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A shruti box is a small wooden instrument that traditionally works on a system of bellows. It is similar to a harmonium and is used to provide a drone in a practice session or concert of Indian classical music. It is used as an accompaniment to other instruments and notably the flute. Use of the shruti box has widened with the cross-cultural influences of world music and new age music to provide a drone for many other instruments as well as vocalists. Before the arrival of the harmonium in India, musicians used either a tambura or a specific pitchreference instrument, such as the othu nadaswaram, to produce the drone. After the harmonium became popular, musicians would modify the harmonium to automatically produce the reference pitch. Typically, one would open up the cover and adjust the stop of the harmonium to produce a drone.
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Later, a keyless version of the harmonium was invented for the specific purpose of producing the drone sound. It was given the name shruti box or sruti box. These instruments had controls on the top or on the side of the box for controlling the pitch. The shruti box is enjoying a renaissance in the West. In the early 1990s, traditional Irish singer Noirín Ní Ríain brought the sruti box to Ireland, giving it a minor place in traditional Irish music. More recently Karine Polwart, the acclaimed Scottish folk artist has championed the instrument, using it on some of her songs. Singers find it very useful as an accompaniment and musicians enjoy the drone reference it gives to play along with.
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