Idakka
The idakka, malayalam ഇടയ്ക്ക, edakka, also iḍakka, idakke, itekka, edakkya, is a questionable celled hourglass drum that is played mainly in the southern Indian state of Kerala in religious music in Hindu temples and processions. It resembles the hourglass-shaped drum also damaru, but is not struck on one side with hanging on strings rattle balls, but with a bent rod. The membranes are unconnected to the two body openings, their voltage, and thus the pitch can be varied during the music-making, so that melodies are playable. The idakka is the most revered instrument in the music of Kerala.
Design and style of play
The slightly shaped body is made of red sandalwood ( Pterocarpus santalinus ), Areca, Gerber (Acacia catechu, malayalam karingali ) or other solid wood made . Its length is 21 to 26 centimeters and the external diameter of about 11 centimeters in one centimeter thickness. The two membranes ( ullori ) consist of the stomach sac skin of a cow, which are glued and dried on a ring of metal or the wood of the jackfruit tree ( malayalam Varikka plavu ) so that the skin surrounding the ring completely. The wooden ring ( valayangal ) is about two inches thick and has twice the diameter of the body openings. Through six evenly spaced holes on the rings a cotton cord is pulled, be braced V-shaped together with the both eardrums. A multiple winding string runs in the center of the drum to the outside tension. At several points more cords are knotted in the middle area where a lanyard (commonly played in standing musical instruments menthol - kaccha, " shoulder - cloth " ) is attached, the player hangs over the left shoulder. The support band symbolizes the snake ( Naga ), the Shiva has hanging around his neck.
Four long turned wooden rods ( jeevakkolukal ) nipping at variable sites between the V- lacing to the voltage to adjust them evenly. On the inside of the membrane resonance are mounted from leaf fibers of the Palmyra palm tree with copper nails two crossed snares that add a metallic rattling sound. In the horizontal playing position hanging down on the drum round, colorful tassels ( poduppukal ) as an ornamental. Each 16 of these wool balls at each wooden stick for a total of 64 traditionally belong and as noted by all components of the idakka an explainable symbolic meaning.
The total labile design allows the player to change the membrane voltage so strong that a sound space of over two octaves is playable. To this end, he engages with the left hand between the tension and holds the body. By now, the player presses either the drum at his waist or pressed with the left hand down to stretch the shoulder, he increases the tension of lacing and eardrums. With one end slightly upward bent rod ( idaykka kol ) of wood or bone in his right hand he strikes the right eardrum ( kottuvattam ), the left resonant head ( mootuvattam ) is not recorded. The mallet is made from the wood of Caesalpinia sappan ( chappangam, a relative of the tamarind tree species ) or from an animal horn. He has a similar shape but is shorter and thinner than that used in Kerala for the cylinder drum Chenda. The player can slip the unconnected with the membranes body eccentrically. The instrument is easy to disassemble and reassemble, but his game is difficult to learn due to the enormous range and the sound characteristics that change with every subtle movement. In certain concessions concerning the exact pitch even ragas are playable.
The special religious reverence forbids it, turn off the instrument on the ground; in temples or in private homes, it depends mostly decorative on the wall.
Origin and Distribution
The idakka belongs to a group of Sanduhrtrommeln in India, all of which have a mythological significance and how the damaru be played by beggars and jugglers or in the religious folk music. An up to 25 centimeters long hourglass means hurukka (also huruka, hudukka, udukkai, deru in Almora in the Himalayas hurka ). Its body is also made of wood, it is beaten with sticks or fingers.
To the accompaniment of folk dances along with the wind instrument Cheeni the small, simple hourglass tudi (or thudi ) is played in Karnataka and Kerala. In the villages of Kerala it was the custom to expose a thief with the help of a tudi player. A tudi player gathered the entire village population on the pitch, beat his drum and cursed the thief so loudly until it revealed himself to be a reaction. The idakka to have developed out of this, especially for the Adivasis in the Nilgiri mountains popular drum.
