Musical Instruments of India (Their History and Development)

Since the commencement of the pioneering studies in Indology in the late eighteenth century there has been a sustained interest in our musicology. Great amount of research has been carried out in this area of knowledge. Surprisingly enough in spite of so much work done, no systematic study of musical instruments has been produced.

This book is an attempt to collect comprehensive data about Indian musical instruments, classify them, relate them to the generally ethnic movements in the country and present a critical study of the whole. All efforts have been made to collect information from as many sources as possible, viz., music texts, literature, scriptures, painting and also by personal surveys all over the country including the interiormost parts and tribals. We hope this present study will fill in the desideratum.

About the Author:

Dr. B. Chaitanya Deva was a Hindustani vocalist and an internationally reputed musicologist. He received his Ph.D. from Poona University for his researches in the psychoacoustics of speech, and a summary of his dissertation was published in Zeitschrift fur Phonetik of Berlin University. For his pioneering work on the Tonal Structure of the Tambura, he was awarded the Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya's first doctorate in musicology (Sangita Acharya). He published several books and articles, and his last book Music of India: A Scientific Study is also published by us.

Introduction

Cultural Basis

Ethnic and Cultural History of Instruments

Generalia

Ghana Vadya

Avanaddha Vadya

Sushira Vadya

Tata Vadya

Note on the jaltarang
Bibliography
Index