The raga Nelambari in the classical Indian Karnatic system of music is said to be able to induce sleep and also have some sleep promoting qualities. This hypothesis was scientifically tested using sleep polysomnography with eight healthy subjects who listened to either Neelambari (test) raga or Kalyani (control) raga. There was no difference in sleep architecture or in subjective feeling of quality of sleep. The anecdotal references to the quality of sleep promoting effects of Neelambari probably reflect a conditioned response since most lullabies in South India are sung in Neelambari raga.

The key term here seems to be "conditioned response". How often do we learn new things only to discover that cause-effect phenomena are sometimes an orchestration of conditions and tendencies built into a system and supported by things that are essentially extraneous to the system!

Further reading: Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan's article in The Hindu. How does one differentiate science and pseudoscience, in psychology and psychosomatics?

[audio http://arunk.freepgs.com/blog/madlion/madlion.mp3]

What do you think of this piece? What kind of music do you think this fits under? What kind of mood does the piece project? If you chose to comment (and I hope you do), please try to include your first impressions..

Now, if you want to know more about this piece, please read on:

Well first of all that piece was created by me. Now I know you have your brickbats ready - but please reconsider after my defense:

Please note that I am not even an amateur music composer. I am a rank amateur dabbler dabbling in areas beyond his abilities - with curiosity and love for music as his only guides. The above sample is basically as a possible proof of concept - a concept that I explain below.

So peace - ok? Now, please read on.

If you are into western rock music, particularly hard rock, I wonder what your reaction would be to that melody. It probably sounded strange - sounded '"eastern".

Now, if you are into Indian Carnatic music, you probably may recognize the scale/raga behind this song. However, if your musical interests (past and/or present) do not include the strange mix of Carnatic music and Hard rock, then there is a good chance that you closed your ears, and chanted Shiva Shiva :-) !

Reviving a dead horse
In this blog entry, I revive a topic I thought was done-in and left for dead - Carnatic Music in Western World. I had posted a couple of articles wa...y back, but then ran out of gas. I simply could not come up with anything interesting in that area.

However, a few months ago, one of the more intriguing "problems" regarding music tickled my curiosity yet again. Why do Carnatic music and western music always seem like oil and water. Is there a way to mix them effectively? This thought gnawed at my brain long enough that I decided to bold and try my hand at harmonizing a carnatic raga, although based on my knowledge in western music, this was perhaps madness.

I picked simhendramadhyamam as the raga, which is expressed as S R2 G2 M2 P D1 N3 S in Carnatic Music lingo. In terms of semitone intervals, it is 2 1 3 1 1 3 1, which is like the harmonic minor scale, except the fourth is raised by a semitone. I don't remember consciously weeding out other ragas to zero-in on simhendramadhyamam, and hence it was picked for really no particular reason. I do love the raga, but I can't put it in the same category as the "my favorite" ragas I had discussed in my other blog entries - it is sort of in a lower category than those others. I do however remember wanting to pick a raga that has a tonal structure, and a mood that is completely different from even the less commonly used scales in western music. And simhendramadhyamam is one of the ragas that fits this bill.

So, I dusted off my old guitar, and plucked and strummed for hours trying to see which chords fit the raga. This was perhaps doomed from the start because, first of all, I had no idea how to apply chords to a melody. I also did not know how to come with a chord progression for a scale, and then apply melody etc. All I could do was hum snippets of melodies in simhendramadhyamam, and I could strum chords (atleast there I know simple as well as half-way complex chords). So it was no surprise that I soon hit a wall at everywhere I turned. I remember thinking that my melody sounded so carnatic and those chords sound so western, and they just don't seem to blend at all. Even the complex chords I tried, while they sounded different and exotic, they did not match the mood of the melodies I was trying. So I gave up after a day or so - with very sore fingertips. In short - Oil and water.

I had shelved this problem a while ago and had forgotten about it, but then, my interest was rekindled. A part of it was krishashok's innocuous reference to me as someone who shared his dual (or duelling?) interest in Carnatic and Classic Rock - I felt strangely obligated to demonstrate that interest (BTW, that single word reference helped obliterate all my blog stats record - thanks KA!). Another part is due to philramble's recent posts on simhendramadhyamam.

