Why every Harmonium sounds different - C Sharp Tuning

Have you ever wondered why every harmonium sounds different in terms of the tonal quality.  The situation becomes worse when the same key e.g. Black 1 - is at different pitches in 2 harmoniums.  In this situation one cannot play both harmoniums together in the same program.

Have you ever put on a Hindustani classical piece on your music system, and then tried to accompany on your harmonium - and then found to your dismay that your harmonium pitch is at a completely different pitch from that of the vocalist, and you could not therefore play it?

And then of course you would have heard of the controversy around C Sharp tuning - should harmoniums be tuned to 440 hz which is the Western Classical standard?  Do these harmoniums sound better than harmoniums tuned at a different pitch e.g. at 430 Hz?

This was the dilemma I faced when I acquired my new custom made Triple Reed Harmonium described in my post here.  Here is a short video explaining the concept behind tuning harmoniums - hopefully it would help remove some of the myths around harmonium tuning.

Custom-made Triple Reed harmonium

I took possession of my new custom made triple reed harmonium last week.  It was crafted at the Bombay Harmonium Works, Mangalore.

This harmonium features 3 sets of reeds - Chorus, Male and Female.  The Chorus and Male reeds are German reeds taken from another old harmonium, while the Female is a new Palitana set.  Old German reeds are the best - Indian reeds do not come anywhere close in quality.

Because the reeds are German, C Sharp is tuned to 430 Hz - and not the concert standard 440 Hz.

Here is a short video about the features of this harmonium, and why I consider this as a really special harmonium.

And here is a short video of I and my son doing riyaz - with I using this harmonium.

My "Big Moment" Finally Happened

Big Moments are rare in my life - so forgive me if I give you a lengthy description of a momentous event that took place recently...

The setting : Cairo Airport.  I was on my way to Dubai, my harmonium in tow.

The security person in the Cairo airport responsible for frisking passengers requested for a small "gift" from my wallet which I - as usual - politely refused.  Normally the refusal is taken in good humor, but this time it was different ....

"Open that box" he commanded, pointing to my harmonium case.  Since my harmonium needs to be checked in - and given its delicate nature - I had spent a couple of hours packing it in bubble-sheets, foam, cloth etc.

"It is a music instrument - you just saw it on the X-ray scan, right?" I said.  That harmonium has gone through the same airport countless number of times without being stopped.

"Please open it" he said firmly.  I cut open one side of the packing that I had spent hours packing, and showed him the harmonium from the side so that he can see the keyboard.

"See - it is a music instrument - like a small piano" I said in an appealing voice, not wanting to remove all the packing.

"Open it fully" he said firmly, and seeing that I was struggling with the packing, he helpfully gave me a pen-knife so that I can tear the packing open.

There it lay open now devoid of all packing - my harmonium in its full glory surrounded by 3 policemen.

"Is this actually a music instrument?" said one knocking the keyboard vigorously.

"Wait" I said.  "it is a delicate instrument - it will break if you do that....."

The proof of the music instrument is in its playing...

Seizing the moment I sat down, opened the harmonium bellows and started playing.  My fingers moved smoothly, and I really belted it out on the harmonium : the presence of the policemen around me certainly gave me a protective feeling - in normal circumstances I have to play under a threatening atmosphere full of tomatoes.

So I played - sitting right there in the middle of the check-in lounge of the airport, with curious passengers walking past me.  Cairo airport reverberated for the first time ever to the sound of a harmonium.

And not a single rotten tomato this time - must have been quite a performance. In fact, the performance of my lifetime.   I was all set for a standing ovation.

Standing the policemen were - but no applause. Their attention was focused on a portly Police Officer who was hurrying towards us looking highly irritated - their boss, no doubt. Obviously listening to Indian music is not high on his priority, unlike for his subordinates.

"Indian music" said the policeman in an apologetic voice to his glowering boss by way of explanation. And then turning to me he said "You go".  

