Kombu
The kombu (Tamil: கொம்பு; Malayalam: കൊമ്പ്) or kompu, also known as kombu pattu, is a brass natural horn used primarily in the South Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Usually played along with Panchavadyam, Pandi Melam, Panchari melam etc. This musical instrument is usually seen in south India.
Also recorded as Kumbu
Kombu
Dumphasizer · Kerala - Hindu Temple Drummers · CC BY-SA 2.0
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- brass instrument.
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History
History
The instrument is like a long horn (Kombu in Tamil tulu and Malayalam). • Illustration — Kombu (instrument) In ancient times the kombu was played in battle, along with the murasu (kettledrum). • Illustration — Kombu(Kahale) musical instrument being played The size of a kombu can vary but it is approx 15 centimetres wide and 132 centimetres long. It is usually made of brass and costs about four thousand to five thousand.
Listed one of the Musical instruments used by ancient Tamil people out in Tirumurai dated 6th to 11th century, Sangam Period. வெல் படைத் தறுகண் வெஞ்சொல் வேட்டுவர் கூட்டம் தோறும் சில்லரித் துடியும் கொம்பும் சிறு கண் ஆகுளியும் கூடி கல் எனும் ஒலியின் மேலும் கறங்கிசை அருவி எங்கும் 12.0654 In recent research found that the kombu resembles trumpets being used in ancient Ireland and felt this was evidence of a link between peoples in South India and those in Ireland, 2000 years ago.
Usage
Usage
It is one of the few instrumental temple art forms in which the melody instruments dominate. Even this is only partly true, as the C-shaped trumpet, the kombu is regarded as a rhythm instrument by its players, with the function of embellishing the beats of the drums. The kombu can only produce three notes (sa, pa, and higher sa). The genre is played by a group of kombu players (3, 5, 7, or 9), led by the kombu leader. Within a given tala (rhythmic cycle), the leader improvises kombu patterns on the spot to be repeated by the chorus players. Kumath Raman Nair (2001), the most famous solo kombu artist from Trichur, states that kombu pattu can be played in six talams (beats in brackets): chempata (8), atanta (14), dhruvam (14), chempha (10), anchatantha (16), and thriputa (7). Each cycle is accented with the accompanying ilatalam cymbals. For instance, thriputa talam is played x. x.. x. x. x. x.. (broken down to 14 pulses for diagrammatic presentation), and chempata x. x. x. u. (represented as eight pulses; 'u' indicates a silent beat). Like the other kshetram genres, kombu pattu is played in a steadily increasing tempo with decreasing rhythm units. From: Killius, Rolf. 2006 ’Ritual Music and Hindu Rituals of Kerala.’ New Delhi: BR Rhythms.; with author permission
Description
Modern kombu are made out of bronze either in a 'C' shape or 'S' shape.
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Kombu (Trompete), revision 263580764 (DE edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
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Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.In: IIAS Newsletter, Nr. 28, 2002, S. 15
- 2.Curt Sachs: Die Musikinstrumente Indiens und Indonesiens. Zugleich eine Einführung in die Instrumentenkunde. Georg Reimer, Berlin 1915, S. 170 (Reprint 1983, ISBN 3-487-07352-8)
- 3.Bigamudre Chaitanya Deva, 1977, S. 55, 57
- 4.Bigamudre Chaitanya Deva: An Introduction to Indian Music. Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, Neu-Delhi 1981, S. 60
- 5.Emmie te Nijenhuis: Die Musik im altindischen Theater nach dem Nātyaśāstra. In: Walter Kaufmann, 1981, S. 191
- 6.Walter Kaufmann, 1981, S. 148
- 7.Walter Kaufmann, 1981, S. 34, 64, 152, 172
- 8.Felix Hoerburger: Studien zur Musik in Nepal. (Regensburger Beiträge zur musikalischen Volks- und Völkerkunde, Band 2) Gustav Bosse, Regensburg 1975, S. 41f
- 9.Richard Emmert u. a.: Descriptions of Musical Instruments. In: Ders. u. a. (Hrsg.): Dance and Music in South Asian Drama. Chhau, Mahākāli pyākhan and Yakshagāna. Report of Asian Traditional Performing Arts 1981. Academia Music Ltd., Tokyo 1983, S. 281f
- 10.Carol M. Babiracki, Mireille Helffer, Gert-Matthias Wegner, Simonne Bailey, 2014, S. 572
- 11.Nagphani. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Abbildung); Bigamudre Chaitanya Deva, 1977, S. 57f
- 12.Choliya Dance, Folk Dances of Kumaon, Uttarakhand. Indianetzone
- 13.Folk Dances of Uttarakhand. aboutUttarakhand.com (Unter der Überschrift Choliya Dance – Folk Dances of Kumaon ein Video)
- 14.Geneviève Dournon: Tori. In: Laurence Libin (Hrsg.): The Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Band 5. Oxford University Press, Oxford / New York 2014, S. 37
- 15.David B. Reck, 2000, S. 361
- 16.Suganthy Krishnamachari: Leading an unrehearsed symphony. The Hindu, 8. Oktober 2010
- 17.Rolf Killius: Ritual Music and Hindu Rituals of Kerala. B. R. Rhythms, Delhi 2006, S. 60
- 18.Alain Daniélou: Musikgeschichte in Bildern. Band I: Musikethnologie. Lieferung 4: Südasien. Die indische Musik und ihre Traditionen. Deutscher Verlag für Musik, Leipzig 1978, S. 124
- 19.Drama and Theatre Arts among the Tamils of Sri Lanka. Active Theatre Movement, 29. März 2012
- 20.Prabhat Film Company (1932–1949)
- 21.Meera Kosambi: Gender, Culture, and Performance: Marathi Theatre and Cinema before Independence. Routledge, 2017, ISBN 978-1-351-56590-5, S. 332.
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