For the article about the band, see Dramyin

For the related dance, see Dramyin Cham, and for the related style of song see Dramyin Choeshay

The dramyin or dranyen (Dzongkha: dramnyen) is a traditional Himalayan folk music lute with 7 strings, used primarily as an accompaniment to singing in the Drukpa Buddhist culture and society in Bhutan, as well as in Tibet, Sikkim and Himalayan West Bengal. It is often used in religious festivals of Vajrayana Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism, like the Tsechu. The instrument is played by strumming, fingerpicking or (most commonly) plucking.^[1] Himalayan can refer to: Himalaya, the mountains: Himalayan (cat), the type of cat Himalayan, the breed of rabbit This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ... Folk music, in the original sense of the term, is music by and for the common people. ... A medieval era lute. ... The Drukpa is a major sect within the Kagyupa school of Tibetan Buddhism. ... Tibet (older spelling Thibet; Tibetan: བོད་; Wylie: Bod; Lhasa dialect IPA: [; Simplified and Traditional Chinese: 西藏, Hanyu Pinyin: XÄ«zàng; also referred to as 藏区 (Simplified Chinese), 藏區 (Traditional Chinese), ZàngqÅ« (Hanyu Pinyin), having the two names different connotations; see Name section below) is a plateau region in Central Asia and the... Sikkim (also Sikhim) (DevanāgarÄ«: सिक्किम  ) is a landlocked Indian state nestled in the Himalayas. ... West Bengal   (Bengali: পশ্চিমবঙ্গ, Poshchimbôŋgo) is a state in eastern India. ... A mandala used in Vajrayana Buddhist practices. ... Tibetan Buddhism (Simplified Chinese: 藏传佛教) is the body of religious Buddhist doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet, the Himalayan region (including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and Sikkim and Ladakh), Mongolia, Buryatia, Tuva and Kalmykia (Russia), and northeastern China (Manchuria: Heilongjiang, Jilin). ... In Bhutan an annual religious festival held in each district featuring sacred Cham Dances. ... A strum is the act of brushing ones fingers over (strumming) the strings of a string instrument such as a guitar. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Fingerstyle guitar. ... Plucking, in the sense relating to glaciers, is when a glacier erodes away chunks of bedrock to be later deposited as erratics. ...

Structure

The dramyin is a long-necked, double-waisted and fretless lute. ^[1] It is usually hollowed out of a single piece of wood and can vary in size from 60 cm to 120 cm in length. Unlike a contemporary guitar, the dramyin does not have a round sound hole in the wooden sounding board, and instead has rosette shaped ones like a lute. The neck is the part of certain string instruments that projects from the main body and is the base of the fingerboard, where the fingers are placed to stop the strings at different pitches. ... The waist is the part of the abdomen between the ribcage and hips. ... The neck of a guitar showing the first four frets. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Parts of the guitar. ... A cello with f-holes A guitar with a round hole A sound hole is a hole in the upper sounding board of a string musical instrument. ... The sounding board is the largest part of a string musical instruments body. ... Rosettes can refer for: A small, circular, device that can be awarded with medals (see: Rosette (decoration)). A type of plant with their leaves at an upset stem in a typical form. ...

Of its seven strings or thags, only six continue to the pegbox. Thus, six tuning pegs are located in the pegbox, while one (typically corresponding to the string which is third from the left) is located in the neck itself. Strings were originally made from animal gut, but are presently made from synthetic material like nylon (similar to the progression in usage of guts in racquet sports). The seven strings occur in two double courses, and one triple course. These become three double courses by the time they reach the pegbox. ^[1] A pegbox is the part of certain stringed musical instruments (violin, viola, cello, double bass) that houses the tuning pegs. ... Tuning Peg is a small peg that is used to hold a string for a stringed instrument. ... For the Physics term GUT, please refer to Grand unification theory The gastrointestinal or digestive tract, also referred to as the GI tract or the alimentary canal or the gut, is the system of organs within multicellular animals which takes in food, digests it to extract energy and nutrients, and... Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers first produced on February 28, 1935 by Gerard J. Berchet of Wallace Carothers research group at DuPont. ... Squash racquet and ball Racquetball racquet and ball Real tennis racquets and balls A tennis racquet A racquet (or racket) is a sports implement consisting of a handled frame with an open hoop across which a network of cord is stretched. ... A course is a pair of adjacent strings tuned to unison or an octave and usually plucked together as if a single string, in musical instruments such as the lute, vihuela or mandolin. ...

Traditional dramyins are equipped with a single bridge. Resonance is achieved with a taught, thick animal skin. Certain older forms of the dramyin possessed sympathetic strings and under-strings to produce more resonance. A bridge is the part of a guitar, bass or other stringed instrument where the strings join the body of the instrument. ...

Some dramyins come with a plectrum attached to the base for plucking. Plectrums were traditionally made of bone, but are now made of plastic. ^[1] Various guitar picks A plectrum (plural plectra or plectrums) is a device for plucking or strumming a stringed instrument. ...

Shape of the Dramyin

It is often ornately and colourfully painted or carved with religious symbols and motifs, and its pegbox is often impressively carved into a "C" shape resembling a chusing - a sea monster. Tassels may be hung from the horns of the chusing to give the instrument a more frightening look. ^[1] For other uses, see hilt and maize. ...

