ආලාපිණී වීණාව

The ***ālāpiṇī vīṇā*** was a medieval stick-zither veena in India, with a single string and a gourd resonator. Later forms added more strings. The instruments became prominent in Indian music after 500 C.E. as instruments of court music. Alongside the eka-tantri vina and kinnari vina it replaced the harp-style veenas and lute-style veenas. The instruments were used in Southeast Asia, both mainland and island nations, and were recorded in sculpture and relief sculpture.

Although the stick zithers and tube zithers are very similar, it is possible that they have different origins. Early paintings of stick zithers in India date back at least to the 5th century C.E. The earliest currently known stick zither is in the Caves of Ajanta at the end of the 5th century. After a period of assuming that tube zithers spread from India to Southeast Asia, modern scholars have been trying to decide if the tube zithers might have originated in Southeast Asia and spread to India. Whatever the origins, Indian influence on musical culture in Southeast Asia is recorded in the archaeological remains of past civilizations.

Similar instruments today include the Cambodian kse diev and Thai phin namtao.

## Identifying the *ālāpiṇī vīṇā*
Instruments in paintings and sculpture are not generally labeled, and researchers have had to apply the names *ālāpiṇī vīṇā* and *eka-tantrī vīṇā* (one-string vina) to different instruments. Iconography can't show whether the rods or bodies are hollow, and researchers have had to look for clues in literature.

Instruments in surviving images that are labeled *eka-tantrī vīṇā* are generally tube zithers with wide tubes and a gourd attached to the top, the gourd held over the musician's shoulder and the other end past their hip, with a single string and no frets. Musician's are shown sliding the straightened fingers of their upper hand on the string, or holding a stick to slide on the string, and plucking with their lower hand.

Instruments labeled *ālāpiṇī vīṇā* tend to be stick zithers, held shoulder to hip with a gourd resonator that is pressed into the musician's stomach, chest or shoulder, the musician's upper hand normally held over that gourd with fingers wide to choose notes, the lower hand plucking the string. The earliest of these instruments were obvious stick zithers, the stick too narrow to make an effective resonating tube. Later instruments were as thick, the musician's hand barely able to stretch around the tube. Often in sculpture, the stick has curves.

The instruments are fretless, the earliest depictions showing a single string. The later instruments labeled * kinnari vina* we're fretted and show traits of both instruments, with  gourds that are pressed into the chest and also rise above the shoulder. Another can be seen in alcove 46 or 47 of the Kailasanathar Temple, Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, India.

### Modern instruments
Musicologist Lars-Christian Koch pointed out that modern instruments exist in Orissa or Radhjasthan, which can help us understand how the instruments might have sounded. With the kse diev, the gourd is pressed with different pressures into the player's, and the ring finger of the right hand plucks, while the left hand applies pressure on the string at the players chest.

Koch warns about assuming too much when looking at modern instruments. He said there is no "direct transfer of playing technique, tone supply or repertoire" so that the instruments in medieval India may have been played differently and to different kinds of music compared to modern instruments.

File:Yoeun Mek tries kse diev 2001.jpg|Modern kse diev

## References