The audience at Parthasarathy Swamy Sabha erupted in applause when Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman finished playing the mridangam just as Kunnakudi Balamuralikrishna sang his first song. Having seen the instrument for the first time, they had eagerly waited to hear how it would sound.
“Nearly 45 years ago, I came up with the glass mridangam. This mridangam is made of compressed glass and weighs nearly 19 kilos,” Mr. Sivaraman said. Nearly 48 layers of glass are arranged in concentric circles.
Tracing the history of the mridangam, the percussionist said that it was initially made of mud and clay and later, wood was used to make it after they realised that it was easier to transport without damage.
“The glass mridangam is eco-friendly and can be made in different pitches including D,E,G,F and F sharp,” he said. When asked about the echo in the instrument since glass is generally not suited for percussion, Mr. Sivaraman said that even he was surprised to find that the instrument did not have any echo when he tested it for the first time.
“I’m hoping that the younger percussionists find this instrument good to use. I last tuned the ‘sruthi’ on the mridangam nearly a month ago. We are working on evolving another model of the glass mridangam which will be lighter,” he said. The percussionist was joined on the stage by Srimushnam V. Rajarao.
A.R. Unnikrishnan, National Head, Sales and Marketing of Saint Gobain Glass, as well as B. Karunakaran and B. Ganesh from Sakthi Sai Safety Glass who helped Mr. Sivaraman create the instrument were honoured at the event.
N. Ram, Chairman, Kasturi and Sons, said he lauded the experiments in the music field bringing together tradition and modernity including the role of Ravikiran in the evolution of the Chitraveena and T.M. Krishna who is exploring with the art form itself. “This also shows the relationship between science and art. While art comes to the fore, there is focus on technique and skill as well,” he said.
Vocalist T.M. Krishna said that while it was fascinating to see such an instrument not only conceptualised but also made musical, more research could be carried out in the future by other musicians into its working and evolution.