"Did you like it?" I asked him, still eagerly hoping that there will be a round of applause for my performance.  After all, it is not every day that one gets a chance to perform in a public place, and that too to a very appreciative international audience.

Alas, there was no response. Instead as a symbolic gesture, he summoned a porter, gave him 1 Egyptian pound, and asked him to help me pack up the harmonium.

A Dummy's Guide to Hindustani Ragas

I have now given up trying to learn more and more Ragas - it is like an ocean, and if I try to learn more and more Ragas my knowledge on Music will always remain shallow.  So now I have decided to focus on some of the more commonly used Ragas, and dive deeper into it.

The result - I have uploaded on YouTube a video series in which I discuss a dozen ragas which are commonly used to compose Bhajans and Abhangs. 

Now you may ask why an amateur half-baked harmonium player like me is attempting to do the equivalent of a Dummy's Guide to Hindustani music - when there are millions of professional musicians out there who are queuing up and jostling to teach you the fundamentals of music.

The reason is simple - I always believe that it is simpler for a layman to understand an amateur than understand a Professional.  This is an undisputed fact. Amateurs tend to focus on the key themes (because they don't know the complicated detail), and they also deliver it in simple layman's terms. And amateurs only share - they don't teach.  So there!

Here is part 1 of the 5 part series which I have labelled as the "Essential Raagas" - the rest of the series is also up on my channel on YouTube.

And I will be a very happy and content person indeed if even one layman feels that she can now recognise at least one Raag after watching this video.

And as usual feedback and brickbats are welcome. 

Fingering Techniques for playing Harmonium

Have uploaded a video on Youtube which is my perspective on how to practise the right fingering technique for playing the harmonium.

This is purely an Amateur's perspective on how to add beauty to the playing of the harmonium by using the correct fingering technique. Beauty can be added by using adjacent keys/tones that are not part of the original Raag - but the fingering has to be light and subtle, otherwise it risks ruining the Raag. 

Needless to say it requires lots of practice before it can be used in front of an audience

Palitana Reeds for my Harmonium

I bought my harmonium a few years ago off-the-shelf  from a music store in Bangalore. I was in a hurry, and selected my harmonium in a matter of 10 minutes.  All I checked was whether the harmonium had a good finish, the wood looked good, the sound came out loud and clear, and the keys worked smoothly.

Later I realised that I had not checked the critical component of a harmonium - the brass reeds.  The reeds in my harmonium were "Punjabi" reeds - and because they were of inferior quality, they started going off-tune quickly, and therefore required frequent tuning.  Tuning harmonium reeds is a specialised skill, and done best by a skilled artisan using his ears as the guide (rather than any instrument) - so this became a problem to me as I had to lug my harmonium to India every time any of the reeds went off-tune.

I later found that the best quality reeds were made in Germany - but that German reeds are no longer available since a few decades as harmoniums have gone out of fashion in the West.  To understand how German reeds sound like, and why German reeds are the best, read these posts Why every Harmonium sounds different - C Sharp Tuning and Custom-Made Triple Reed Harmonium.

Among Indian makes, the reeds made in Palitana - a small town in Gujarat - were supposed to be the best.  I wanted to replace the reeds with Palitana reeds - but the problem is that Palitana reeds are in limited supply, and there is a long waiting list. After a great deal of follow-ups (thanks to my dear wife) the reeds were finally procured from the MohanLal company and installed into my harmonium at the Bombay Harmonium Works, Mangalore.

The results are fantastic - the sound is much more mellow and beautiful, and it is a real pleasure playing it and listening to the sound.  The sound will become even better over time as the new reeds gradually "open up" and lose their stiffness with the frequent playing of the instrument.  And because the reeds are made of better quality material, hopefully the reeds will require less frequent tuning.

To hear how my harmonium sounds like now, watch this
.

I am sure this harmonium now will serve me in good stead for a long time to come