A simpler boiler drum with variable head tension is the burra of Andhra Pradesh. For her, the membrane is stretched over a large iron ring, the lacing is pulled down to the bottom of a brass pot and knotted there. Pambai is the name of a beaten with curved sticks pair of cylindrical drums with fixed V-shaped string tension, which is played in Andra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. These drums and more like the boiler drum ghumat from Goa and Karnataka gummati from each belong to their own song tradition of professional musicians who belong to a particular population group. Such a characteristic instrument is also plucking drum ektara of the Bauls of Bengal. The most widely used in folk music are boiler drum pairs of the type of nagara. The played in Karnataka in dance theater Yakshagana doubt celled cylindrical drum chande ( differs slightly from the keralensischen Chenda ) has for fixed pitch a similar idakka to far superior rings attached string tension.
Unlike many other drum types in Kerala the idakka regarded as a melody instrument. The idakka has a centuries-old tradition and is seen in Karnataka on numerous temple sculptures. Your name is derived from the Sanskrit word onomatopoeic dakka, which was preceded by the laws of the Tamil language and Malayalam, the prefix E or I. Dakka is damaru as a name for the little hourglass Shiva. After the creator God had played 14 times this instrument, he is said to have created the Mahesvara sutras from which the primitive sounds ( phonemes ) and the language had arisen Sanskrit 14 verses. The appreciation of this as a divine force instrument ( Devadyam ), emerged from the myth in all the tones of the cosmos and with which all tones are therefore playable, so understandable.
Use
Today the idakka is used primarily in Hindu temple worship ( puja ) in Kerala in processions and in front of the temple ( kovil ). It assumes a major role in ceremonial drum orchestra Panchavadyam ( "Five musical instruments " ), in which not only the idakka the hourglass Timila with wooden body, the greater doubt celled barrel drum madhalam ( Maddale in Karnataka ), also made of wood and the small bronze pair basin elathalam with the only wind instrument, the curved natural trumpet playing together kombu. Usually have large Panchavadyam Orchestra for one to two idakka player, something more madhalam player and twice as many are available from the other instruments as madhalams. At temple festivals in Kerala takes a beginning in the morning Panchavadyam - performance eight hours, more hours in the evening and again at night. The Timila also considered a sacred instrument, it represents the cosmic drum of Shiva (whose drum in his right hand otherwise damaru called).
Furthermore, the idakka comes in classical South Indian temple music Sopana Sangeetham used. Sopanam is the place outside the temple sanctuary ( temple steps ), sangeetham means " music ". The first part of the raga alapana forms a slowly sung, accompanied by a rhythmic idakka and the cymbals elathalam. The subsequent rapid and complex rhythms with often odd cycles are among the desi talams. A large Sopana Sangeetham orchestra may consist of more than 50 instruments to which the idakka, different variants of the cylinder drum Chenda, the gong chengila that elathalam cymbals and kuzhitalam that maram hourglass Timila, the cylindrical drum, the trumpet kombu, the double reed instrument kuzhal, Vishnu's conch Shanku and music sheets belong villadi vadyam. Sopana Sangeetham is listed by temple musicians to the box Maaran ( Marar ) or Poduval include in Northern Kerala.
The spectacular masked dance Kathakali from Kerala is accompanied by several drums. In place of the large vertical cylinder drum Chenda takes the idakka when female characters act.
When Krishnanattam, another dance drama with mask dancers in honor of Krishna, including the drums and cymbals madhalam and idakka and gongs for orchestra accompanying the Bhakti songs. The tradition in the Krishna temple of Guruvayur held ( about 30 kilometers north of Thrissur ) alive. The eight- day time temple festival takes place in February / March.
In the women danced Mohiniyattam, one of the eight Indian classical dance forms, stories are told, how Vishnu as Mohini avatar of female demons ( asuras ) fought. The elegant and flowing dance movements are accentuated by a idakka appropriate.
In very ancient, mythological until time Buddhist reaching back Sanskritteater Kutiyattam of Kerala heavily made male and female actors occur. They tell stories of the gods, often from the time of the Cholas and Pallavas. The performer of a drum ensemble, mizhavu among other things, the large, beaten with hands copper kettle which idakka, cymbals and conch are musically accompanied Shanku there.
Thayambaka is a temple festival with a big drum orchestra, which typically begins to play at dusk. A Chenda drummers, the exception, not playing with two, but only with a stick and the fingers of the other hand, is the focus. He is accompanied by three to four other Chenda players ( Veekku Chenda ) and three to four itakka players. The performance lasts for 1.5 to 2 hours.