Mridangam in the context of "Kattaikkuttu"

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⭐ Core Definition: Mridangam

The mridangam is an ancient percussion instrument originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is a traditional royal instrument originating in the south Indian state of Kerala and is widely used in south Indian classical music, called Carnatic music, especially in its sangeetha kacherees. It is the primary rhythmic accompaniment in a Carnatic music ensemble. In dhrupad, a modified version, the pakhawaj, is the primary percussion instrument. A related instrument is the kendang, played in the Maritime Southeast Asia. It is a complex instrument to tune and involves a lot of mathematics to construct korvais.

During a percussion ensemble, the mridangam is often accompanied by the ghatam, the kanjira, and the morsing.

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👉 Mridangam in the context of Kattaikkuttu

Kattaikkuttu [கட்டைக்கூத்து] is a rural, Tamil-language based, physical and vocal form of ensemble theatre form practised in the State of Tamil Nadu in South India. It is a form of Kūttu (also spelled as Koothu), a theatre art that originated in early Tamilakam, though we are not sure what exactly the form and content of this theatre. The performers – by tradition only men – sing, act and dance and the musicians accompany them on the harmonium, the mridangam and dholak, and the mukavinai. The terms Terukkūttu [தெருக்கூத்து which translates as street theatre] and Kaṭṭaikkūttu are often used interchangeably. However, historically the two terms appear to have distinguished, at least in certain villages, between two different kinds of performance: while Terukkuttu referred to mobile performances by two actors participating in a procession for the village deity Mariamman, Kattaikkuttu denotes overnight, narrative performances at a fixed performance space acted by an ensemble of about fifteen actors and musicians.

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Mridangam in the context of Percussion instrument

A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Excluding zoomusicological instruments and the human voice, the percussion family is believed to include the oldest musical instruments. In spite of being a very common term to designate instruments, and to relate them to their players, the percussionists, percussion is not a systematic classificatory category of instruments, as described by the scientific field of organology. It is shown below that percussion instruments may belong to the organological classes of idiophone, membranophone, aerophone and chordophone.

The percussion section of an orchestra most commonly contains instruments such as the timpani, snare drum, bass drum, tambourine, belonging to the membranophones, and cymbals and triangle, which are idiophones. However, the section can also contain aerophones, such as whistles and sirens, or a blown conch shell. Percussive techniques can even be applied to the human body itself, as in body percussion. On the other hand, keyboard instruments, such as the celesta, are not normally part of the percussion section, but keyboard percussion instruments such as the glockenspiel and xylophone (which do not have piano keyboards) are included.

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LINKED FROM (PARENTS)
← Kattaikkuttu ← Percussion instrument ← Percussion ← Percussionist
LINKS TO (CHILDREN)
Percussion instrument → Indian subcontinent → Kerala → Carnatic music → Dhrupad → Pakhawaj → Kendang → Maritime Southeast Asia → Ghatam → Kanjira → Morsing →