Origin, Development and Features
Mridang must-percussion accompaniment for a Karnaatak vocal recital is a gift to the musicians of this genre from none other than Nandikeshwar the mount, escort and close aide of Lord Shiv. Deity Nandee played Mridang in consonance with the aggressive dancing of Shiv known in mythology as Shiv Taandav which depicts the most intricate and convoluted style of dancing presented with astounding contorted postures of body embellished with delicate movements of limbs that camouflages the ferocity with utter grace.

The evolution of Mridang spreads over a period of more than 2000 years and this fact is evidenced in the temple sculptures, rock edicts of various rulers, and innumerable stone carvings found in myriads of locations in India. Mridang takes its name from the conjoined Sanskrit words Mrid and Angam wherein Mrid means earth/clay and Angam means part/ body. Researchers have established beyond doubt that in its incipience the main body - that is the shell or barrel - of the Mridang was molded out of highly cohesive and plasticized clay which was dried under the sun and later burnt in a kiln like any other earthen / terracotta artifact. This shell / barrel the dimensions of which underwent many a sprucing and refined modifications was then harnessed with leather pieces cut round and with easily pliable straps.

The most vital stage in the process of making a Mridang is the application of a kind of mucilage (concocted with finely powdered basalt / black granite with a fairly high percentage of ferrous content and well cooked rice) in the centre of the right side disc. In the musical parlance this component is known as "Sadam / Soru". This hard paste is applied with fingers in wafer thin layers the number of which depends on the pitch or the "Shruti" of the instrument. This patch of "sadam" application exclusively contributes to the metallic ringing sound of Mridang.

Over a period of time the clay shell gave way to a wooden one which was found to add to the tonal quality besides being absolutely durable and less heavy. After innumerable trial and error, wood obtained from the trunk of jack fruit tree was adjudged most suitable since it was subjected to minimal distortions that the change in atmospheric temperature would induce in solids. The leather components are of hides of goat, cow calf and buffalo. Broadly, skin of goat and cow calf is used for the right side membranes and that of buffalo and goat for the left. For tying up the right and left units over on to the shell, leather strips of buffalo skin are used. The making of Mridang is the work of a highly skilled person possessing in depth knowledge in music especially in rhythm compositions unique in Karnaatak music. He is an artist by himself with keen ears to distinguish between different pitches (Shruti) without the need for a base tuner such as Tambooraa or Shruti box.

Different sizes of the shell cater to different pitches and a chosen size in respect of length of shell, diameters of right and left apertures, and the enlarged diameter of the ridge (or the bulge) situated in the shell nearer to the left aperture shall form the basis for the bass and treble features of the instrument. A specific combination of these sizes will cater to a range of pitch (Shruti) that is from less than one to 2, above 2 to above 3, 4 and above etc. These ranges are classified as Thakku (lower pitches) and Sthaayee (higher pitches). The Mridang player when accompanying a vocalist in a concert goes in for a Thakku if the singer is male and a Sthayee if the singer is female. Within the given range, the pitch of the instrument can be further fine tuned to harmonize with that of the singer. Only the right side membrane with the mucilage coating is fine tuned which is achieved by striking the rim downward all around to make it become tighter upward to slacken it. The tighter the leather higher the pitch and the slacker it is the lower, the pitch. For this purpose two simple devices are used; one is a hard granite stone ellipsoidal in shape which fits into the fist and the other is a stub of tenacious bamboo or wood approximately 3" long. The stub is kept in the desired location of the rim and struck with the stone upward or downward depending upon the requisite plus or minus variations in the Shruti at which the vocalist would sing.

The Mridangist cocking his ears listens to the adjusted tone and this process is complete when the fine tuned Mridang is harmonized with the droning base tuner say a Tambooraa.

There is no tuning done for the left side which is known in the musical parlance as "Thoppee" a term which is synonymous with the word cap. It is moistened and applied over with a tough paste / dough obtained by coalescing semolina (Ravaa) with water. This hand-smeared application in the centre of Thoppee forming a rough circular shape facilitates it to produce a kind of ear caressing sound unique in itself. When the playing is concluded the semolina paste is peeled off and the Thoppee is cleaned thoroughly.

It was and still is the golden rule that no animal is killed exclusively for the hide that went into the making of a Mridang. Such requirements are met with out of the raw hide disposed of by abattoir where animals are slaughtered for the meat that is consumed by human beings.

