Description:
The dramyen is a fretless plucked long necked lute and it is a member
of the chordophone family of instruments. There are other names for the
dramyen and they include “Sgra-Snyan” or “Danyen” or “Damyen” or
Damyan”. According to Samuel 1976 the dramyen is featured in the icon
of the goddess of the eastern regions [Dbyan-Cans] or in Sanskrit
[Sarasvati]. The Dramyen is found primary in Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal and
Ladakh. The dramyen is played to accompany singing and dancing. There
are two types of dramyen in Bhutan is fretless and has seven strings.
In playing the dramyen the seventh string is a drone. Where as in
Nepal, Ladakh and Tibet the dramyen is also fretless although it only
has six strings. The detailed ornamentation and artwork is religious
and is influenced by the Buddhist iconography. The paints that are
applied to the yak hide surface are oil based. The dies used on the
tuning pegs are likely plant based. A substance called chesso is used
to enhance a three dimensional approach to the artwork. The colour
pallet is wide on this specimen and ranges from red, pink, orange,
yellow to gold.Aa-Dd-d"-Gg |
Anatomy of the Dramyen: The body of the dramyen is
hand-carved from a single-peace of wood. A resonating chamber is formed
by stretching animal hide from yak skin over the top of the body. All
of the tuning pegs are wooden and hand carved. Only two nails are used
on my specimen of Bhutani dramyen. The first nail is used to hold the
head-stock to the neck, and the second nail is used to support the
stretch animal hide over the surface of the body.
A Personal Story About My Specimen: At the time my
father and I were on vacation we went to New York City in the year of
1999. Upon walking around in Lower Manhattan, we encountered a store
that packed with musical instruments of all sorts from the floor to the
ceiling. By turning up my head slightly I was able to see the dramyen
hanging from the ceiling. I knew what the instrument was and said "I
want this one". Today its still one of my favourite acquisitions.
Citations: New Grove Dictionary of music book P to Z,
page 356 (for tuning) > See. G. Samuel Songs of Lhassa" EM, 1976
pages 407-49. Discography; The Bhutani Dramyen can be heard on a series
of discs from Lyrachord Records "Tibetan Buddhists Rites from the
Monisteries of Bhutan Vol.4 Tibetan and Instrumental music LYRCD 7258.