Dear List members,
I have received several reactions, among which one from Herman Tull, who in the seventies of the previous century learned to play the mr̥daṅga in India and was also taught how to apply tuning paste the membrane. He was taught (I quote from his mail to me) 

"to mix the rava with water to make a ball, and then apply (flattening out) to the drum head (it had to be just wet enough to stick to the drum head, but not so wet as to stick to the hand in striking the drum). Its purpose was  to change its tone, and really to deaden it (the left side of the mridangam), to give it that characteristic "thunk" sound."

"There is a permanent paste applied to the right side of the mrdangam. The paste is made of some sort of glue and iron filings.  This paste has been the subject of many studies, most famously that of the physicist and Nobel laureate C. V. Raman, in his 1934 essay, 'The Indian Musical Drums"".

"Its purpose is  to add timbre to the pitch and, in the case of the right side, to the several pitches that this drum can produce, due to its unique head construction, utilizing several layered skins, which is this drum's unique feature."

My question has come up in the context of a brief paper I am writing (as no. 10 in the series "Realia in Caṅkam Poetry") on the pakaṉṟai flower. In this paper I have to deal with the word pacai, "paste". It refers to several kinds of paste, including fuller's earth and is smeared on various objects, including untreated, hairy hide (or leather) and the membrane of a lute. So I was curious to know what is was doing on the leather membrane of the lute (remove the hairs from the hide, as fuller's earth does?). I assume this use serves the same purpose as the paste smeared on the drum. Now I know.

With kind regards, Herman
 

Herman Tieken
Stationsweg 58
2515 BP Den Haag
The Netherlands
00 31 (0)70 2208127

The Aśoka Inscriptions: Analysing a corpus, New Delhi: Primus Books, 2023.


Van: Agnes Korn <agnes.korn@cnrs.fr>
Verzonden: zaterdag 5 augustus 2023 19:28
Aan: indology <indology@list.indology.info>; Tieken, H.J.H. (Herman) <H.J.H.Tieken@hum.leidenuniv.nl>
Onderwerp: Fwd: [INDOLOGY] tuning paste
 

Dear all,

My PhD student Romain Mascagni has seen tuning paste applied in his fieldwork among the Baloch in Oman (see below).

He is sceptical that it serves to render the membrane more subtle, since at least the instruments that "his" Baloch are using have the things at the side (I've no idea what they are called) for that purpose.

Conversely, he thinks that it serves to modify the sound.

He hasn't seen a paste being applied to lute instruments.

If of interest, I can also ask others.

Best,
Agnes

-------- Message transféré --------
Sujet : Re: [INDOLOGY] tuning paste
Date : Sat, 5 Aug 2023 18:57:53 +0200
De : Romain Mascagni <romain.mascagni@gmail.com>
Pour : Agnes Korn <agnes.korn@cnrs.fr>


Chère Agnes,

Si je comprends bien de quoi il est question (voir photo ci-joint), il s'agit d'appliquer une matière au centre d'une peau d'un tambour afin de travailler le timbre de l'instrument. Sans cela les peaux résonnent trop (il me semble que c'est pour cela qu'ils font ça, mais il faudrait que je regarde dans mes notes pour être sûr). Cela a peut-être aussi une incidence sur la rigidité de la peau afin donner un son plus aiguë (mais ce qui est de toute façon possible en tendant la peau du tambour). Je ne savais pas que ça se faisait pour des luth par contre (si on parle bien de la même chose!)

peau.jpg

Amitiés,
Romain


Le sam. 5 août 2023 à 15:41, Agnes Korn <agnes.korn@cnrs.fr> a écrit :

Cher Romain,

Connaissez-vous une telle tradition ?

Amitiés,
Agnes

-------- Message transféré --------
Sujet : [INDOLOGY] tuning paste
Date : Sat, 5 Aug 2023 08:59:45 +0000
De : Tieken, H.J.H. (Herman) via INDOLOGY <indology@list.indology.info>
Répondre à : Tieken, H.J.H. (Herman) <H.J.H.Tieken@hum.leidenuniv.nl>
Pour : Indology List <indology@list.indology.info>


Dear List members,

I would like to know more about the so-called tuning paste, or the mud smeared on the membrane of a drum (Skt mārjanā) or (in Caṅkam poetry) a lute (yāḻ). What does it actually do, for instance, is it making the leather more supple?

With kind regards, Herman

Herman Tieken
Stationsweg 58
2515 BP Den Haag
The Netherlands
00 31 (0)70 2208127

The Aśoka Inscriptions: Analysing a corpus, New Delhi: Primus Books, 2023.