There is no percussion instrument in the whole world which can equal the versatility of Mridang and its scientifically developed grammar built into its rendition mode remains unsurpassable posing great challenge to the musicians world over. In a Mridang more than 12 distinctly varying sounds can be produced and this will reach 24 if a little bit of overlapping is conceded. This can be perceived by the reader only with the aid of an audio system. The permutation and combination of these 12 + 24 +.... аs onorous as well as flat sounds while playing rhythmic phrases would horripilate and enthrall the listener and make him / her feel as if he / she were atop a precipice. There are staccato and rapid-fire phrases that come cascading and rolling one over the other. These phrases are so composed that they snugly fit into a set of cyclic beats popularly known as Taal of which there are many details.

Playing It
To learn to play Mridang is an arduous task in that like in almost all branches of fine arts it needs tremendous focus, steadfastness and of course sincerity and involvement. Having a robust physique and the stamina that goes with it will contribute to a great extent in withstanding the rigors of intense practicing of the primary lessons. It is generally believed that people who have long slender fingers will gain acumen at a faster pace. There have been exceptions to this belief inasmuch as the legendary Palghat Mani Iyer played Mridang to the wonderment of the world with short stubby fingers.

In the long past the Gurukul style of education was in vogue like it was for vocal music. With the changing life style and various other socio-economic constraints in the modern world the Gurus became teachers who started offering courses encapsulated in a stifling time-frame and classes became the order of the day - like say 3 hours a day; 4 days a week. Guru Dakhshinaa transformed into compensation package. Not only this, colleges and universities with their spread in musicology have now faculties created exclusively for Mridangam by enrolling in which one can obtain bachelors and post-graduate degrees or diplomas. it is good but these mutations have not in anyway undermined the attraction to this instrument and as we see without a trace of ambiguity, there is no slump in the enthusiasm for learning this divine art, for Nandikeshwar from the heavenly abodes above keeps showering his blessings.

It would be a matter of some interest to know that a fledgling Mridangist in the bygone era had to practice in the preliminary stages on a device fully made of wood. This device comprised of two discs of about 9" diameter and an inch thick connected to each other with a cross bar about 20" long all wood. This was a rough replica of a real Mridangam. The student was allowed access to the proper instrument only after the Guru had made up his mind that the student had sufficient potential to grasp end execute all the theoretical as well as the practical aspects of the subject. Practicing on the wooden disc enabled the learners' palm harden up and when he started playing on the leather membrane the sound of every stroke became quite distinctly audible. This practice of using wooden substitute for a Mridang ended with the Gurukul system and is now obsolete.

The method of teaching may vary slightly from teacher to teacher but the primary lessons are monophonic. In the theory-segment all about Taal (beat) and its grammar is taught. Taal which can be described as "cyclic-counted- beats" is a brilliant innovation in Karnaatak music and this is a link that unifies rhythm and melody. There is no other musical compendium in the world so scientifically evolved combining rhythm and melody with mathematical precision. This is analogous to two persons straying away as their whims permit yet remaining linked together within a preordained demarcation and arriving together at the destination concurrently with absolute aplomb. Here Taal acts as catalyst to transform these two, that is melody and rhythm, into clairvoyants. Such is the profoundness of the methodology built into this system.

There are no prescribed printed text books conceived in imparting Mridang lessons. The pupil writes down all the rhythm phrases that is taught to him and memorizes them. He then in the presence of the teacher mouths the phrases synchronizing them with the Taal beats followed by practicing them on the instrument. The lessons grow and grow and so do the volume of note books. These he preserves with utmost reverence as if it is something to be worshiped. Worshiped it is indeed on the Saraswatee Poojaa day these note books are stacked in the shrine specially created for the occasion and these form part of the paraphernalia of the ritual. The Mridang that he practices on also would be along with the objects of worship. On the next day of Saraswatee Poojaa that is on the Vijayaa Dashamee day the student plays the Mridang starting from the very first lesson for some time however much he has advanced through the course. A new lesson hitherto not taught / learnt is also taken up for practice. This custom is followed not only by the students but also by professionals who are well established in the field. Special prayers are chanted supplicating to Nandikeshwar.

Taal
The Taal come under five sects or groups, known as Jaati in the vernacular of Karnaatak music. These are Tishra, Chaturashra, Khand, Mishra and Sankeern. There are seven most popular and oft-applied formulas of Taal which are Dhrupad, Matya, Roopak, Tirupadee, Jumpai, Ata and Eka. The characteristics each of these Jaati can be applied to each of these Taal and so there are in all 35 Taal. These compositions are taught to the student in stages and steps along with the rhythmic phrases that would fit into each of these Taal starting with single cycle advancing to cover multiple cycles. Besides these 35 Taal there are many more which the student comes to learn at some stage or other during the training period.

