick zithers and tube zithers are very similar, it is possible that they have different origins. Early paintings of stick zithers in India date back at least to the 5th century C.E. The earliest currently known stick zither is in the Caves of Ajanta at the end of the 5th century. After a period of assuming that tube zithers spread from India to Southeast Asia, modern scholars have been trying to decide if the tube zithers might have originated in Southeast Asia and spread to India. Whatever the origins, Indian influence on musical culture in Southeast Asia is recorded in the archaeological remains of past civilizations.
Similar instruments today include the Cambodian kse diev and Thai phin namtao.
Instruments in paintings and sculpture are not generally labeled, and researchers have had to apply the names ālāpiṇī vīṇā and eka-tantrī vīṇā (one-string vina) to different instruments. Iconography can't show whether the rods or bodies are hollow, and researchers have had to look for clues in literature.
Instruments in surviving images that are labeled eka-tantrī vīṇā are generally tube zithers with wide tubes and a gourd attached to the top, the gourd held over the musician's shoulder and the other end past their hip, with a single string and no frets. Musician's are shown sliding the straightened fingers of their upper hand on the string, or holding a stick to slide on the string, and plucking with their lower hand.
Instruments labeled ālāpiṇī vīṇā tend to be stick zithers, held shoulder to hip with a gourd resonator that is pressed into the musician's stomach, chest or shoulder, the musician's upper hand normally held over that gourd with fingers wide to choose notes, the lower hand plucking the string. The body of the instrument may have been made of a 2 inch thick rod of red sandal wood or khadira wood, or may have been a bamboo tube. The earliest of these instruments were obvious stick zithers, the stick too narrow to make an effective resonating tube. Later instruments were as thick, the musician's hand barely able to stretch around the tube. Often in sculpture, the stick has curves.
The instruments are fretless, the earliest depictions showing a single string. The later instruments labeled kinnari vina we're fretted and show traits of both instruments, with gourds that are pressed into the chest and also rise above the shoulder.
In medieval artwork, a second lower gourd has been seen on both stick zithers and tube zithers. Artwork for the eka-tantri vina commonly shows a second carved resonator or gourd resonator near the instrument's lower end.
Hub AI
Alapini veena AI simulator
(@Alapini veena_simulator)
Alapini veena
The ālāpiṇī vīṇā was a medieval stick-zither veena in India, with a single string and a gourd resonator. Later forms added more strings. The instruments became prominent in Indian music after 500 C.E. as instruments of court music. Alongside the eka-tantri vina and kinnari vina it replaced the harp-style veenas and lute-style veenas. The instruments were used in Southeast Asia, both mainland and island nations, and were recorded in sculpture and relief sculpture.
Although the stick zithers and tube zithers are very similar, it is possible that they have different origins. Early paintings of stick zithers in India date back at least to the 5th century C.E. The earliest currently known stick zither is in the Caves of Ajanta at the end of the 5th century. After a period of assuming that tube zithers spread from India to Southeast Asia, modern scholars have been trying to decide if the tube zithers might have originated in Southeast Asia and spread to India. Whatever the origins, Indian influence on musical culture in Southeast Asia is recorded in the archaeological remains of past civilizations.
Similar instruments today include the Cambodian kse diev and Thai phin namtao.
Instruments in paintings and sculpture are not generally labeled, and researchers have had to apply the names ālāpiṇī vīṇā and eka-tantrī vīṇā (one-string vina) to different instruments. Iconography can't show whether the rods or bodies are hollow, and researchers have had to look for clues in literature.
Instruments in surviving images that are labeled eka-tantrī vīṇā are generally tube zithers with wide tubes and a gourd attached to the top, the gourd held over the musician's shoulder and the other end past their hip, with a single string and no frets. Musician's are shown sliding the straightened fingers of their upper hand on the string, or holding a stick to slide on the string, and plucking with their lower hand.
Instruments labeled ālāpiṇī vīṇā tend to be stick zithers, held shoulder to hip with a gourd resonator that is pressed into the musician's stomach, chest or shoulder, the musician's upper hand normally held over that gourd with fingers wide to choose notes, the lower hand plucking the string. The body of the instrument may have been made of a 2 inch thick rod of red sandal wood or khadira wood, or may have been a bamboo tube. The earliest of these instruments were obvious stick zithers, the stick too narrow to make an effective resonating tube. Later instruments were as thick, the musician's hand barely able to stretch around the tube. Often in sculpture, the stick has curves.
The instruments are fretless, the earliest depictions showing a single string. The later instruments labeled kinnari vina we're fretted and show traits of both instruments, with gourds that are pressed into the chest and also rise above the shoulder.
In medieval artwork, a second lower gourd has been seen on both stick zithers and tube zithers. Artwork for the eka-tantri vina commonly shows a second carved resonator or gourd resonator near the instrument's lower end.
Recent media