Music

Music is the combination of different instruments creating a peaceful tone. The instruments such as guitar, drums etc are used in creating music. Since many decades people have shown passion in music because they think that music explains the things that even words cannot explain. Both Hindustani and Karnatak music use the system of ragas—sets of pitches and small motives for melody construction—and tala for rhythm. Ragas form a set of rules and patterns around which a musician can create his or her unique performance. Likewise, tala is a system of rhythmic structures based on the combination of stressed and unstressed beats. Within these rhythmic structures, musicians (1996.100.1) can create their own rhythmic patterns building off the compositional styles of others. Much of the music vital to indigenous people the world over is rich with percussion and is often led by the beat of the drum. Substantiating the intrinsic import of drums are countless oral traditions that personify the sound of the drum as the heartbeat of the earth, the rumble of thunder, or the pulse of life. The traditions found among the people of the Northern Plains of North America are no exception; whether addressing historic or contemporary times, the presence of the music of the drum is pervasive. While other instruments, such as whistles and rattles, can be used to augment the music of the Great Plains, the drum most often accompanies the human voice. Edward S. Curtis, the famed early twentieth-century photographer of the American West, captures the significance of the drum in his work Singing Deeds of Valor, a photogravure included in the 1906 publication of The North American Indian. The interdependence of the human voice and drum is reflected in the language used to refer to those who play the drum, as they are traditionally known as singers, not as drummers. The voice of the drum is joined with the voices of the singers to create the song.

One of the main differences between North Indian and South Indian music is the increased influence of Persian music and musical instruments in the North. From the late twelfth century through the rise of British occupation, North India was under the control of a Muslim minority that was never able to extend its sphere of influence to South India. During this time, the music of North India began to acquire and adapt to the presence of Persian language, music, and musical instruments, such as the setar, from which the sitar got its name; the kemancheh (1998.72) and santur, which became popular in Kashmir; and the rabab [alternately known as rebab and rubab], which preceded the sarod. New instruments were introduced, including the tabla and sitar (1999.399), which soon became the most famous Indian musical instruments worldwide. Legend has it that the tabla was formed by splitting a pakhavaj drum in half, with the larger side becoming the bayan and the smaller side the dahini. The barrel-shaped pakhavaj drum, which was the ancestor of both the tabla and the mrdangam, has been depicted in countless paintings and prints. New genres of music were formed as well, such as khyal and qawwali, that combine elements of both Hindu and Muslim musical practice.

Hindustani classical music is known largely for its instrumentalists, while Karnatak classical music is renowned for its virtuosic singing practices. Instruments most commonly used in Hindustani classical music are the sitar, sarod, tambura, sahnai, sarangi, and tabla; while instruments commonly used in Karnatak classical music include the vina, mrdangam, kanjira, and violin. The use of bamboo flutes, such as the murali, is common to both traditions as well as many other genres of Indian music. In fact, many of these instruments are often used in both North and South India, and there are many clear relationships between the instruments of both regions. Furthermore, often instruments that are slightly different in construction will be identified by the same name in both the south and the north, though they might be used differently. Whistles and rattles, when included as a part of music making, are not used purely for extra-musical affects. Rather, the presence of such instruments contributes to the symbolic meanings associated with the materials from which they were made, as well as the purpose of the song (89.4.597). For example, eagle-bone whistles are played during the Sun Dance to invoke the strength of the eagle and during the ceremonies of the Native American Church to call to the spirits. Some warrior societiesalso use eagle-bone whistles during specific communal dances, though only sparingly and with deliberate intentions. The Grass Dance whistle is used in much the same way, for specific use during the Grass Dance, a common element of many powwows (89.4.2058). 

Throughout its history, the peoples of India have developed numerous systems for classifying musical instruments, many of which were based on morphological characteristics. The ancient Hindu system divided instruments into four categories: stretched (strings; 2008.141.2a,b), covered (drums; 89.4.165), hollow (wind; 1986.12), and solid (bells;89.4.154). This system is widely known to be the inspiration for the Western system of instrument classification put forth by Mahillon in 1880, which renames these groups—chordophones, membranophones, aerophones, and idiophones—basing the distinction on the way in which sound is created and not exclusively on construction. Another instrument common to the people of the Northern Plains, along with most of North America, is the courting flute. Folklore states thatflutes were traditionally played by men to sway the affections of women, as reflected in the English translation for the instrument; however, it is played by both men and women in modern times. The courting flute is traditionally used strictly as a solo instrument (89.4.3371). Sacred music employs both large and small drums, dependent upon the occasion and number of participants. Drums employed for use in the context of a powwow are larger than those used for personal spiritual practice. Often referred to as hand drums or frame drums, those used for personal playing need only be large enough for one person to strike the head (89.4.560ab). During personal use, the practitioner holds the drum in one hand and the drumstick in the other. When singing with the drum at a powwow or other gathering, many people can strike the drum simultaneously, as it rests on a stand at the center of the group. Often the drumsticks used are long enough to allow numerous singers the opportunity to be involved. When singing in groups, two types of drums can be used, either those traditionally made with Native-tanned leather heads or commercially manufactured bass drums. In secular and sacred music alike, it is necessary for the sound of the drum to be heard by all involved as it is the voice that drives the music.

Both secular and sacred music exist among the people of the Northern Plains. The secular music comes in many forms, ranging from honoring songs that commemorate a person's life to dance songs for communal celebration of exhibition at powwows to the songs of gratitude for everyday life. The convention of powwow gathering is the most accessible venue of secular Plains Indian music today, though this was not always the case. Prior to Western European contact, and the forced migration of Indian people which began officially with the Indian Removal Act of 1830, only a few tribes, namely the Omaha and the Ponca, practiced the communal ritual known today as the powwow. Relocation of many tribes in the Northern Plains initiated cultural exchanges that resulted in the formation of the powwow as it exists today. Though historic trade routes attest to movement along the central corridor of the Americas as part of pre-Contact life, a degree of elective isolation fostered the development of idiomatic characteristics among the indigenous people of North America. With the development of technology and the advent of instruments and other sophisticated devices, music supposed to reach an all time high level. However, not all. As the boundaries of the universe are expand' the limits of music are also expanding. It's like whey see the sun touching the horizon and try to get as near the point where the sun touches the ground, you find further still, i.e., when we try to reach the limits of must we see that they go still further away from us.