शहनाई
The shehnai is the most auspicious instrument in North Indian culture — its sound has accompanied religious ceremonies, royal processions, weddings, and festivals for centuries. It was Ustad Bismillah Khan (1916–2006) who dedicated his life to transforming this ceremonial instrument into a concert classical instrument of the highest order.
The shehnai is a double-reed instrument with a conical bore and a metal bell at the bottom. The tube is made from a seasoned wood (typically shisham), and the double reed is made from a particular variety of Gangetic grass that produces the shehnai's characteristic plaintive tone. The player holds two shehnais — one for playing, one as a drone — or is accompanied by a drone player.
The shehnai is played with continuous breath — the player uses circular breathing to produce an uninterrupted sound. The reed is held entirely within the mouth, and pitch is controlled by opening and closing the six or eight finger holes and by adjusting lip pressure and air speed. The instrument does not have a large dynamic range but compensates with a quality of tonal colour change — from bright to plaintive, from strong to tender — that is uniquely expressive.
The shehnai is related to the North African and Middle Eastern zurna and the South Indian nadaswaram. It has been an important instrument in Indian ceremonial music for at least five or six centuries. Bismillah Khan was born into a family of shehnai players in Bihar, grew up near the Vishwanath temple in Banaras, and dedicated his entire musical life to the shehnai's classical possibilities. He performed at India's first Independence Day celebration in August 1947 and was subsequently considered a symbol of Indian national culture.
The shehnai's association with auspicious occasions gives it a unique cultural position — its sound is considered inherently celebratory and sacred. When Bismillah Khan performed classical ragas on the shehnai, he carried this auspiciousness into the concert hall. His recording of Raga Bhairav at dawn remains one of the most celebrated recordings in all of Indian classical music.