Morsing

Morsing(Mukharshanku)

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Classification	hand percussion
Playing range
struck using the other hand to produce sound.

A morsing (also mukharshanku, mourching, morching or morchang, Rajasthani: मोरचंग, Tamil: நாமுழவு அல்லது முகச்சங்கு,Malayalam : മുഖർശംഖ്, English: Jaw Harp) is a wind percussion instrument, mainly used in Rajasthan, in the Carnatic music of South India and in Sindh (Pakistan). It can be categorized under lamellophones, which is in the category of plucked idiophones. It consists of a metal ring in the shape of a horseshoe with two parallel forks which form the frame, and a metal tongue in the middle, between the forks, fixed to the ring at one end and free to vibrate at the other. The metal tongue is bent at the free end in a plane perpendicular to the circular ring so that it can be struck and is made to vibrate. This bent part is called the trigger.

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Morsing (Jaw Harp)

An instrument with a history of 1500 years, its exact origin in India is not well documented. In the tradition of the Indian gurukul system of teaching, thus folk tales are a secondary source of its history. In India it is found mainly in South India, Rajasthan and also in some parts of Assam. It is also sometimes used while playing Rabindrasangeet in Bengal and in Assamese folk songs. In South India, it features in Carnatic concerts and percussion ensembles. It is said to be the percursor to subsequent instruments such as the harmonica and the harmonium.

In Rajasthan it is called morchang and is used as a percussion instrument in lok geet (folk music). It was often used in Hindi cinema by music directors like R.D. Burman and S.D.Burman, and has resurfaced in the twentieth century, with street performers like Varun Zinje playing it in a renewed style.

Playing technique

The morsing is placed between the teeth and held firmly in the hand and is struck using the other hand to produce sound. Movement of the player's tongue, variations of the throat and blowing and sucking of air through the instrument produces different sounds or overtones. Thus some players use it as a form of practising pranayama. Others speak into the instruments while playing, thus giving it the effect of a light haunting echo.

The morsing is firmly held in the hand, the frame or the ring between the palm and the fingers usually in the left hand. Care should be taken to see that the middle part or the metal tongue is not being touched when held idle. Then the upper of the two parallel forks is gently pressed against the front upper teeth; the lower fork, against the front lower teeth, so that the metal tongue will not contact the teeth when it moves. The trigger is plucked with the tip of the index finger. Sound is produced due to the vibration of the metal tongue of the morsing in the mouth and the throat cavity. Movement of the player's tongue with constant plucking can produce very fast patterns of sound. By constricting the space in the mouth and throat many variations of sound can be produced.

While traditionally made of iron, variants can be made from wood, bone, and even plastic and credit cards.

Tuning

The basic pitch of the instrument can be varied very little. Significantly, the pitch of the instrument can only be reduced and not increased. To reduce the pitch a little, bee-wax can be applied on the plucking end. To increase the pitch, it can be filed, although this may damage the instrument.

Advanced playing and the art of accompaniment

As the morsing is played most of the time along with the mridangam or dhol, it is necessary to know the syllables or aural interpretation of what is played on mridangam. It is important to know the aural representation of the ferns (pattern of syllables played on percussion instruments) played on mridangam as it is being silently recited while playing the morsing. This vocal art of reciting the syllables played on the mridangam is called konnakol. But while playing on morsing you don't actually make sound of reciting the syllable but just move your tongue that way so that the air passages gets blocked and cleared in a pattern so as to produce the sound of the ferns. It is essential to follow the mridangam and play the same ferns as far as possible, though it is difficult owing to the limitations of the instrument.

Glimpses of uniqueness and versatility of the morsing can be shown when accompanying singly for the song or during neraval or swara prastara (stages of song rendition in Carnatic music). The morsing is played as a shadow of the mridangam throughout the concert and the instrument's capabilities should be exhibited when playing or accompanying alone or during Thani (percussion round in a concert) or talavadyas (percussion ensembles).

Though working on completely different principles, the music of the Morchang sounds similar to that emnating from the Australian didgeridoo.

Variants across the world

The Morchang exists, in nearly the same form and design all over the world, and is called by different names (estimated to be around 900) in different languages. For example: Morchang / morsing (India), Caoxang (China), Vargang (Russia), Montharpa (Norway), Zanboorak (Farsi, Iran), Maalthaamel (Germany), Gumbahtha (France), Maranzano (Italy), Daromp (Hungary) and Dambrialis banda umbrealis (Lithaunia). It may have spread and been shared between countries through the ancient trade routes between Asia and Europe, including the Silk route. Its popular name Jews harp is a corruption of the name Jaw harp.

Morsingists

Players of the Morchang / Jaw harp are sometimes called Morsingists. Current day players include Varun Zinje, Ortal Pelleg, Valentinas, Viaceslavas, the Barmer boys (Rais Bhungar and Mangu Khan) and a number of Rajasthani folk music players from the traditional entertainer tribe of Laggas. Morsingists from earlier eras include Abraham Lincoln and the Russian Tsar Peter the Great.

Other Morsingists include:

• Pirashanna Thevarajah
• Srirangam Kannan
• Bejjanki V Ravi Kiran
• T S Nandakumar

Interestingly, playing the Jaws harp was forbidden during Stalin's regime in Russia due to its close ties with Shamanism. Shamans believed that the Jaws harp could take a person to the world of spirits.

See also

• Indian classical music portal

• Jaw harp
• Lamellophone

External links

• Morsing at Carnatica.net
• Morsing at Mridangam.com