Harmonium - Tirupati Harinam
The Tirupati Harinam is a particularly small, light and sturdy harmonium with sharp and powerful sound. Its small bellows, however, give it very little sustain and limit its range of dynamic variation. Not recommended for beginners, but great for experienced musicians on the road, to accompany kirtans and group singing and for playing with strong rhythmic accents.
The low weight and the small dimensions result from an intelligent construction without awkward folding mechanism. The slanting keyboard level when putting the Harinam on a flat surface needs some getting used to. However, the keyboard level gets horizontal when the player sits cross-legged and rests the harmonium's front side on his / her lap. Each note has two reeds in simple quality in middle and low register (male / bass), giving the Harinam a sharp and powerful sound. Male and bass reeds always play together, because there is no register separation. The external bellows at the back open to the top and fill up automatically when the latch is opened. For playing one has to pull them against a little resistence. The internal bellows are visible and open to the bottom. Their removable springs on both sides can be used to adjust the bellows tension and thus the volume and sustain. The tonal range is smaller than in full size harmoniums, but sufficient for all common mantras and kirtans. The Harinam harmonium can also be played standing by fixing a shoulder strap to the attached rings.
Features:
- 32 simple stick keys
- range of two and a half octaves from F to C
- 2 reeds in middle and low register for each note
- low range F2 - C5, middle range F3 - C6
- double fold external bellows with top opening and spring
- tension of internal bellows adjustable with removable springs
-
cabinet made of pine wood*
- cloth cover over the keyboard mechanism
- incl. shoulder strap
- incl. padded bag
- Dimensions: height 24 cm, width 42 cm depth 33 cm
- Weight 4.6 kg
* Pine wood is mainly used for harmoniums in the area around Delhi. It is lighter, but also much softer than the teak wood used in Mumbai and Kolkata. Therefore many pine harmoniums get small dents or other blemishes during production and transport to Europe - these are caused by the material and are not to be regarded as defects.
TIRUPATI is the international brand name for instruments from Sharma Musicals in Ghaziabad, a neighbouring city of Delhi. Sharma Musicals was founded in 1934 by Jagdish Prasad Sharma and is today one of the leading Indian harmonium makers. The current manager Mayank Sharma runs the business in the fourth generation. Thanks to solid infrastructure, long experience and good quality awareness, Sharma Musicals is a reliable supplier of all harmonium models typical of Delhi and North-West India. Instruments from Sharma Musicals are also marketed in the USA and are sold there under the name Bhava Harmonium. They are recommended by renowned kirtan teacher Daniel Tucker.
Want to LEARN how to play the HARMONIUM?
Here is a link to the Happy Hippo Harmonium YouTube channel. Enjoy ...
