The Music and Musical Instruments of Southern India and the Deccan c11.281

c11.281

THE bagpipe here drawn is the Moshuq, or, as it is called in Southern India, S'ruti-upanga or Bhazana-s'ruti. It is used merely as a drone; the holes in the pipe are wholly or partially stopped with wax so as to tune the instrument to the pitch desired. The bag is made of the skin of a kid and is inflated from the mouth by means of the smaller of the two pipes shown. The drone is of cane, mounted in a stock of the same material, and which contains the reed. An enlarged drawing of the reed has been given in the plate, in order better to show its construction, and, as can be seen, the vibrations are controlled by a little piece of wire or fine twine tied roughly round the tongue. The whole reed is in one piece and is generally made of small cane or of the large marsh reeds found almost everywhere. Black wax is used to make the instrument wind-tight.