Museumofworldmusic.com

South Asia / Nepal

Instruments

Name: Sarinda

Type: Bowed > Chordophone.

Region: Nepal > South Asia.

Source: My first specimen was given to me as a gift from my friend Ian McKenzie. My second sarinda (smaller one); Vallue Village, a thrift store chain well known with in Vancouver, Canada.

Description: The sarinda is a chordophone of the bowed instrument family. In Nepal the Sarinda is played amongst the Gaine caste of the Nawari people. The Gaine cast, are’ traditionally "bards and story tellers" from village to village they would travel and perform at various festivals. During performance they would dispense the news of the day and also sing for entertainment. From Punjab, Rajasthan to Gujarat many related instruments are found who are direct descendants of the sarinda and they bare the same name.

Sarinda Relatives: Many relatives of the Sarinda are found in Afghanistan and Iran. This could be explained due to the migration roots of the sarinda west wards into Persia. In regards to the naming of the instrument the debate about "Sarinda" versus "Saranghi" is only a debate and I will leave it at that.

Playing techniques: The Nepali Sarinda is played upright by resting upon the left knee and the right hand facilitates the bowing technique. Often the strings are plucked by the left hand for adding ornamentation to the melody.

The Tunings: It seems the Nepali Sarinda is tuned by two strings in union tuned a part from each other for example CCg'g”

Anatomy of the Sarinda:
The Sarinda is skull shaped in its design; this design allows for the sound to travel from the acoustic chamber created by an animal hide membrane and project the sound outwards. The first two strings of the sarinda are strung with "packaging or thin steel wire". The other two are "drone" strings, although sometimes the first and second strings are played. A custom handmade bow is also made for the instrument, although violin bows are as an alternative. The neck of the sarinda is quite thick and short. As a musical instrument the sarinda is dynamic only matched by the singer's voice.

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