Tuesday 5 January 2010

The Tambora.

As mentioned below, our last kirtan was enhanced by this beautiful and ancient instrument, the tambora. I'm always delighted when Ranchor brings his to the kirtan, as it produces an almost 'mystical' sound as a background to the chanting.

There is a very technical explanation of the instrument here, if you're interested enough to read it - I had never realised how much there was to what seemed a rather simple construction of a gourd, a piece of wood and some strings - each of which only plays one note. As the article describes: "Every single string produces it's own cascading range of harmonics and at the same time builds up a particular resonance..." It's this which gives the effect of almost being in another dimension, when the tambora plays.

It's also intriguing that there are 'male' and 'female' tamboras! And there can be no doubt that Ranchor's is a male.

December Kirtan Photos.

(Please click on photo to get full effect)

Photos from our December candle-lit kirtan, with Ranchor Prime. It was lovely!



Ranchor's mighty tambora...



...and Shaunaka pretending to play it!




Afterwards we feasted on delicious home-made pizza and mulled grape-juice. The chanting, the company and the candlelight were all mellow and harmonious and I think we all left feeling good.

Many thanks once again to Claire who kindly took these photos. More about her in an upcoming post!