Anyway, this time, to avoid a repeat of the earlier fiasco, I first started googling to find out the deal behind chords and scales. I found some enlightening answers regarding the theory behind how chords are related to a melody. However, as I applied what I learnt to simhendramadhyamam to figure out appropriate chords, I found that the concepts did not apply readily or at least not in a straightforward fashion. Obviously, this is part of a long learning process - there is theory and then there is practice. You can't create music just from theory - you need application, which grows only from experience.

However, after a couple days filled with several hours of mulling over things, fooling around painfully with my guitar (mentally and physically w.r.t fingertips), I was finally able to piece together the rock guitar solo you heard above. It actually faithfully sticks to the scale of simhendramadhyamam, with the melody pretty much keeping to the order of notes in the scale as done with ragas (as explained by my Ragas and Scales post). And most importantly, it is played to a chord progression! Hooray!

Now, this was not intended to be a "very classical" representation of simhendramadhyamam melody with chords. My aim was to see if I can fit this "exotic scale" into the hard rock music context. In fact, I wanted to blend it such that it would seem to "fit in".  Yet, I did not want the raga to be manipulated too much to fit this context that it was beyond recognition. I still wanted the flavor of the raga to be  perceptible - the stronger the better. I think looking back at the end result, it does sound more western than Carnatic - but there is enough Carnatic flavor to it (IMO). I may be a bit presumptuous here, but I do feel happy (nay thrilled) that it at least shows glimpses of simhendramadhyamam's potential of "bringing the house down" - under the expert hands of right professionals. 

A Technical Note for carnatic aficionados: Regarding why this is not classical simhendramadhyamam - beyond the lack of classical gamakas (there are some here and there), there is generally too much emphasis on da, also in certain contexts (like descending) which is probably not kosher for a classical version. In general, da and ga are more emphasized compared to ni and ri.  These were sort of a result of the chord progression I picked, which in turn is due to he fact that it was easier to come up with the right chords for da and ga. 

Mood of simhendramadhyamam in hard rock:
Now, let me babble a little bit more about the character of that melody - at least as I see it.

Even before I started out, the mood I wanted to bring from simhendramadhyamam was one of anger, particularly one bursting out of desperation following desolation. The torrent of swaras/notes I could envision seemed to remind me the fury of a volcano. Maybe it is me, but I find simhendramadhyamam to be very apt for this mood, particularly when you free it from the confines of Carnatic music, where serious anger etc. are not exactly part of the genre. But, maybe my association of this mood with this raga also comes from my influences as a classic rock fan, where I found special attraction to the anger and melancholy of Pink Floyd among other bands. A hard rocking guitar solo to a dark mood usually gets my attention.

I guess I wanted the guitar solo to be like the one from Don't Fear the Reaper of Blue Oyster Cult, albeit with more obvious Carnatic overtones.

Now, reader - did I even achieve 1% of what I set out?  Can I say the following?

Rock on mad (madhyamam) Lion (simhendra) !

When I think of the song, I am reminded of Maharajapuram Santhanam's excellent version, with his elaborate alapanas and his vocal tricks.

Here is the Kharaharapriya experiment:

[audio http://www.upload-mp3.com/files/12894_tgpqr/kharaharapriya_2.mp3]

And, here is the experiment that I wish to call "Inspired by Chakkani Raja":

[audio http://www.upload-mp3.com/files/12897_tioqk/inspired_by_chakkani_raja.mp3]

Please listen and comment.

Kalyani is a very uplifting raga, as is Shankarabharanam, but to my ear, Shankarabharanam sounds like musical perfection, perhaps because of its harmonious arrangement of swaras. Take a listen and make suggestions!

[audio http://www.upload-mp3.com/files/12740_xv5gv/kalyani_trial.mp3]

[audio http://www.upload-mp3.com/files/12702_6xmir/shankarabharanam.mp3]

The famous 'maadu meykkum kanne' tamil song by Aruna Sairam from 30th Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana 14-April-2007. Fantastic performance, fans request. What a song!
The song is a dialog between Lord Krishna as a kid and his mother yashodha. Krishna wants to go out to play and rear the cattle while Yashodha tries to stop.

