The South Indian Saraswati veena is different from the north Indian Rudra veena. But the structure of the key play and drone veena strings, the frets, and the playing techniques of veena remain the same in both the veenas. The Tanjauri veena had undergone numerous phases of alteration from the fourteenth century onwards before it attained its present form. In reality, in the north, the kinnari veena was changed and transformed into a Rudra veena.
The veena is still considered as the queen of all musical instruments. The veena was known to be the perfect instrument for demonstrating different gamakas and thus the veena inspired the style of vocal music to a certain extent.
Veena Construction and Veena Strings
The veena consists of a fingerboard, a pegbox, and a resonator. The veena is made up of jack wood. And it has the resonator called kudam and sculpted like a vessel; the hollowed fingerboard is large and curved from the lower part and ends in the pegbox, shaped into the face of a dragon called vyali.
The most important part of the veena is the bridge. Also, it sits center on the resonator soundboard. It is made from wood and is long, gently slanting in the direction of the veena strings, on the upper part surrounded by a thin brass plate. The four main veena strings pass through the bridge. The three drone strings are known as Talam, which pass through the side bridge. The small pins are used to support the side strings without being attached to the pegs. Four main strings, known as Sarani, pass via the upper bridge fingerboard, known as Meru,
All the veena strings are attached to the string holder, called Nagapasha, positioned at the lower end of the veena and on the resonator side. The strings have spring-type wire knobs, called langars, which can be adjusted for minute changes. Two soundholes are made on the soundboard, resonator shielding. These are known as Nadarandhra. With the aid of good quality beeswax and charcoal powder, twenty-four frets are placed on the fingerboard.
The Veena string can be replaced, And the quality veena string sets are available online. One of the best places to buy veena strings set online is buyveena.com. From this, you can the best quality veena, veena string set, and other string instruments online at an affordable price.
