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His nimble-fingered strokes of expertise bring out the most captivating natural sounds a percussion instrument like khanjira can produce, to give an unparalleled musical experience right from the very first stroke. He is Guru Prasanna, the first ever khanjira artist to perform at the prestigious ‘Darbar festival’ in London, one of the biggest Indian music festivals outside of India. He has also collaborated with contemporary and jazz musicians in many countries in Europe and Australia.
“The khanjira, a South Indian frame drum, is a percussion instrument of the membranophone family. Membranophones are instruments where the sound source is a vibrating membrane. There are references to various forms of this instrument in many Upanishads and in ancient literature. Small pottery statues of women playing round frame drums with their hands are found dating as far back as 2000 BC. The khanjira’s emergence in South Indian Carnatic music, as well as the development of the modern form of the instrument, is credited to Mahavidwan Sri Pudukkottai Manpoondia Pillai,” says the artiste.
Typical of any percussion instrument, the khanjira also has distinct bass and sharp tones. When interspersed in the right manner, its effect is magical. The khanjira is one percussion instrument that is used across the spectrum and genres as it has a great blending with its ‘naada’.
“The khanjira is a relatively difficult Indian drum to play, especially in South Indian Carnatic music, because of the complexity of the percussion patterns. When played in conjunction with the mridangam, which is the king of percussion instruments, the artiste needs to be able to play all the complex phrases with a single hand, while the mridangam artiste has the use of both his hands!” explains Prasanna.
Apart from this, to get a good bass sound, the drumhead needs to be sprinkled with water whenever appropriate and unlike other instruments, the tonal quality is greatly affected by external temperatures and moist conditions. “To bring in versatility, speed, clarity, flow, and more importantly, precision, as an artist, we have to keep experimenting and practising — this is an art that requires a lot of patience and perseverance.”
Speaking about his organisation, Samatva Foundation, he said, “Our vision is to highlight and propagate various nuances and intricacies in each of the art forms of world music. The focal point of the foundation is the exploration of various aspects of music, expressing and embellishing the aspects through interpretations in the performances, and enhancing the knowledge further to build deeper insights. Currently, we are running a web series called ‘Layaaswaada’ to explore various nuances of laya concepts in Carnatic music,” he said, adding that he is also excited about a contemporary music project based on Indian history that he is working on.