History of the Harmonium

History of the Harmonium

Unlike the instruments that have been previous taught or examined in the music of India, the harmonium is one of the most frequently used instrument that has no Indian origin. The harmonium was actually a European organ that was used in churches during the medieval time frame. The look of the harmonium then was almost similar to a piano. There is was a huge number of keys, a chair to sit down, and a foot pump for the air. This way, the musician could play the harmonium with both hands. European music requires this, it is mostly harmonic through the use of chords. A chord is when three or more notes are played simultaneously. Figure 1.1 shows a picture of the harmonium in England.

         

Figure 1.1

When the British came to India in the 18^th century, they brought their harmoniums also. Although the foot pedal was still retained, the hand pumped version was introduced. When the harmonium came across to North Indian musicians, they immediately favored this instrument for few reasons. When the hand pumped version came out, it did not require foot pedals. For an Indian musician, it was discipline and practice to sit on the floor. Thus, this format of a floor organ worked well. Secondly, the harmonium was able to go with the flow of the voice pretty well. Thirdly, it was much easier to learn than sarangi. Sarangi is a bowed instrument which was used to accompany vocalists. However, it was very difficult to play. Even though one hand was required to pump air, it was not a problem, because Indian music does not have chords. Since Indian music is primarily melodic, only hand was needed to pump and one hand was needed to play the melody.

Despite its European origin, the instrument has found its use really well in an Indian musical setting. With the exception of South Indian music, the harmonium has been used in almost all genres of music in India.

The harmonium is not strictly limited to Indian styles. Western forms, in terms of chord changes, are currently integrated into the North Indian forms of music. Chord progressions introduce a different form of modality. Chord progressions, however, will not be found in North Indian classical or semi classical.

PARTS OF THE HARMONIUM

Figure 1.2

BELLOWS- the bellows is a series of metal tongues which allow the air flow. The bellows must be pumped by hand allow air to flow into the harmonium to produce sounds. The left and right ends of the bellows usually has a metal bar or latch. These latches are on both sides to assist right and left handed players at their comfort. More about left and right handed positions in the next chapter.

KEYBOARD- This is the most important and unique feature of a harmonium. The keyboard allows one to play melodies. Each key, when played, produces a unique sound. The structure and format of the keyboard resembles a piano. The function and theory will be discussed in great detail in the second unit.

MAIN STOPS- Main stops are the bigger knobs on the harmonium. The purpose of the main stops is to direct air flow. Selecting a certain number of stops in a certain order can affect how the sound comes out.  If no stops are pulled out, then no sounds will be produced, regardless of the amount of air being pumped into the harmonium. There are a few things that your harmonium might not have. Stops are one of them. If you do not have stops, don’t panic. You will still get sound, but the whole harmonium will be having a uniform sound.

DRONE STOPS (not shown) – The function of these stops are to produce a constant sound of a single note. Again, not all harmoniums will have this feature.

COUPLER (not shown) ­­– Some harmoniums have this special feature of the coupler. Whenever a key is played, the same key one octave lower will be played. This will allow a richer sound. If the coupler knob is pulled out, then the coupling feature will be disabled.

SCALE CHANGER (not shown) – Some harmoniums will have a scale changer which will change the pitch and positioning of the keys. The scale changer, although a nice tool, often causes problems for the harmonium.

Even though you may not know anything about how to exactly play the harmonium, do practice getting some sort of sound by opening the bellows, pumping it with one hand, and get some sort of sound by pressing the keys from the keyboard. If you have stops, use the main stops and see how selecting stops can affect the air flow as well as the sounds. Experiment the changes when the coupler feature is active or disabled. If you have a scale changer, however, do not experiment with that. Many newcomers to the harmonium do not know how to work with changing the scale and the chance of breaking it is really good. It is very useful to know how to operate the harmonium, before you learn anything to play it.

Viral and Bacteria infection cure tips

Many human infections are caused by either bacteria or viruses. Bacteria are tiny single-celled organisms, thought by some researchers to be related to plants. They are among the most successful life forms on the planet, and range in habitat from ice slopes to deserts.

Bacteria can be beneficial – for instance, gut bacteria help us to digest food – but some are responsible for a range of infections. These disease-causing varieties are called pathogenic bacteria. Many bacterial infections can be treated successfully with appropriate antibiotics, although antibiotic-resistant strains are beginning to emerge. Immunisation is available to prevent many important bacterial diseases.

A virus is an even smaller micro-organism that can only reproduce inside a host’s living cell. It is very difficult to kill a virus. That’s why some of the most serious communicable diseases known to medical science are viral in origin.

How bacteria and viruses enter the body

To cause disease, pathogenic bacteria must gain access into the body. The range of access routes for bacteria includes:

• Cuts
• Contaminated food or water
• Close contact with an infected person
• Contact with the faeces of an infected person
• Breathing in the exhaled droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes
• Indirectly, by touching contaminated surfaces – such as taps, toilet handles, toys and nappies.