The teaching of rhythm-phrase ( "Sol" as per the Mridangist's lexicon) is comparable to that of a language which starts with alphabets followed by mono-syllables, multi-syllables, words, phrases, sentences and the grammar that keeps the such formations reined. In English the lesson starts with 26 alphabets A, B, C, D......etc. Likewise Mridang lesson starts with 4. These are Ta, Thai, Thom, Num. In these Ta and Tom are played on the left membrane and Thi and Num on the right. The established practice is to play these 4 "alphabets" twice through a 8 beat cycle of Taal which is Chaturashra Jaati Tripadee Taal also known as Aadi Taal. The pace of playing twice through one cycle is specified as "Vilamb Taal". Then these strokes are played 4 times and 8 times increasing the rapidity but keeping the time span of the Taal beat same all through. These two rapider paces are Madhyam and Drut Taal. Many more such playing strokes follow some of which are pronounced "Dhin, Na, Ri, Ke and Da", etc. There are many compositions combining these basic "Alphabets" and these are practiced at the three paces described above. By intense Abhyaas (practice) the student picks up proficiency and reach the stage of becoming a full-fledged Mridangam artist. It is to be pointed out that the rhythm phrases and compositions abound and become so voluminous that a student would up end up with nearly 2000 to 3000 pages ( fools cap size) of hand scripted lessons / notes depending upon the extent of tuition he receives and imparted. Interestingly unlike drums of western music there are no notations prescribed for beats. In Indian percussion instruments especially Mridangam and Tabalaa. The individual beat or a composition thereof can be written down in any language that the student is proficient in.

When the teacher becomes quite satisfied about the capability of the learner to play as an accompanying artiste as well as to perform solo a new Mridangist is born who would all the time strive to keep climbing the ladder of popularity and to become well known in the circle of critics. But his learning process would continue because new creations and innovations in his chosen field keep pouring in.

There are many many Mridangists, mostly Braahman who occupy the top slots in the hierarchy of this branch of Karnaatak music. The two names emerge are Guru Karaikudi Mani and J Vaidhanathan (son of vocalist DK Jayaraman and nephew of DK Pattammal). Their way of handling and playing the instrument and the Naad (somewhat sound) that emanates from their Mridangams are simply superb and enthralling to the highest degree. It is with some kind of sorcery that they perform on the Mridangam keeping the listeners- only those who have a keen ear for this gift from Nandikeshwar - spellbound. Speaking of "Naad" it has no equivalent in English. It is not sound and not at all noise either. It is acoustical waves or ripples that transcend sound, noise etc sometimes crunchy some other times mellifluous with evocative qualities. It pervades through the mind anointing and massaging it leaving a residue of utter bliss.

Dwelling on the subject it would not be out of place to mention that Karnaatak music vouches that Shruti, Maatraa, Laya Peeth which aphorism doesn't need any corroboration. Here Laya is attributed to all percussion instruments the king of which is Mridang. But unfortunately this very important aspect of the Karnaatak music is still unpopular and unappreciated by a large group of patrons who claim themselves to be ardent lovers of Karnaatak music.

Tablaa
First of all in Tabalaa the layered application of "Sadam" - the traditional term for Sadam is "loading", on the right side drum in which on an average more than 60% of the any rhythmic phrase (Jaati as classified in the Mridangist's parlance) is played, is right at the centre of the membrane (not at all eccentric) just as in the case of Mridang. Only in the left playing drum of Tabalaa the "sadam" coat is provided eccentric which remains there permanently as an integral part of the instrument. This is actually an equivalent to the semolina dough that is smeared in the centre of left side membrane of the Mridang.

Only difference between Tabalaa and mridang is that the Mridangist applies it and removes it for every spell of the playing. The "sadam" in left side of Tabalaa is permanently provided only for the sake of convenience. The eccentricity of "sadam" in the case of Tabalaa's left drum has a valid reason. The Tabalaa player by virtue of this eccentricity is enabled to have a longer movement of the ball of his palm when he plays the long drawn booming intonation known as "Gamak" inasmuch as a point placed off centre along the diameter leaves a major and a minor segment on either side. This Gamak stroke is played in Mridangam too but the duration of its being heard is much less.

A Tabalaa is said to be a Mridang cut in half, but on a more serious note, the cross-coupling of vibrations in the parallel membranes that occurs in a Mridang is unique to its Naad which is simply absent in the Tabalaa.