The Drone and the Shruti Box

by Pavi Jaisankar

The instrument played during Dinner Church services at St. Lydia’s is called a shruti box. At St. Lydia's, we use the drone of our voices, as well as the drone of the shruti box, to accompany many of our songs.

A drone is maybe not a sound you are used to hearing during a church service. The shruti box itself is certainly not a traditional part of Christian music. It evolved from the small pump harmonium initially brought by colonizers to the Indian subcontinent, repurposed and refitted by South Asian musicians as a drone for playing ragas.

In other ways, the drone is a sound that is deeply familiar to us all: it is embryonic, it is transcendent. It softens the line between song leader and follower; it helps to embody the Lydian value of participation over perfection. Sonically, it is our greatest common denominator, and thus serves to remind us, again and again:

you are very welcome here.