Dramyin

{{Short description|Himalayan folk music lute with six strings}} {{For|the related dance|Dramyin Cham}} {{Infobox instrument | name =Dramyin | image =Dranyen.png | image_size =300 px | alt =Tibetan man playing a dranyen. | caption =Tibetan man playing a dranyen. | background =string | names =Dranyen, dramnyen | classification =String instrument<br/>Plucked string instrument | hornbostel_sachs =321.321-6 | hornbostel_sachs_desc =necked bowl lute, a chordophone with permanently attached resonator and neck, played with plectrum | inventors = | developed = | timbre = | volume = | attack = | decay = | range = | pitch = | related =*rubab * Pamiri rubab *Tungna | musicians = | builders = | articles = }} The '''''dramyin''''' or '''''dranyen''''' ({{bo|t=སྒྲ་སྙན་|w=sgra-snyan}}; {{langx|dz|dramnyen}}; {{zh|c=扎木聂|p=zhamunie}})<ref name=Kinga>{{cite journal|title=The Attributes and Values of Folk and Popular Songs |journal=Journal of Bhutan Studies |volume=3 |issue=1 |first=Sonam |last=Kinga |access-date=2011-10-30 |url=http://www.thlib.org/static/reprints/jbs/JBS_03_01_05.pdf |format=PDF |year=2003 |pages=132–170}}</ref> is a traditional Himalayan folk music lute with six strings, used primarily as an accompaniment to singing in the Drukpa Buddhist culture and society in Bhutan, as well as in Tibet, Ladakh, Sikkim and Himalayan West Bengal. It is often used in religious festivals of Tibetan Buddhism (cf. tshechu). The instrument is played by strumming, fingerpicking or (most commonly) plucking.<ref name=dr>[https://padmasambhavagururinpoche.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/demon.pdf 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</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://stringedinstrumentdatabase.110mb.com/c.htm |title=The Stringed Instrument Database |access-date=2010-08-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111218212611/http://stringedinstrumentdatabase.110mb.com/c.htm |archive-date=2011-12-18 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The ''dramyen'', ''chiwang'' (fiddle), and ''lingm'' (flute) comprise the basic instrumental inventory for traditional Bhutanese folk music.<ref name=Kinga/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://stringedinstrumentdatabase.aornis.com/|title=The Stringed Instrument Database: Index|website=Stringedinstrumentdatabase.aornis.com|access-date=21 April 2021}}</ref>

==Structure== {{multiple image|caption_align=center|header_align=center | align = left | image1 = Nepalese instrument.jpg | width1 = 130 | alt1 = Nepalese tungna | caption1 = A Nepalese Dranyen, called a tungna (Nepali: टुङ्ना).

| image2 = Luth dranyen (musée d'ethnographie, Neuchâtel, Suisse) (28873179047).jpg | width2 = 130 | alt2 = Bhutanese dranyn | caption2 = Bhutanese dranyen at the ethnography museum, Neuchâtel, Switzerland.}}

The ''dranyen'' is a long-necked, double-waisted and fretless lute.<ref name=dr/> 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 ''dranyen'' does not have a round sound hole in the wooden sounding board, but rather rosette-shaped ones like a lute.

For 6 string ''dranyen'' all six strings continue to the pegbox. They run in 3 double courses. This is a common Tibetan style. 7 string ''dranyen'' are a common Bhutanese style. Of this styles's seven strings, or ''thag'', 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.<ref name=dr/>

Traditional ''dranyens'' are equipped with a single bridge. Resonance is achieved with a taught, thick animal skin. Certain older forms of the ''dranyen'' possessed sympathetic strings and under-strings to produce more resonance.

Some ''dranyens'' come with a plectrum attached to the base for plucking. Plectrums were traditionally made of bone, but are now made of plastic or wood.<ref name=dr/>

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 type of sea monster. Tassels may be hung from the horns of the ''chusing'' to give the instrument a more frightening look.<ref name=dr/>

==Tuning and playing technique== thumb|A ''dranyen'' (centre) in the Horniman Museum, London, UK. 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. ''Dranyens'' may also be played to keep time, in a rhythmic fashion.<ref name=dr/>

One standard tuning for the ''dranyen'' is: g G c' c c f f.<ref name=dr/>

The standard way of plucking a course is down and 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.<ref name=dr/>

==Cultural significance== right|thumb|200px|Tibetan street-musician ''Dramyins'' are often used as accompaniment while narrating stories for providing ambience and keeping time, as shown in the Bhutanese film Travellers and Magicians

''Dramyins'' are notably used in the performance of Dramyin Cham – a cham dance of subjugation performed by Drukpa monks during the singing of Dramyin Choeshay – a religious song. These are performed at religious festivals called tsechus – banned in Tibet, but continuing unabated in Bhutan much as they have been for the past four centuries. 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.<ref name=dr/>

The ''dranyen'' is generally regarded as a secular instrument, and the performance of a ''Dranyen Cham'' or ''Dranyen Choeshay'' are one of the few instances when the ''dranyen'' is allowed to be played inside a monastery or a Dzong. However, ''dranyens'' 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 ''dranyen'' in religious iconography.<ref name=dr/>

The ''dranyen'''s melodious sound is supposed to attract demons, and the role of the carved ''chusing'' on the pegbox acts to ward off demons. The ''dranyen'' is associated with a guardian deity in the ''Dranyen Cham''.<ref name=dr/>

==Popular culture and modern variants== Rigsar is a popular music arising in Bhutan. ''Rigsar'' music often makes extensive use of the ''dranyen'', although the traditional ''dranyen'' is typically modified into the ''rigsar dranyen'' by Bhutanese musician Sonam Dorji, for use in such popular music. The rigsar ''dranyen'' has 15 strings, two bridges and an extra set of tuning keys.<ref>[http://www.raonline.ch/pages/bt/visin/bt_music01a.html An article] about the Rigsar Dranyen in ''RA Online''</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Necked lutes Category:Buddhist music Category:Bhutanese musical instruments Category:Tibetan musical instruments Category:Indian musical instruments Category:Drumhead lutes