Playing the Dramyin

The triple (usually middle) course of the dramyin typically contains the half string on the left, which is usually tuned an octave above the middle unison strings. One of the other two courses are typically tuned an octave apart. The courses are normally plucked in unison during playing. Typically a single note is played at a time, making for melodic music and not harmony. Dramyins may also be played to keep time, in a rhythmic fashion. ^[1] Look up Melody in Wiktionary, the free dictionary In music, a melody is a series of linear events or a succession, not a simultaneity as in a chord. ... Harmony is the result of polyphony (more than one note being played simultaneously). ... For the popular Tamil film, see Rhythm (film) Rhythm (Greek = flow, or in Modern Greek, style) is the variation of the length and accentuation of a series of sounds or other events. ...

One standard tuning for the Dramyin is: g G c' c c f f. ^[1]

The standard way of plucking a course is down - up. One of the two strings in the course is plucked in a downward motion, and the other in the upward motion. The downward motion is typically louder than the other. ^[1]

The Dramyin in Himalayan Buddhist culture

Dramyins are often used as accompaniment while narrating stories for providing ambience and keeping time, as shown in the Bhutanese film Travellers and Magicians Travellers and Magicians (Dzongkha: chang hup thengi thruel nang) is a 2003 Bhutanese Dzongkha language film written and directed by Khyentse Norbu, a reincarnate lama also known as Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche. ...

Dramyins are notably used in the performance of Dramyin Cham - a Cham dance of subjugation performed by Drukpa monks and during the singing of Dramyin Choeshay - a religious song. These are performed at religious festivals called Tsechus - banned in Tibet, but enjoying great prominence in Bhutan. The Dramyin music in the cham is notable as it is one of the very few instances of stringed instruments in monastic music in Bhutan, or for that matter in Tibetan Buddhism in general. A Dramyin player leads the dance and keeps time for the dancers by plucking the instrument. In many chams, the place of the dramyin is taken by a percussion instrument, usually the cymbals. ^[1] The Cham Dance; Credit: The Asia Project at Marlboro College The Cham Dance, associated with some sects of Buddhism, is a lively dance which employs dancers wearing masks and ornamented costumes. ... The Drukpa is a major sect within the Kagyupa school of Tibetan Buddhism. ... In Bhutan an annual religious festival held in each district featuring sacred Cham Dances. ... A string instrument (also stringed instrument) is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. ... Tibetan Buddhism (Simplified Chinese: 藏传佛教) is the body of religious Buddhist doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet, the Himalayan region (including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and Sikkim and Ladakh), Mongolia, Buryatia, Tuva and Kalmykia (Russia), and northeastern China (Manchuria: Heilongjiang, Jilin). ... Sabian Paragon cymbals 10-Inch (25 cm) AA Splash Cymbals (Fr. ...

The Dramyin in mythology

The Dramyin is generally regarded as a secular instrument, and the performance of a Dramyin Cham or Dramyin Choeshay are one of the few instances when Dramyin is allowed to be played inside a monastery or a Dzong. However, dramyins are often depicted on thongdrels (Tibetan: thankas) and given as offerings to deities. The guardian king of the Eastern direction - Sharchop Gyalpo (identified with Dhritarashtra of Hindu mythology) is associated with a dramyin in religious iconography. ^[1] This article concerns secularity, that is, being secular, in various senses. ... Monastery of St. ... Dzong architecture is a distinctive type of fortress architecture found in the former and present Buddhist kingdoms of the Himalayas, most notably Bhutan. ... The highlight of tshechus is the unrolling of the thongdrel of Guru Rinpoche on the last day. ... Categories: Possible copyright violations ... In Mahabharata Dhritarashtra was the son bore by Vichitraviryas first wife Ambika from Vyasa. ... Hindu mythology is a term used by modern scholarship for a large body of Indian literature that details the lives and times of legendary personalities, deities and divine incarnations on earth interspersed with often large sections of philosophical and ethical discourse. ... Iconography usually refers to the design or creation of images and more specifically to the historical study of art which aims at the identification, description and the interpretation of the content of images. ...

The Dramyin's melodious sound is supposed to attract demons, and the role of the carved chusing on the pegbox is to apparently ward off demons. The Dramyin is in fact associated with a guardian deity in the Dramyin Cham. ^[1]

The Dramyin in popular culture and modern variants

Rigsar is a popular music form in Bhutan, and the Dramyin was extensively used as an accompaniment in Rigsar. The traditional dramyin has been modified into the rigsar dramyin by a Bhutanese musician Sonam Dorji, for use in such popular music. The rigsar dramyin has 15 strings, two bridges and an extra set of tuning keys.^[2] Rigsar is a music genre,the dominant type of popular music of Bhutan. ...

External links

• A photograph of a Dramyin on Flickr
• A video which briefly illustrates Dramyin playing, on Youtube

Flickr is a photo sharing website and web services suite, and an online community platform, which is generally considered an early example of a Web 2. ... YouTube is a popular free video sharing website which lets users upload, view, and share video clips. ...

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} Dancing on the demon's back: the dramnyen dance and song of Bhutan, by Elaine Dobson, John Blacking Symposium: Music Culture and Society, Callaway Centre, University of Western Australia, July 2003
2. ^ An article about the Rigsar Dramyin in RA Online