Tuesday 12 April 2011

Harmonium (Baja)

Lets start our journey to know musical instruments from indian musical instruments first. First instrument is  Harmonium.

An Introduction:
A harmonium is a free-standing keyboard instrument similar to a reed organ. Sound is produced by air, supplied by foot-operated or hand-operated bellows, being blown through sets of free reeds, resulting in a sound similar to that of an accordion. There are also pumps used by your knees to give a sustaining sound.

History:
The harmonium was invented in Paris in the 1840s by Alexandre Debain, though there was concurrent development of similar instruments. Christian Gottlieb Kratzenstein (1723–1795), Professor of Physiology at Copenhagen, was credited with the first free-reed to be made in the western world after winning the annual prize in 1780 from the Imperial Academy of St.Petersburg.

Harmonium in India:
During the mid-19th century missionaries brought French-made hand-pumped harmoniums to India. The instrument quickly became popular there: it was portable, reliable and easy to learn. It has remained popular to the present day, and the harmonium remains an important instrument in many genres of Indian music. It is commonly found in Indian homes. Though derived from the designs developed in France, the harmonium was developed further in India in unique ways, such as the addition of drone stops and a scale changing mechanism.

source of Information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonium
Harmonium close up

A 1930 harmonium by Goldschmeding, from Holland




    
where to purchase:
Generally you can purchase Harmonium from any music instruments store . Except this you can purchase Harmonium online also from the comfort of your home. Here some online shops from where you can place an order to purchase the Harmonium.

http://batish.com/catalog/inst/Harmonium/                






 Learn Harmonium:
To Learn Harmonium you can join any music classes or school.  Like...
http://www.indiaparenting.com/classes/hobby/dance/dance.shtml

http://www.tarang-classical-indian-music.com/indian_music_teachers_others_eng.htm

Some sites also give tips to learn Harmonium like...
Link1 

Link2 







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