Bamboo can produce various types of sounds through different types of holes. Apart from India several foreign countries are very much fond of bamboo as a medium of their musical expression..

When the Bamboo sings

Divya Suresh

For Malayali art enthusiasts Bamboo music is comparatively a new one. Our art society is so fond of instrumental music such as Veena, Violin and even western instruments. Bamboo is the most ancient and tropical plant of our natural habitat. This is used for several domestic purposes such as house making, furniture making, vessel making etc. In that way Bamboo had an important role in our life and culture. For Malayali, Bamboo invokes a nostalgic feeling which also influenced in the creation of Bamboo music.
For decades, Bamboo is used as a tool to rejoice human mind. One important quote by maestro Bharatha Muni is ‘The genuine music and rhythm comes through the holes of bamboo’. In the ancient times many of our ancestors used bamboo as an instrument of announcement. In the later stages, these types of announcements were transferred in to music. Many of our folk songs are choreographed with the help of bamboo music.
Today many of our musicians and composers are using bamboo as a key instrument for the musical presentations. Bamboo can produce various types of sounds through different types of holes. Apart from India several foreign countries are very much fond of bamboo as a medium of their musical expression.
Unnikrishna Pakkanar, the director of the unique musical venture, Bamboo symphony belongs to Kottanelloor- a small village near Chalakkudy of Kerala. He recalled how the friendly people of the village depended on agriculture and sale of related agricultural products made from bamboo to make a living. He wanted to go back to this legacy of his ancestors and conserve certain aspects of their way of living; he started ‘The Creator of Folklore and Contemporary Concept’ in the year of 2000, for this purpose. He went back to harvesting bamboos and weaving baskets as well as making other traditional craft materials. His villagers considered him crazy, since the agriculture itself was on a decline and these products had not much use, as they had been successfully replaced by new products in the market. However he took it upon himself to right that wrong. It was this journey that brought him to music. Even though his family has been associated with music, he confessed that he was never trained in music and the current status of the band is the result of a bunch of people who have immersed themselves in the music of bamboo.
In the year of 2000, when Pakkanar formed ‘The Creator of Folklore and Contemporary Concept’ to promote the bamboo handicrafts and as such the bamboo way of life. Following this people came adopted a way of life to sustain this with cultivation and supply of bamboo, at his village of Nadavarambu. Speaking about the origin of the band, Pakkanar said when he was promoting handicraft products made out of bamboo initially, he started playing musical instruments to attract more customers. Eventually when he started performing to attract buyers for the handicrafts, there were villagers who understood the significance of it and wanted to be part of it in their own way. They came forward and joined him in this musical journey and a band originated. Their first official performance was in the year 2004, for a local festival organized by the Block Panchayat of Kottanelloor. At some point they realized the need for composing their own music and Pakkanar reveals that the instrument flute is the basis of most of his compositions. Speaking about his reverence and affection for this instrument, he mentioned that flute is the first ever musical instrument invented. But as he continued his journey in to music and the duration of the shows started getting longer, there was a need for more instruments. He and his band, have so far conceptualized and created eighty different musical instruments out of bamboo. They are extremely proud to live with bamboos, which is the one of the oldest vegetation that exists on the face of this planet. It might be the love for music that brought the band together but it is the love for bamboo that is holding them together. In a consumption driven culture, where everybody is keen to exploit the natural resources, he believes his music and their way of living stands for the preservation of nature. The band, through their music, hopes to convey the world a way of life, where everybody consumes only what they need to survive and thus conserve our planet. They aspire to revive a lost culture, with the cultivation of this unique genre of music.
The core members of the band, apart from the director Unnikrishna Pakkanar, are Skandan, Raman, Reji, Bala Murali, Anil Kumar, Ullash Kumar, Bishoy, Philipose, Kumar, Sandheep, Ravi, Midhun Chandran. In addition to promoting the bamboo handicrafts made by the various ethnic tribal groups, they have also in a way adopted tribal villages by promoting the handicrafts made by the women of these villages.
Among the many novel musical instruments they have invented are bamboo drums, bamboo guitar, xylophone, Ona villu, Mulam chenda, Peekki, Mulam thudy, Mazha mooli, Marisa, Njalipra, Aangulaandu and many more. Many of these instruments are inspired from the ones used in the ritual musical performances by certain tribal communities.  For this purpose, they travelled to Kasargod, Attappady and Wayanad, have met the elders in the tribal communities and thus acquired the knowledge of making as well as playing such local instruments. Consequently they not only bring forth the forgotten sounds of the music that was part of our tradition, but also revive the tribal culture and rituals surrounding such musical performances.
Their first ever album ‘The bamboo that sings through the night’ came out and was well received, which led them to put their music up for download on avenues like Apple online store. In order to market their music in an international market, they renamed their album in English as ‘Bamboo symphony’. The inspiration for this album came from aspects spread across the woods of Athirapalli and Vazhachal, as the bamboo required to make the music instruments were gathered from these forests. As an example, the track named ‘Vazhachal’ is inspired from the tune hummed by a group of tribal men when they go to the mountains to gather honey- the Kadar community, one of the ethnic tribal groups living by the shore of the Chalakkudy river. The band believes their music is bamboo’s music, the sound of nature in its purest form; it has existed even before the time of human beings and will continue to exist long after human beings are gone. And that they as a band, is a mere medium for this purest form of music to reach more people. The next album which came out about six years later is called ‘Return to the forest’ and is based on a storyline in which human beings, along with animals of different species are journeying together in search of water, leaving behind the concrete jungles, which are an abomination to mother-nature. This community of creatures end up in a jungle of bamboos and they celebrate having found water. This album features nine different tracks which is an indication of their search for water, the celebration of having found the bamboo forest and how they rebuild their lives around it.
The band has performed in various arenas across the state of Kerala, with the support of the Forest department, Tourism department and Kerala Sangeet Natak Akademi. In addition to this, the Sangeet Natak Akademi at the centre has also enabled them to perform for events in other states. They have performed across India, some of the events to be pointed out are the first ever World Bamboo day hosted in Nagaland, Kerala Trade Fair 2015, Mumbai International Film Festival in April 2016 and various traditional programmes in Karnataka, Indore and Delhi. It was with great pride Pakkanar indicated that a similar band transpired in China, inspired from the music of Bamboo Symphony. In addition to Apple itunes, Manorama music and Kerala Sangeet Natak Akademi, Forest as well as Tourism departments have also supported in promoting their music. Since their intention is also to promote the bamboo handicrafts through their music, they believe very much in branding it.
What makes this band stand out is that their music is completely organic, in the sense all their instruments are made from organic materials and are hand crafted. They are proud to point out that there is nothing mechanized about their music and what they yearn to achieve through their music is peace and love. About passing on this legacy to the future generations, Pakkanar said his daughter as well as the children in his neighbourhood are well aware of the cause for which they initiated the band and are in full support. He hopes that they would follow pursuit, as he senses the passion in them too.