Carnatic Veena | Chicago, Illinois
Saraswathi Ranganathan is a virtuoso of the Veena, an ancient Indian instrument. Saraswathi constantly endeavors for sounds of the Veena to reach a cross cultural global audience. She learned Veena from her mother Shantha Ranganathan and from Karnataka Kalashree EP Alamelu in Bangalore. She has been performing and teaching for over three decades.
The veena is a string instrument originating in India. The Veena instrument and its variants play an important role in Hindustani classical music and carnatic classical music, from North and South India respectively. It can be either a zither or a lute, depending on the type of veena. The difference lies in the shape and construction of the resonator, or soundbox. Veena has various spellings, including vina, bina and beena, but they all refer to the same instrument.
They are typically around 1 meter, or 3.5 feet, in length, although size can vary depending on the size of the player. Vainika refers to one who plays the veena and it’s played while sitting down cross-legged. Some veenas (zithers) are played horizontally across the lap, while others (lutes) are held at an angle from the body like one might play sitar.
The hollow body of the instrument is made from wood with two resonators at each end on the back of the instrument. The main resonator is part of the body of the instrument while the second, smaller resonator is located near the top at the back of the neck. Traditionally, veena resonators are made from gourds, although some modern versions use different materials. There are 24 metal frets on the neck, which were traditionally embedded in hardened beeswax mixed with charcoal powder.
The Veena has four main melody strings and three drone strings located on the side of the neck that aid rhythm, all made from wound metal. The strings are plucked, causing vibrations in the resonators to produce sound. To play, the vainika plucks the melody strings with plectrums, or picks, worn on the fingers while strumming the drone strings with the little finger of the same hand. The veena strings have a range of three octaves.
Saraswathi Ranganathan is the first Indian woman and Veena artiste to win a Chicago Music Award in its 35-year history, the first Veena artiste to perform as an orchestra member of Disney’s Jungle Book production. She attributes her path-carving success to the inclusive energy in her music and in her life.
