Shehnai [Shahnai, Shenai]
VEGANThe shahnai is a double-reed instrument, similar to the oboe. Its powerful, distinctive, nasal tone is produced by two reeds bound together, which are held between the lips and blown at high pressure.
The reeds are attached to the thin end of a metal funnel, the wide end of which is inserted into the wooden body of the shahnai. This wooden body has simple finger holes, no mechanism, and ends in a metal bell. Clean, even blowing for a clear, carrying tone requires some practice.
The standard length of the wooden body of our shahnais is 15 inches / 38 cm. This size is commonly used in classical Indian raga music. The basic tone SA is played with 6 closed finger holes and is in this size at the western tone d. Other sizes / tunings (see below) are available as custom-made products.
Sound sample shehnai
- double reed (pattur)
- conical metal tube for the reeds (nari)
- conical body made of solid wood with through-hole (dhari)
- metal bell (pyala)
- seven finger holes
- three spare double reeds
- bamboo clamp for double reeds (chapil)
- needle for opening the reeds (sujja)
The shehnai is widely used for temple music in North and Western India and is particularly popular in the holy city Varanasi / Benares. Its sound is thought to create and maintain a sense of auspiciousness and sanctity and, as a result, is widely used during marriages and processions. It has been adopted for classical raga music around the middle of the 20th century by the great musician Bismillah Khan, one of the most highly honoured Indian artists of that time. The South Indian equivalent of the shehnai is the nadaswaram.
Many shehnai ensembles use an instrument called sur shehnai instead of the tanpura to keep the tonic. The sur shehnai is simply a shehnai without any finger holes. The main solo shehnai is often accompanied by one or two more shehnais, which are played by relatives or advanced students of the main soloist. Instead of a bayan the percussion accompanist often uses an instrument called duggi for the left hand bass. The duggi's shell is made of clay and the skin does not have any shyai.
Our shehnais are supplied by our partner Paloma. PALOMA is the international brand name for instruments made by Haribhau Vishwanath from Mumbai (formerly Bombay). Haribhau Vishwanath was founded in 1925 as a small repair business and developed into one of the leading Indian harmonium manufacturers in the course of decades. In addition, Haribhau Vishwanath makes shrutiboxes, santoors, swarmandals and some drums. Haribhau Vishwanath is also an active musical instrument trader and supplies us with some rarely demanded instruments where a direct purchase from the manufacturer is not profitable. Thanks to his good infrastructure and long experience with instrument manufacturing, trading and international shipping, Haribhau currently supplies all common harmonium models and many other instruments constantly in a high quality regarding workmanship. In addition, he excels through attractive innovations, like e.g. the harmonium Compactina or a particular silk-mat finish. Haribhau Vishwanath is a partner of India Instruments since 2005. Today the company is run by Ashish Diwane.
The standard length of the wooden tube of our shahnais is 15 inches / 38 cm. This size is usually used in classical Indian raga music. The tonic note SA is played with 6 closed finger holes and is in this size at the western tone d.
The following other sizes / pitches are available as custom-made products - length in inches / tonic note with 6 closed holes:
17” / C
16” / C#
15” / D (standard size)
14” / D#
13” / E
12” / F
11” / F#
Each instrument is individually hand-crafted and might differ from our description.