The soulful, full throated voices of these two music communities have filled the cool air of the desert night for centuries in a tradition that reflects all aspects of Rajasthani life. Songs for every occasion, mood and moment; stories of legendary battles, heroes and lovers engender a spirit of identity, expressed through music that provides relief from the inhospitable land of heat and dust storms.
The Langas and Manganiars are groups of hereditary professional musicians, whose music has been supported by wealthy landlords and aristocrats for generations. Both sing in the same dialect, but their styles and repertoires differ, shaped by the tastes of their patrons. The monarchs of the courts of Rajput and Jaipur maintained large music and dance troupes an in an environment where the arts were allowed to flourish. Though both communities are made up of Muslim musicians, many of their songs are in praise of Hindu deities and celebrate Hindu festivals such as Diwali and Holi. The Manganiar performers traditionally invoke the Hindu God Krishna and seek his blessings before beginning their recital. At one time, the Manganiars were musicians of the Rajput courts, accompanying their chiefs to war and providing them with entertainment before and after the battles and in the event of his death, would perform at the ruler's vigil day and night until the mourning was over.
Khamaycha is the most significant instrument of Manganiyar community. It is like an ancient niche amongst string instruments which is linked with Manganiyar community since ages. Khamaycha is made up of mango wood. The big, round, hollow part on one end of it is covered with goat skin. This instrument has 17 strings out of which three special strings are made from goat’s intestine and the rest of the 14 strings are made up of steel. When they touch those three special strings with their special bow made from the horse’s hair, it produces some soul stirring music.
Other than Khamaycha the instruments that they play are Dholak and Khartaal. Dholak is a hollow drum tapering at both ends. Both the ends are covered with leather (animal skin). They use loops of rope to tighten the animal skin at the two ends. Sometimes they use traditional Dhol also.
Khartaal produces melodious musical sounds with the special movements of the hands. The four pieces of Khartaal are made up of Sheesham wood. When the Manganiyar artist plays Khartaal, it evokes a delightful combination of rhythm and the musical notes.
Khartaal. The word mean Khar and Taal. Khar means hand and Taal means Rhythm. Rhythm of Hands. Khartaal is a kind of castanets, made of teak wood, and the artistes hold them in both hands and perform with tremendous ease. A young man’s Karthal play holding it in his hands was a thrill to watch for the way he created complex percussion sounds, while his partner was playing the dholak.
The dholak is a classical North Indian, Pakisthani and Nepalese hand drum. A dholak may have traditional lacing or turnbuckle tuning. The dholak has a simple membrane and a handle on the right-hand side. The left-hand membrane has a special coating on the inner surface. This coating is a mixture of tar, clay and sand (dholak masala) which lowers the pitch and provides a well-defined tone. The wood used for the membrane is usually made of teak wood, also known as "sheesham" wood. The process of hollowing out the drum is the determination of the sound and quality of the dholak A dholak has 2 heads a small part for the high pitch, and the large part is for the low pitch and it's pitched depending on size and tuning sounding like a bongo in playing mode.