Vichitra Veenaविचित्र वीणा

The vichitra veena is a fretless slide instrument of Hindustani music: a broad horizontal beam, the dand, about 3 feet long and 6 inches wide. A large resonating gourd is fixed beneath each end. The player sets the pitch by moving a glass ball, the batta, along the main strings and strikes them with two mizrab plectra. It traditionally accompanied or followed dhrupad singing. Unlike the rudra veena, a fretted stick zither held at a slant with one gourd on the shoulder, the vichitra veena has no frets and lies flat in front of the player.

Start the vichitra veena with KalaSudha at Foundation level, online or in a workshop. Foundation sets the instrument flat in front of you and teaches the batta, the glass slide pressed on the strings by the left hand. We teach children as well as adults; ask us about a starting age and about a size for a younger learner.

Returning after a long break, you start again where you left off. Our courses run in levels, so your teacher reviews where you stand first.

You can buy a vichitra veena from KalaSudha outside India, by quote or made to order, and we deliver it worldwide. We pack each instrument for international shipping; ask us about cases and insurance.

Any vichitra veena can come to us for service or repair, in any country, wherever you bought it. We also supply strings and spare parts. For help with your instrument after the sale, use the chat on any page or email [email protected]. Ask us as well about gift vouchers and class sets for schools, or a flight case for travel.

The beam of a vichitra veena, the dand, is about 3 feet long and 6 inches wide, with a large gourd fixed beneath each end. Because the instrument is so large, note positions lie far apart on the string, up to about 2 inches between notes. Instruments described carry ivory inlay on the gourds and peacock-head carvings at the narrow ends.

Accounts of the vichitra veena's strings differ. The most-repeated description gives four main playing strings, five chikari drone strings played open with the little finger, and 13 sympathetic strings tuned to the notes of the raga. Gopal Shankar Misra describes his father Lalmani Misra's arrangement as six main strings tuned to Sa and Pa across registers, with three chikari on the left and one or two on the right. On the standard Hindustani arrangement, the four main strings are tuned Sa, Pa, Sa, Sa.

On the vichitra veena, the left hand moves a glass ball called the batta along the main strings to set the pitch. The right hand wears two mizrab plectra, like those used for sitar, on the index and middle fingers, and the little finger plays the open chikari drone strings. Players put oil or butter on the strings to reduce friction under the slide; sources differ on which.

The vichitra veena has no frets, so the slide must find each pitch on a bare beam. Because the instrument is large, note positions lie far apart, up to about 2 inches between notes. That wide spacing demands precise khatka, murki and taan.

The exact date of the vichitra veena's origin is unknown. Popular belief credits Abdul Aziz Khan with inventing it, but Gopal Shankar Misra rejects this and credits the former sarangi player with popularising it. Lalmani Misra described it as the modern form of the ancient ekatantri veena, and until the early 20th century it was known as the batta-been, after its slide.

Lalmani Misra revived the vichitra veena after it had almost disappeared in the 20th century, and developed a style for it. He joined Banaras Hindu University in 1958 and became Dean of its Faculty of Music in 1967. His Misrabani style builds on right-hand mizrab bols, and he created ragas including Madhukali, Shyam Bihag and Jog Todi.

Ask KalaSudha to book a vichitra veena player for your concert, event or recording. In a recital, tabla joins the vichitra veena for the gat after the alap. Send your request through our page to book Indian classical musicians, and hear our artists in KalaSudha's recordings and concert videos.

Well-known vichitra veena players include Lalmani Misra (1924 to 1979), who revived the instrument and built the Misrabani style on right-hand mizrab bols. His son and student Gopal Shankar Misra (1957 to 1999) recorded Out of Stillness at Real World Studios in 1999.

Gopal Krishan (1926 to 2004) of Bhiwani received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1994. Earlier, Abdul Aziz Khan, a former sarangi player, took khayal and thumri onto it.

The vichitra veena has no frets: a glass or steel slide stops its strings, and one glide can span an octave or a quarter-tone. The rudra veena has 21 to 24 high brass frets set in wax, and the player pushes the string sideways on them for meend of up to a fifth.

Both rest on two large gourds. The vichitra veena lies flat on a broad wooden beam, while the rudra veena's hollow tube sits diagonally, one gourd on the left shoulder. Both served dhrupad, and Abdul Aziz Khan also took khayal and thumri onto the vichitra veena.