[audio http://www.upload-mp3.com/files/12553_q9p0s/natabhairavi.mp3]

Natabhairavi has an excellent example on the net by A Kanyakumari (and I have posted this on this blog before); Srivalli Devasenapathe by A Kanyakumari:

There are two songs I found to have a similarity to the scale of Natabhairavi. One is an excellent composition of A R Rahman, Jiya Jale from Dil Se (Nenjinile in the equivalent Tamizh film):

Jiya Jale (Nenjinile) - 1:

[audio http://www.upload-mp3.com/files/12555_4ey0x/JiyaJale2.mp3]

This seems to be fitting in with the Natabhairavi scale, while the following portion of the same song deviates from it, by acquiring a D2:

[audio http://www.upload-mp3.com/files/12556_bdekz/jiyajale1.mp3]

Here is a fine example of how Natabhairavi has been adopted to filmi music:

[audio http://www.upload-mp3.com/files/12557_7paqq/vaseegra1.mp3]

That's Vaseegara, the Bombay Jayashree song from the semi-recent movie whose name eludes me at the moment.

Simhendramadhyamam (slow):

[audio http://www.upload-mp3.com/files/12550_0sjux/Simhendramadhyamam.mp3]

Keeravani (medium):

[audio http://www.upload-mp3.com/files/12551_fgauu/keeravani_2x.mp3]

There were apaswaras in the Keeravani (bear with me on this), but they are in the ni swaras so the two recordings are still intelligible (and not confusing) to the trained ear. Warning: they can sound quite similar, since the only difference is the madhyamam (the Keeravani uses a Shudda Madhyamam while Simhendramadhyamam uses a Pratimadhyamam).

Keeravani has been immortalized in many of Ilayaraja's songs, one that springs to my mind is Unna Nenachen Paatu Padichen from Apoorva Sahodarargal, that old Tamil movie with Kamal Haasan in it. The nagaswaram(or clarinet?) in the middle of the song is typically Keeravani too, and conveys, as Keeravani usually does, a sense of loss, sadness, etc. Both Simhendramadhyamam and Keeravani are ragas that incite sadness, but are horses for different courses, perhaps. Maybe you can share your ideas on them, after listening to the two recordings. By contrast the only Ilayaraja song I can recall which probably sounds like Simhendramadhyamam is Thalatrum Poongatru Naanallava rendered beautifully in S Janaki's immortal voice (but I forget the movie it was in).

Somehow, I have been gravitating to either the grim ragas or the sadder ragas (and perhaps I have mentioned this on my blog before!). They're probably more satisfying to play on my guitar. I should try something light, maybe something like Hindolam or Sahana. Or something profound. Maybe I will try these out next (or dish out an old recording). Maybe even something like Nattai.

However, the ephemeral nature of my memory begs my more logical side to record any epiphanic moments I may sense when playing and listening to music, chiefly so that I may make it possible for myself to examine these epiphanies in more detail. One of the chief motivations to continue to record things about music on this blog is that musical epiphanies are, unlike other random epiphanies in my life, more structured and constantly evolving owing to my knowledge of music itself improving ever so slightly every day.

Simhendramadhyamam is a raga that I best remember from Asainthadum Mayil Ondru, a song that I fondly remember as being one that my mother used to sing when I was young. It is but natural that I consider this a sort of portal through space and time to what she was like then. I also listened to Sikkil Gurucharan perform Simhendramadhyamam in a brilliant performance here.

One of the songs my sister rendered when I was back home for a vacation recently, was a favorite of mine, when I started listening to Carnatic music all those years back. Ninne Nammitenayya Sri Rama, written in such eloquent form by Mysore Vasudevacharya, captivated me in its complex melodies.

A series of tonic shifts through Chakravakam yields SImhendramadhyamam (or is it Keeravani? the difference is in the ni) and since I like the latter raga, somehow, the former raga also seemed to appeal to me.

Correction: Tonic shifts through Chakravakam don't yield Simhendramadhyamam as I had thought. Arunk explains in the comments.

Somewhere in the place we call the “past”, two subspecies of the branch Homo Sapiens Madrasicus split. The evolutionary difference between them had to do with music, and the intervening years have, rather unfairly, kept these two groups more apart than necessary. I am talking about the two kinds of music that caused this schism in the first place. Interestingly enough, both genres contain the word “Classic” in the adjectives used to describe them.

