A Brief mention about Harmonium and its transformation from a Western based instrument in to an Indian based instrument called Samvadini.

Harmonium is an instrument of Western Import. It was first made in Italy around 1840. Harmonium has been on the Indian musical scene since last 150 years. It is a very popular and ubiquitous instrument. One can find its presence at practically every musical event - big or small - be it a Classical Music Mehfil or a Light Music Mehfil like Ghazal, Bhajan, Kirtan or film music. However in all these musical functions, one can see that harmonium’s role is limited to that of an accompanying or supporting instrument. What we call Saath Sangat. Harmonium could never reach the height of a solo instrument having its own indentify like what one sees in case of the Sitar, Sarod, Santoor or Flute.

It was late Pandit Manohar Chimote (1929-2012) who took up the challenge of transforming this accompanying cum supporting instrument into a full, fledged solo instrument Pandit Chimote made it a mission of his life and devoted his entire life to reach towards this objective.

His first challenge was to change the tempered based tuning of western music to a Gandhar based tuning of Indian music. The second challenge was to impart a sonoruous tonal quality to the sound of harmonium. This he over came with the selection of proper reeds and placing a harp like device on the top of the harmonium. The third challenge was to evolve a distinct system of playing harmonium in the Indian Classical music way covering Aalap, Jod, Jhala, Vilambit and Drut Gatkari.

However here he had to contend with a major accusation that was made against Samvadini that it had inherent limitations to produce meend and this was the main reason why many critics felt Samvadini was not considered to be a suitable instrument for a solo rendition. To this point of view, Pandit. Manohar Chimote’s contention was that the availability of meend is relative and it varies from instrument to instrument.

In Samvadini, its availability is limited to only one swar whereas in the Sitar and Sarod it is of 4 to 5 swars and in Shehnai and Veena, it is of full octave. Does this mean that those instruments having no or limited range of meend availability are not suitable for a solo rendition. The answer is simply NO.Similarly in vocal music, some singers voice range extends over three octaves whereas in other singers it extends over two octaves and in few singers it extends over just one and a half octave. The point is that inherent limitations of one type or the other exist in all mediums be they vocal or instrumental. But the beauty of an artist is that he /she tries to underplay the inherent limitations or shortcomings of his voice or instrument and tries to maximize his other areas of his playing or singing where he /she is better placed. So Pandit. Manohar Chimote firmly believed that non availability of meend in Samvadini was never an hurdle for him as there were other kriyas like the gamak, ghasit, girav, kan, avkan, khatkas, murkies with whose usage( prayog) Samvadini vadan can be enriched. By relentless thought process and continuous riaaz, he did prove his point and was able to evolve a distinct system of playing harmonium over the years which is popularly known in the Hindustani Classical Music as “ baaz”. Thus having Indianised the harmonium and imparting it a distinctive character, Pandit Manohar Chimote renamed it as Samvadini.

Today the word Samvadini is used synonymously with harmonium by artists and music lovers alike. But it may be clarified that all harmoniums cannot be called Samvadini. Samvadini is not just a Hindi name for harmonium. It is something far more than that. Samvadini is an aavishkar - an instrument with its own distinctive identity which is evolved over a period of time through a single minded devotion, riaz and thinking by Pandit Manohar Chimote . It is hoped that the Indian classical music world will take due note of this fact and give credit where it is due.