Viruses are spread from one person to another by:

• Coughs
• Sneezes
• Vomits
• Bites from infected animals or insects
• Exposure to infected bodily fluids through activities such as sexual intercourse or sharing hypodermic needles.

Forgetting to wash your hands after handling pets and animals is another way for germs to be taken in by mouth.

Bacteria types

Bacteria that cause disease are broadly classified according to their shape. The four main groups include:

• Bacilli – shaped like a rod with a length of around 0.03mm. Illnesses such as typhoid and cystitis are caused by bacilli strains.
• Cocci – shaped like a sphere with a diameter of around 0.001mm. Depending on the sort, cocci bacteria group themselves in a range of ways, such as in pairs, long lines or tight clusters. Examples include Staphylococci (which cause a host of infections including boils) and Gonococci (which cause the sexually transmissible infection gonorrhoea).
• Spirochaetes – as the name suggests, these bacteria are shaped like tiny spirals. Spirochaetes bacteria are responsible for a range of diseases, including the sexually transmissible infection syphilis.
• Vibrio – shaped like a comma. The tropical disease cholera, characterised by severe diarrhoea and dehydration, is caused by the vibrio bacteria.

Characteristics of the bacterium

Most bacteria, apart from the cocci variety, move around with the aid of small lashing tails (flagella) or by whipping their bodies from side to side. Under the right conditions, a bacterium reproduces by dividing in two. Each ‘daughter’ cell then divides in two and so on, so that a single bacterium can bloom into a population of some 500,000 or more within just eight hours.

If the environmental conditions don’t suit the bacteria, some varieties morph into a dormant state. They develop a tough outer coating and await the appropriate change of conditions. These hibernating bacteria are called spores. Spores are harder to kill than active bacteria because of their outer coating.

Curing a bacterial infection

The body reacts to disease-causing bacteria by increasing local blood flow (inflammation) and sending in cells from the immune system to attack and destroy the bacteria. Antibodies produced by the immune system attach to the bacteria and help in their destruction. They may also inactivate toxins produced by particular pathogens, for example tetanus and diphtheria.

Serious infections can be treated with antibiotics, which work by disrupting the bacterium’s metabolic processes, although antibiotic-resistant strains are starting to emerge. Immunisation is available to prevent many important bacterial diseases such as Hemophilus influenza Type b (Hib), tetanus and whooping cough..

Virus types

A virus is a miniscule pocket of protein that contains genetic material. If you placed a virus next to a bacterium, the virus would be dwarfed. For example, the polio virus is around 50 times smaller than a Streptococci bacterium, which itself is only 0.003mm long. Viruses can be described as either RNA or DNA viruses, according to which type of nucleic acid forms their core.

The four main types of virus include:

• Icosahedral – the outer shell (capsid) is made from 20 flat sides, which gives a spherical shape. Most viruses are icosahedral.
• Helical – the capsid is shaped like a rod.
• Enveloped – the capsid is encased in a baggy membrane, which can change shape but often appears spherical.
• Complex – the genetic material is coated, but without a capsid.

The body’s response to viral infection

Viruses pose a considerable challenge to the body’s immune system because they hide inside cells. This makes it difficult for antibodies to reach them. Some special immune system cells, called T-lymphocytes, can recognise and kill cells containing viruses, since the surface of infected cells is changed when the virus begins to multiply. Many viruses, when released from infected cells, will be effectively knocked out by antibodies that have been produced in response to infection or previous immunisation.

Curing a viral infection

Antibiotics are useless against viral infections. This is because viruses are so simple that they use their host cells to perform their activities for them. So antiviral drugs work differently to antibiotics, by interfering with the viral enzymes instead.

Antiviral drugs are currently only effective against a few viral diseases, such as influenza, herpes, hepatitis B and C and HIV – but research is ongoing. A naturally occurring protein, called interferon (which the body produces to help fight viral infections), can now be produced in the laboratory and is used to treat hepatitis C infections.

Immunisation against viral infection is not always possible

It is possible to vaccinate against many serious viral infections such as measles, mumps, hepatitis A and hepatitis B. An aggressive worldwide vaccination campaign, headed by the World Health Organization (WHO), managed to wipe out smallpox. However, some viruses – such as those that cause the common cold – are capable of mutating from one person to the next. This is how an infection with essentially the same virus can keep dodging the immune system. Vaccination for these kinds of viruses is difficult, because the viruses have already changed their format by the time vaccines are developed.

Where to get help

• Your doctor
• Your pharmacist

Things to remember

• Many human illnesses are caused by infection with either bacteria or viruses.
• Most bacterial diseases can be treated with antibiotics, although antibiotic-resistant strains are starting to emerge.
• Viruses pose a challenge to the body’s immune system because they hide inside cells.
• It is possible to be vaccinated against some of the major disease-causing viruses (such as measles and polio), as well as bacterial diseases such as Hemophilus influenza Type b (Hib), tetanus and whooping cough.

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