Kombu (instrument)

The Kombu (Tamil:கொம்பு) or Kompu also known as the Kombu Pattu is a wind instrument (a kind of Natural Horn) in Tamil nadu and Kerala. Usually played along with Panchavadyam, Pandi Melam, Panchari melam etc. This musical instrument is usually seen in south India. The instrument is like a long horn (Kombu in Tamil language).

In ancient days kombu played during war along with Murasu.

Listed one of the Musical instruments used by ancient Tamil people out in Tirumurai dated 6th to 11th century, Sangam Period.

வெல் படைத் தறுகண் வெஞ்சொல் வேட்டுவர் கூட்டம் தோறும்
சில்லரித் துடியும் கொம்பும் சிறு கண் ஆகுளியும் கூடி
கல் எனும் ஒலியின் மேலும் கறங்கிசை அருவி எங்கும் 12.0654

In recent research found that kombu is used in ancient Ireland and believed it came from South India 2000 years ago.

Modern kombu made out of bronze either in 'C' shape or 'S' shape. In kombu in kerala the leading artist is sree chengamanad appu nair (pallavur appumarar award winner)

It is one of the few instrumental temple art forms in which the melody instruments dominate. Even this is only partly true, as the C-shaped trumpet, the kombu is regarded as a rhythm instrument by its players, with the function of embellishing the beats of the drums. The kombu can only produce three notes (sa, pa, and higher sa). The genre is played by a group of kombu players (3, 5, 7, or 9), led by the kombu leader. Within a given tala (rhythmic cycle), the leader improvises kombu patterns on the spot to be repeated by the chorus players.

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Wikipedia