S. M. Tagore Centre for Documentation and Research of Languishing & Obsolescent Musical Instruments (SMTC-DRLOMI)

Based at Rabindra Bharati University in Kolkata, India, S. M. Tagore Centre for Documentation and Research of Languishing & Obsolescent Musical Instruments (SMTC-DRLOMI) is a research centre which primarily runs with the devoted support of three individuals namely Professor Sanjoy Bandopadhyay, Dr. Krishnendu Dutta and Arpita Chatterjee.

There is a collection of music instruments brought by African immigrants to Mauritius who used stool as musical instruments. These are known ‘Banc’. They used to play beats using two wooden sticks on the wooden stool. The drummer used to sit on the floor to join songs.

The area of instrument encompasses the languishing and obsolescent instruments from all genres be it art music, religious music, folk music, tribal music or any other form of music. This also includes the traditional musical toys. The center is also working on remaking the musical instruments those are no more existent today but on which textual, sculptural or pictorial references are still available. SMTC-DRLOMI is working on setting up the display of information through three different modes. The collected musical instruments will be displayed in a common and interactive museum formats. The ‘Interactive Museum’ will display the instruments those are still in playable conditions. The musician-visitors may try these instruments and play small concerts in the gallery.

All the musical instruments will be on display on the Internet as ‘Virtual Museum’. The collection of this museum is growing with the contributions from the scholars from different parts of the world. SMTC-DRLOMI will open the Virtual Museum for public immediately after the collection reaches a specific number.