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{{Short description|Indian drone instrument}}
{{About|the Indian drone instrument|other instruments of similar name|Tanbur (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2020}}
{{Multiple issues|{{more citations needed|date=December 2016}}{{cleanup lang|article|date=November 2021}}{{Essay-like|date=December 2023}}}}
[[File:Male vocal Tanpura, Miraj 1963.JPG|thumb|A male-pitched tanpura]]
[[File:A Lady Playing the Tanpura, ca. 1735.jpg|thumb|A woman playing the tanpura, ca. 1735]]
[[File:A pair of female vocal tanpuras.jpg|thumb|A pair of female-pitched tanpuras (smaller)]]
[[File:Tanjore-style Carnatic tambura.JPG|thumb|Tanjore-style Carnatic tambura]]
[[File:Side view of tanpura bridge,photo taken by martin spaink.jpg|thumb|Side view of tanpura bridge]]
[[File:Dsc01727du.jpg|thumb|Top view of tanpura bridge]]

The '''tanpura''' ({{Langx|sa|तंबूरा|translit=Taṃbūrā}}; also referred to as '''tambura''', '''tanpuri''', '''tamboura''', or '''tanpoura''') is a long-necked, plucked, four-[[stringed instrument]] originating in the [[Indian subcontinent]], found in various forms in [[Indian music]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2017-03-12 |title=Tambura: 5 definitions |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/tambura |access-date=2022-10-27 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref> Visually, the tanpura resembles a simplified [[sitar]] or similar [[lute]]-like instrument, and is likewise crafted out of a [[gourd]] or [[pumpkin]].

The tanpura does not play a [[melody]], but rather creates a meditative ambience, supporting and sustaining the performance of another musician or vocalist, as well as for musicians accompanying a dance performance. The instrument's four strings are tuned to specific notes of a given scale or [[musical key]], normally the fifth (''Pa''; [[Solfège]], “So”) and the root tonic (''Sa''; “Do”). The strings are generally tuned 5-8-8-1. One of the three strings tuned to the tonic is thus an octave below the others, adding greater resonance and depth to the ambient drone.

Through continuous, rhythmic plucking of its strings, the tanpura creates a constant harmonic [[Bourdon (organ pipe)|bourdon]] or [[Drone (music)|drone]] effect. Uniquely, the tanpura is not played in specific rhythm with the soloist, percussionist, or any other featured musician; the precise timing of plucking a cycle of four strings in a continuous loop is a determinant factor in the resultant sound, and it is played, unchangingly, throughout the whole performance. Tanpurists must keep true to their own rhythm for the duration of the composition, which may be over an hour in some cases, as their drone is critical to the entire musical foundation of the performance. The repeated cycle of plucking the strings in succession creates a sonic canvas on which the melody of the [[raga]] (or other composition) is drawn. The sequence of string-plucking is generally (according to pitch) 5-8-8-1, with the fourth and final string plucked being given a slight “rest”, usually two to three seconds, before repeating the cycle. The combined sound of all strings–each string a fundamental tone with its own spectrum of [[overtone]]s–supports and blends with the external tones sung or played by the soloist.

Northern and central-Indian [[Hindustani music]]ians favor the term ''tanpura'' (often used within the context of languages such as [[Bengali language|Bengali]], [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]], [[Hindi]], [[Sindhi music|Sindhi]], [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]], etc.), whereas southern and [[Carnatic music]]ians normally prefer ''tambura'' (for example, in [[Kannada]], [[Malayalam]], [[Tamil language|Tamil]], or [[Telugu language|Telugu]]); ''tanpuri'' is a smaller variant of the instrument, sometimes used for accompanying instrumental soloists.

==History==
The Tanpura traces back over 2,000 years, with roots in:

The [[Nāṭyaśāstra]] by [[Bharata (sage)|Bharata Muni]] (~200 BCE–200 CE), where drone-based accompaniment is described (though not named Tanpura).

References in [[Sangita Ratnakara]] (13th century CE) by [[Śārṅgadeva|Sharngadeva]] suggest instruments of similar function and structure.

Tanpuras form the root of the ensemble and indeed of the music itself, as the tanpura creates an acoustic dynamic reference chord from which the [[raga]]s (melodic modes) derive their distinctive character, color, and flavor. Stephen Slawek notes that by the end of the 16th century, the tanpura had "fully developed in its modern form" and was seen in the [[miniature figure painting|miniature paintings]] of the Mughals. Slawek further suggests that due to structural similarity the [[sitar]] and tanpura share a related history.<ref name="Slawek1987">{{cite book|author=Stephen Slawek|title=Sitār Technique in Nibaddh Forms|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nw8l6QGFi2EC&pg=PA8|year=1987|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0200-1|pages=8–}}</ref>

An [[electronic tanpura]], a small box that imitates the sound of a tanpura, is sometimes used in contemporary Indian classical music performances instead of a tanpura, though this practice is controversial.

