As a kid, my favorite musical instrument to play was the alto saxophone. Now that I spend most of my musical time playing harmonium, I often wonder at the connection between the two. After all, both instruments produce their sound by forcing a stream of air across a reed. Today, however, I realized what fundamentally sets apart these two types of instruments.

For a saxophone, as with a clarinet, the reed is cut from cane and is rather soft and pliable. As a material, it exhibits no preference for one frequency of vibration over another, and so with just one reed on the saxophone’s mouthpiece, a full range of notes can be played – from quite low to very high. As my fingers pressed the saxophone’s keys, pads closed up holes in the long metal tube body, effectively changing the length of the resonating chamber. It was this length that determined the frequency of vibration (i.e. the pitch – the note), the pliable cane reed vibrating more or less quickly to keep pace with the more dominant tube-length attribute.

With a harmonium, this is not the case! Every single note on the harmonium’s keyboard has a different reed beneath it. The size of the air chamber (the boxes of the harmonium) never changes. Instead, the reeds are cut to specific lengths (low notes are longer reeds, high notes are shorter reeds) and made of metal (usually brass) which expresses a strong preference for a specific vibrating frequency. Such reeds are suited for playing a specific note, and none other, which for a harmonium fits the bill perfectly – but would spell disaster for a saxophone.

And so I reach a new conclusion: A saxophone would never work with a metal reed, and a harmonium will never work with cane reeds.

What physical aspects of the harmonium contribute to its beloved characteristic sound? And how can those physical aspects be improved, to enhance and make more consistent that sound?

Over the last few years, I have often found myself fussing over and pondering harmonium reeds. They are one of the more common parts in the Indian-made harmoniums to fail, usually by going out of alignment and causing a grating, metallic buzzing sound. They are also, however, the essential component that leads to the vibrant, reedy, sustained tone of the harmonium.

Other instruments, such as a guitar, cello or piano, rely on their wood selection and wood craftsmanship for their tone. For these instruments,

I recently received an email from a beginning harmonium player, curious if it’s possible to play nursery rhymes and other songs, such as the Beatles, on her harmonium.

My response?

Absolutely!

We have this funny notion that the harmonium is an Indian instrument, but actually it was born in Paris! It had a nineteenth century heyday throughout Europe and the US,

Amazing times we are living in! It seems that every year more festivals are emerging that feature or at least include kirtan. Here’s are some of the top festivals (in the United States) where you can get your chant on:

Bhakti Fest – A sprawling bi-annual gathering of the Bhakti tribe in Joshual Tree, California. Features multiple days of non-stop kirtan led by Jai Uttal, Krishna Das, the Mayapuris, Wah!, and dozens of other well-known and up-and-coming kirtan musicians. Called the “Woodstock of Kirtan.”

Sat Nam Fest – This bi-annual Kundalini Yoga and Kirtan festival is put on by the inspired organization

[Excerpted from an actual email exchange with an Irish student who is in my Bhakti Breakfast Club online harmonium class]

Hi Daniel,

…I’m a huge Krishna Das fan and it was as a result of his work that I got involved in this in the first place.

One area that I struggle with though is timing. I have a decent sense of rhythm, however I feel that I’m timing challenged…

[Excerpted from my musical diary - 2/26/2010]

I am in my bedroom, doing yoga while “Mozart for Meditation” plays on my computer. Outside my window, a sunrise fills the sky. It’s rays of light seem to pulse and shift hues in response to the music, beautifully interweaving with the rhythms of the violins, violas, and cellos…

[Excerpted from my musical diary - 4/13/2008]

I am lying in bed on a warm April afternoon, just emerging from a wonderful nap. Two hours ago, I put on some Hariprasad Chaurasia to meditate to… then, getting sleepy, decided to do some “napitation” in bed.

As I am waking up, I hear the music still playing, and am enjoying it’s gentle caress. There is a high-pitched vocalist sliding from one pitch to another in beautifully emotional descending phrases. As my conscious mind returns, I reflect that the album actually has only flute for melody…

Kirtan in the West is a rapidly evolving sacred music. It’s roots stretch back to ancient Indian chanting of sanskrit mantras containing the names of God. And yet it’s branches reach out with fresh growth each year, as new generations of musicians employ their creativity in the service of the divine vibrations of kirtan.

It was only recently that mantras began to grace western recordings. In the 70′s and 80′s,

Here’s a news brief you won’t catch on CNN or Fox News: Global Harmonium Shortage hits the Kirtan Community Hard!

It’s all too real, and not a temporary emptying of shelves caused by Black Friday either. You won’t hear about it on the evening news, because kirtan music, and the instruments used in playing kirtan music, is a rather small niche, and a bit off the radar of the mainstream media. But for us in the chant community, it’s a real problem that’s been coming for a while now.

The story begins in Paris, where the Harmonium was invented in the nineteenth century. It became popular throughout Europe, and in America as well, and many different manufacturers created competing designs, patenting and crafting new ways to lay out the harmonium’s bellows, reeds, stops, and other parts. This was a highly innovative time for keyboard instruments – in fact, the piano itself had just been invented a hundred years earlier. In the perspective of the evolution of Western Music, Harmoniums were just one of a flurry of

Whenever I get an email that makes me cry tears of gratitude, I put it in a special folder for safe keeping. Periodically I pull these sweet notes from harmonium students out and read through them, to remember why it is that I’ve chosen this path of teaching music. Each one serves as a critical reminder of how meaningful sharing sacred music is, and helps me retain a sense of fulfillment in my work. I thought I’d share a few of my favorites here with you, in case you’re also contemplating embarking on the journey of learning harmonium.