The Music of Hindostan c8.s1.27

c8.s1.27

In spite of the fame conferred upon it by Kṛṣṇa's performance among his Gopis, the flute seems to fade out of Indian music; at least there are few references to it, and it is seldom to be heard nowadays. Perhaps its mellow tone is not of the kind which appeals to Indian ears; at any rate the *shahnai* and *nagasāram* (both reeds) which have ousted it are stridently nasal; and the buzzing of the *tambura* strings, effected by the insertion of a piece of silk (*jivala*), the jingling of the fifth string of the *satār*, called *laraz*, and made, for this very purpose, of twisted brass, and most of all the nasal tone of voice which is deliberately cultivated for singing, seem to show that so mild a sound as that of the flute-tribe is not thought to be piquant enough.