===Tanpura makers===
The sitar maker family of [[Miraj]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/F3lxLkOWNR54XdklwQWuSO/The-Musical-Home-of-the-Mirajkar.html|title=The Musical Home of the Mirajkar|first=Shubha|last=Mudgal|date=4 October 2014|website=Livemint.com|access-date=20 April 2021}}</ref> is regarded as the finest producers of tanpuras in the world.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/mirajs-legacy-sitar-makers-go-online-to-survive/articleshow/64992898.cms | title=Miraj's legacy sitar-makers go online to survive | first=Priyanka | last=Kakodkar | date=15 July 2018 | newspaper=The Times of India | access-date=7 July 2020 }}</ref> The family has been making tanpuras for over seven generations from 1850.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://photogallery.indiatimes.com/news/india/interesting-pictures-of-sanglis-sitar-makers/interesting-pictures-of-sanglis-sitarmakers/articleshow/65041249.cms|title=A few even make ancient instruments like the Taus - Photogallery|website=Photogallery.indiatimes.com|access-date=20 April 2021}}</ref>

== '''Construction''' ==
The body shape of the tanpura somewhat resembles that of the sitar, but it has no [[frets]] – as the strings are always plucked at their full lengths. One or more tanpuras may be used to accompany vocalists or instrumentalists. It has four or five (rarely six) metal strings, which are plucked one after another in a regular pattern to create a harmonic resonance on the basic notes of a [[Key (music)|key]]. The Tanpura is different from other [[String instrument|string instruments]] as it does not have any frets, giving musical and tonal freedom

==Bridge and strings==
The [[overtone]]-rich sound and the audible movement in the inner resonances of tone is achieved by applying the principle of ''[[Jivari]]'' which creates a sustained "buzzing" sound in which particular harmonics will resonate with focused clarity. To achieve this effect, the strings pass over a table-shaped, curved-top [[Bridge (instrument)|bridge]], the front of which slopes gently away from the surface of the strings. When a string is plucked, it has an intermittent periodical grazing contact with the bridge. When the string moves up and down, the downward wave will touch a far point on the curve of the bridge, and as the energy of motion of the string gradually diminishes, these points of contact of the string on the bridge will gradually shift as well, being a compound function of amplitude, the curvature of the bridge, pitch, string tension and time. When the string is plucked, it has a large amplitude. As the energy of the string's movement gradually diminishes, the contact point of the string with the bridge slowly creeps up the slope of the bridge. Depending on scale, tension and pitch, this can take between three and ten seconds.

This dynamic process can be fine-tuned using a cotton thread between string and bridge: by shifting the thread, the grazing contact sequence is shifted to a different position on the bridge, changing the harmonic content. Every single string produces its own cascading range of harmonics and, at the same time, builds up a particular resonance. According to this principle, tanpuras are attentively tuned to achieve a particular tonal shade relative to the tonal characteristics of the raga. These more delicate aspects of tuning are directly related to what Indian musicians call ''raga Svaroop'', which is about how characteristic intonations are important defining aspects of a particular raga.<ref>{{cite web|title=FUNDAMENTALS OF RAG|url=http://chandrakantha.com/articles/indian_music/raga.html|publisher=chandrakantha|access-date=3 June 2013}}</ref> The tanpura's particular setup, with the cotton thread as a variable focus-point, made it possible to explore a multitude of harmonic relations produced by the subtle harmonic interplay in time of its four strings.{{citation needed|date=March 2019}}

==Sizes and tunings==
Tanpuras come in different sizes and pitches: larger "males", smaller "females" for vocalists, and a yet smaller version is used for accompanying sitar or [[sarod]], called ''tanpuri''. These play at the octave so as not to drown out the soloist's lower registers.

Male vocalists use the biggest instruments and pitch their tonic note (''Sa''), often at D, C{{music|#}} or lower, some go down to B-flat; female singers usually a fifth higher, though these tonic notes may vary according to the preference of the singer, as there is no absolute and fixed pitch-reference in the Indian Classical music systems. One female singer may take her 'sa' at F, another at A, Sitaras tune mostly around C{{music|#}}, sarodiyas around C, Sarangiyas vary more between D and F{{music|#}}, and Bansuriyas mostly play from E.

