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Swarmandal
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<h2 id="construction">Construction</h2> <p>Modern swarmandals are similar to European <a href="/facts/Psaltry/nSPAK55K">psaltries</a>. <a href="/facts/Autoharp/T0LMDpIN">Autoharps</a> are used as an equivalent instrument in India today, especially with the chord-button mechanism taken out. Modern swarmandals are trapezoidal and measure 51 cm (20 in) in length and 28 cm (11 in) width. Instruments may have as many as 40 strings, while older instruments from the 19th century were recorded as having 21 strings.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> The strings are hooked in a nail lodged in the right edge of the swarmandal and on the left are wound around tuning pegs which can be tightened with a special key.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> Wooden pegs were used instead of metal ones in the medieval period. A sharp 1⁄2-inch (13 mm) ridge on both sides of the swarmandal stands a little apart from the nails on which the strings are tightened. This ridge functions as a bridge on both sides. The swarmandal is similar to the <a href="/facts/Autoharp/T0LMDpIN">autoharp</a> or <a href="/facts/Zither/wbQB1Q84">zither</a> in many respects. </p> <h2 id="history">History</h2> <p>The swarmandal may be the same as [<i>speculation?</i>] the 13th-century instrument known as the <i>mattakokilā</i> (intoxicated cuckoo).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> In the <a href="/facts/Mughal_Empire/yRg2kAy5">Mughal period</a>, the swarmandal was seen as equivalent by the <a href="/facts/Ain-i-Akbari/fbKG4nfk">Ā'īn-i-akbarī</a> to the <a href="/facts/Qanun_(instrument)/KoEk5kp9">qanun</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> In the 19th century, a writer[<i>who?</i>] commented that good performances on the instrument were rare, because it was difficult to play and, at the time, expensive to buy.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="in-popular-culture">In popular culture</h2> <p>Several modern artists have performed with the instrument. Some of the vocalists who have used it extensively are <a href="/facts/Bade_Ghulam_Ali_Khan/ehHHXe9C">Bade Ghulam Ali Khan</a>, <a href="/facts/Salamat_Ali_Khan/cL0jEbPd">Salamat Ali Khan</a>, <a href="/facts/Jasraj/Acj8ydVB">Jasraj</a>, <a href="/facts/Kishori_Amonkar/ExVtkUq4">Kishori Amonkar</a>, <a href="/facts/Rashid_Khan_(musician)/XYmlxwFI">Rashid Khan</a>, and <a href="/facts/Ajoy_Chakrabarty/rP3utvyc">Ajoy Chakrabarty</a>. After travelling to India in late 1966, <a href="/facts/George_Harrison/akznD2lX">George Harrison</a> introduced the swarmandal into <a href="/facts/The_Beatles/2syHWLcM">the Beatles</a>' sound on their 1967 single "<a href="/facts/Strawberry_Fields_Forever/62w2c3uP">Strawberry Fields Forever</a>".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> He also played it on his Indian classical-style composition "<a href="/facts/Within_You_Without_You/zo9Ud6MH">Within You Without You</a>", from the band's <i><a href="/facts/Sgt._Pepper%2527s_Lonely_Hearts_Club_Band/IEyYeNjP">Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band</a></i> album.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Drone_(music)/kFLTvxqa">Drone (music)</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Hindustani_classical_music/b9lPQMGd">Hindustani classical music</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Zither/wbQB1Q84">Zither</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Alastair Dick (1984). "Swarmandal". In Sadie, Stanley (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. p. 477. Volume 3. <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>"SWARMANDAL". Government of India. <a href="https://www.indianculture.gov.in/node/2686909" target="_blank">https://www.indianculture.gov.in/node/2686909</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Alastair Dick (1984). "Swarmandal". In Sadie, Stanley (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. p. 477. Volume 3. <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Alastair Dick (1984). "Swarmandal". In Sadie, Stanley (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. p. 477. Volume 3. <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Alastair Dick (1984). "Swarmandal". In Sadie, Stanley (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. p. 477. Volume 3. <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Charles Russell Day (1891). "Plate VIII Svarmandala". The music and musical instruments of southern India and the Deccan. New York & London: Novello, Ewer & Company. pp. 131–134. <a href="https://archive.org/details/musicmusicalinst00dayc/page/n183/mode/2up" target="_blank">https://archive.org/details/musicmusicalinst00dayc/page/n183/mode/2up</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Alastair Dick (1984). "Swarmandal". In Sadie, Stanley (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. p. 477. Volume 3. <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Sadie, Stanley, ed. (1984). "Surmandal". The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. p. 477. Volume 3. in...Sangītaratnākara, a chordophone with 21 strings...is mentioned...does not make it clear whether this was a board zither or even whether the author had actually seen one...may have been a...harp-vīnā... <a href="/wiki/Sangita_Ratnakara" target="_blank">/wiki/Sangita_Ratnakara</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Alastair Dick (1984). "Swarmandal". In Sadie, Stanley (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. p. 477. Volume 3. <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>Charles Russell Day (1891). "Plate VIII Svarmandala". The music and musical instruments of southern India and the Deccan. New York & London: Novello, Ewer & Company. pp. 131–134. <a href="https://archive.org/details/musicmusicalinst00dayc/page/n183/mode/2up" target="_blank">https://archive.org/details/musicmusicalinst00dayc/page/n183/mode/2up</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>Babiuk, Andy (2002). Beatles Gear: All the Fab Four's Instruments, from Stage to Studio. San Francisco, CA: Backbeat Books. p. 193. ISBN 978-0-87930-731-8. <a href="978-0-87930-731-8" target="_blank">978-0-87930-731-8</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>Elwood, Philip (3 June 1967). "Last Respects to Beatles in an Album That Turns on". San Francisco Examiner. Available at Rock's Backpages (subscription required). <a href="/wiki/San_Francisco_Examiner" target="_blank">/wiki/San_Francisco_Examiner</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>Clayson, Alan (2003). George Harrison. London: Sanctuary. pp. 212–13. ISBN 1-86074-489-3. <a href="1-86074-489-3" target="_blank">1-86074-489-3</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>