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New Instruments Arrive At Gandharva Loka, March 2013

Mar 29th, 2013
by Admin.
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Autumn in Hagley Park, Christchurch

As Autumn arrives and the leaves begin to turn colour and carpet the pavements of Christchurch, we at Gandharva Loka have been bucking the trend by adding numerous instrument-leaves to our music-tree following the arrival of several shipments from around the world – and we are expecting more in the coming weeks. Here is a sampling of some the new instruments that can be found in our world music store at the moment…

New Instruments

  • Quartz Crystal Singing Bowls – all sizes and tunings, from 8″ (20 cm) to 20″ (50 cm) bowls.
  • Gongs – highest quality gongs from Wuhan, China. All sizes and types.
  • Various Egyptian Instruments including Oud, Semsemia and Udu.
  • Bodhrans – Irish frame drums with adjustable heads.

New Instruments at Gandharva Loka in Christchurch

And those nearing our shores…

Instruments Arriving In The Coming Weeks

Easter Hours

  • Good Friday, March 29th : Closed
  • Saturday, March 30th : Open from 11 am to 3 pm
  • Sunday, March 31st : Closed
  • Easter Monday, April 1st : Closed

We resume our normal shop hours from Tuesday the 2nd of April.
Please note: our companion enterprise, The Lotus-Heart vegetarian restaurant, will be open Easter Friday, Saturday and Sunday – business as usual for The Lotus-Heart.

Our Latest Video Clip

We invite you to have a look at our latest video clip:
Singing performance at Gandharva Loka and The Lotus-Heart, March 2013.

When we sing,
We embody and become
The power of music.
This power has a free access
To the Universal Heart.
    – Sri Chinmoy.

Mohamed Bangoura and Doug Brush at Gandharva Loka

Sep 2nd, 2012
by Admin.
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Mohamed Bangoura and Doug Brush at Gandharva LokaIn June our good friend Doug Brush bought touring master drummer and teacher in traditional Guinean music Mohamed Bangoura to visit Gandharva Loka.

As is the case when musicians are surrounded by instruments, Doug and Mohamed tried a few of the djembes that are on offer at Gandharva Loka and settled in for a little session of drumming. Fortunately we had a camera nearby and some of that session can be seen here: Mohamed Bangoura and Doug Brush at Gandharva Loka – June 2012.

It was really nice to meet Mohamed who, as can be seen in the video, exudes joy and enthusiasm.

New Instruments at Gandharva Loka – September 2010

Sep 4th, 2010
by Prasasta.
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Gandharva Loka Christchurch has just received an instrument shipment from Ghana in eastern Africa which includes small african djembes and brightly coloured cloth drum bags, plus patica and caxixi. We have also received an instrument shipment from America which includes boomwhackers and Remo buffalo shaman drums.

Caxixi

CaxixiCaxixi (pronounced ‘ka-shi-shi’) are a percussive instrument consisting of a closed basket that is usually made from coloured woven cane with a flat wooden base and filled with seeds or rice. Similar to the maraca, it is sounded by shaking. It is found across Africa and South America, but mainly in Brazil.

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Homage to the Humble Ukulele

Aug 25th, 2010
by Shardul.
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UkuleleHow we ever came to have a ukulele in the house I will never know. Beyond a passive love for listening to music on the radio, stereo and television, neither of my parents were musically inclined. My brother and I learned to play large wooden xylophones at primary school, but we were more interested in playing in our back-yard sand pit or racing our homemade trolleys down the steep streets of our neighbourhood. And besides, the songs of the birds was the music I favoured as a child and I learned to whistle along with them. Who needed an instrument?

I suspect that it was our mother who slipped the ukulele into the house. She had great expectations that her boys would become musicians and/or doctors so that “you can care and sing for us when we are old”. Did she mean at the same time? It was a good plan but she was to be disappointed on both counts.

An old upright pianoAn old upright piano, complete with hinged candelabras, found its way into our house for the same reasons I am sure – albeit with a little more effort than the ukulele required. But aside from the occasional exuberant rendition of chopsticks on rainy days, the old upright suffered the same terrible fate as the ukulele and stood in silent testimony to our lack of musicality – or perhaps our disinterested laziness. At least the piano, unlike the ukulele, didn’t find its way into our toy box all the time!

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