The male tanpura has an open string length of approximately one metre; the female is three-fourths of the male. The standard [[Musical tuning|tuning]] is 5-8-8-1 (so do′ do′ do) or, in Indian [[sargam (music)|sargam]], Pa-sa-sa-Sa. For ragas that omit the fifth tone, pa, the first string is tuned down to the natural fourth: 4-8-8-1 or Ma-sa-sa-Sa. Some ragas that omit Pa and shuddha Ma, such as [[marva (raga)|Marwa]] or [[Hindol]], require a less common tuning with shuddha Dha (major 6th), DHA-sa-sa-SA or 6-8-8-1, or with the 7th, NI-s-s-S.<ref>{{cite web |title=Raga Marwa |url=http://kksongs.org/raga/list/marwa.html |website=KKSongs |access-date=14 January 2022}}</ref> With a five-string instrument, the seventh or NI (major or minor 7th) can be added: PA-NI-sa-sa-SA (5-7-8-8-1)or MA-NI-sa-sa-SA (4-7-8-8-1). Both minor and major 7th harmonics are clearly distinguishable in the harmonic texture of the overall sound, so when the Ni - strings are tuned into these harmonics, the resultant sound will be perfectly harmonious.

Usually the octave strings are in steel wire, and the tonic, 4th or 5th strings in brass or bronze wire. If a string will be tuned to the 6th or 7th, a steel string is advised instead.

== Variants ==
Tanpuras are designed in two different styles:
*''Miraj style'': the favorite form of tanpura for Hindustani performers. It is usually between three and five feet in length, with a carved, rounded [[resonator]] plate (''tabli'') and a long, hollow straight neck, in section resembling a rounded capital D. The round lower chamber to which the tabli, the connecting heel-piece and the neck (''dandh'') are fixed is cut from a selected and dried [[gourd]] (''tumba''). Wood used is either [[Toona ciliata|tun]] or [[teak]]; bridges are usually cut from one piece of bone.
*''Tanjore style'': this is a [[south India]]n style of tambura, used widely by Carnatic performers. It has a somewhat different shape and style of decoration from that of the Miraj, but is otherwise much the same size. Typically, no gourd is used, but the spherical part is gouged out of a solid block of wood. The neck is somewhat smaller in diameter. [[Jackwood|Jack wood]] is used throughout; bridges are usually cut from one piece of [[rosewood]]. Often, two rosettes are drilled out and ornamented with inlay work.

==References==
{{Portal|India|Music}}
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book|author=Ashok Damodar Ranade|title=Keywords and concepts: Hindustani classical music|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MW30AAAAMAAJ|date=1 January 1990|publisher=Promilla|isbn=978-81-85002-12-5}}source for Sangit Parijat is Ahobal Pandit, translated by Kalind-Hatvas, Sangeet Karyalaya 1971
* Wim van der Meer - Joep Bor: De roep van de Kokila, historische en hedendaagse aspekten van de Indiase muziek; Martinus Nijhoff / 's-Gravenhage 1982, {{ISBN|90 247 9079 4}}
* Hindustani Music, 13th to 20th centuries, editors: Joep Bor, Françoise Delvoye, Jane Harvey & Emmy te Nijenhuis; Codarts, Manohar 2010
* {{cite book|author=Nazir Ali Jairazbhoy|title=The Rāgs of North Indian Music: Their Structure and Evolution|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hGLRqLscf78C|year=1995|publisher=Popular Prakashan|isbn=978-81-7154-395-3}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140102200140/http://repository.ias.ac.in/69870/1/69870.pdf On some Indian string instruments (1921)] Sir C V Raman, FRS, M.A., D.Sc. (Hon), Palit Professor of Physics at the University of Calcutta, Nobel Prize, 1930
* [http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.130.9410&rep=rep1&type=pdf ''Beyond Swayambhu Gandhar: an analysis of perceived tanpura notes'']. Paritosh K. Pandya. [[Tata Institute of Fundamental Research]], Mumbai {{date missing}}
* [http://glorian.bandcamp.com/album/tanpura-sounds-2  Audio samples of tanpura of various pitch], Glorian.bandcamp.com

==Further reading==
*[http://www.medieval.org/music/world/martin_est.html ''Some reflections on the use of Electronic Tanpura and the intricacies of tanpura tuning'']. Medieval.org, Martin Spaink, 2003.

{{Indian musical instruments}}
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[[Category:Indian musical instruments]]
[[Category:Hindustani musical instruments]]
[[Category:Carnatic music instruments]]
[[Category:Necked bowl lutes]]
[[Category:Tanbur]]