Message-ID: <alpine.NEB.2.20.1705301330030.19819@panix3.panix.com>
From: Alan Sondheim <sondheim@panix.com>
To: Cyb <cybermind@listserv.wvu.edu>, Wryting-L <WRYTING-L@listserv.wvu.edu>
Subject: the approach to sound, sarangi and viola samples
Date: Tue, 30 May 2017 13:32:34 -0400 (EDT)
the approach to sound, sarangi and viola samples http://www.alansondheim.org/instru.jpg http://www.alansondheim.org/onea.mp3 sarangi http://www.alansondheim.org/onec.mp3 viola http://www.alansondheim.org/oneb.mp3 viola sarangi's played with nails/cuticles generally of the first three fingers on the left hand; the bow is heavy and i use bass rosin. the notes are played with glissandos and slurs; what occurs between notes is at least important as the notes themselves. there are 35 drone strings which help with intonation. it's very difficult to play. the viola's played by pressing the strings down on the finger board (the strings are never pressed down on the sarangi); intonation is exact and glissandos are an effect - notes are generally intoned independently. when i move from sarangi to viola, i tend to play quickly and nervously, bowing too hard; it takes a few minutes to adjust. muscle memories. here are three pieces, two of sarangi (slow/medium), one of viola. you can judge the playing for yourself. the sarangi is meditative to play, even with my problematic ability. the viola's exhilarating. the result is deep epistemological differences between and among pitches and their production. both instruments reply on bowing, but the onset and decay of pitch on the sarangi is based on a continuity of experience; and on the viola, an almost industrial divisiblity - one needs only look at temperment, treatment of pitch notation including standard orchestral A, and so forth. of course there is considerable writing on all of this; on the other hand, actually playing the instruments, one after another, tends towards movement styles that are greatly at variance, and fascinating in terms of finger movement, bow pressure, and even attitudes towards music, sound, production, and environment themselves. (further, there seems to be almost something 'unnatural' in pressure exerted 'backwards by the fingers - in other words in the direction of uncurling - with the sarangi; the viola seems much more natural (unless of course it's played in the western position, the instrument held between the chin and shoulder).) enjoy.