1. “Classical” music, a.k.a Carnatic music a.k.a Raga and Rule
2. “Classic” rock, a.k.a 1970s music a.k.a Rock and Roll

Since I enjoy both genres immensely, I feel rather strange that I don't have much company (with the exception of him, perhaps). If one were to draw a Venn diagram of this situation, A (ulta U) B would not just be tending to zero, but sprinting towards it in all earnest. In other words, the union of both of these sets seems to have resulted in divorce without any marriage counseling. Therefore, this post seeks to make the first moves in reconciling fans of “Nagumomu” with the fans of “Smoke on the Water”.

And talking of those 2 songs, here is a typical conversation between 2 folks, KD Gandhari and Vaadaamalli, who find themselves sitting next to each other on 47A from Besant Nagar to ICF.

KDG: You know that feeling when you go to a concert, and you wait 2+ hours for your favourite song, and they don't sing it?

VM: Oh yes, I do. It's happened to me many times. It feels like eating a Mirchi bajji and being informed that there is only boiling hot water available to drink. Not a good feeling at all.

KDG: I mean, for example, this song, one of my all-time favourites, is such a global hit, that not performing it at a concert completely defies explanation

VM: I fully empathize. It happens pretty frequently with my favourite song as well. Huge hit, and yet, all to frequently ignored in the playlist.

KDG: I love this song sooo much. The beauty of the minor pentatonic with the descending full scale..hmm..delectable

VM: Yeah. I can just feel the harmony. Roger was at his best.

KDG: Agree. Roger must have known right away that he was composing one for the ages.

VM: Yes. Totally unforgettable tune, that one.

KDG: Amen to that.

VM: Totally. The lake must have been such as inspiration

KDG: You mean the river

VM: No. Lake.

KDG: Why do I get the feeling that we are not talking about the same song?

VM: Yes. This sudden cognitive dissonance involving the type of water body is rather jarring. Like C and F# being played together all of a sudden.

KDG: I am referring to the river Cauvery

VM: And I, Lake Geneva

KDG: Aaaaaaaaaaaah. I've been talking to an insufferable classic rock fan

VM: Aaaaaaaaaaah, I've been wasting my time on a pompous music academy peter party

(Cold silence ensues)

So that’s been the typical tone of conversation so far, but it doesn't always have to be that way. Classic Rockers and Classical Raagers can get along. On the face of it, both genres seem about as far from each other as Anu Malik and original compositions, but that’s just an illusion. There are many similarities between Classic Rock and Carnatic music.

For starters, both these genres have a strong live-performance-creativity element. One has Kalpana swaras and the other, extended Guitar leads and one has Thani avarthanams and the other, pounding drum solos. Carnatic music is about reaching the Higher Being, Classic Rock is about generally being high.

So, here we go: Tiago Roger's Smokin' lead

[audio http://krishashok.googlepages.com/tiagorogerssmokinlead.mp3]

and Deep Purple plays Nagumomu

[audio http://krishashok.googlepages.com/DeepPurpleplaysAbheri.mp3]

Peace out.

raagam : kharaharapriya
taalam : chaturasra triputa (adi)

ku.mp3

One of things I noticed initially was that, (of course I hope I am right on this one) - punniyam thedi sounds a lot like Sindhu Bhairavi, mostly because of the bgm and the interludes. This is not to say that the actual song itself does not have the Sindhu Bhairavi flavour but it sounds not-so-much like other typical TFM songs in the same ragam. Thereby, it took a while to even place it in the ballpark of Sindhu Bhairavi.

Next up was nethi raathiri (Sakalakalaa Vallavan)... Only after listening beyond the first couple of lines, does the 'G3'¹ show up...Which presents the fundamental difference from the earlier song which seems to have a lot of 'G2'¹. On careful repetitive listening for a couple more times, and playing it back in my head, the essence of nethi raathiri sounded a lot like Vakulabharanam. As this thought process went on, kallai mattum kandal from Dasavatharam suddenly sprung up in my head and, guess what! it is probably based on Vakulabharanam as well. [The probably is deliberately placed because these opinions were formed in a matter of few minutes, with semi-careful analysis. :-)] Of course, I googled to confirm my suspicion, and  found a bunch of articles/blog posts out there saying nethi raathiri is indeed based on Vakulabharanam.

Also I had this hair-raising realization that Vakulabharanam is just a 1/2 note away from its following ragam Mayamalava Gowlai - Vakulabharanam being Mela 14 and Mayamalava Gowlai, Mela 15 - Both ragams only differing in their Nishadam. Vakulabharam has the 'N2'¹ and Mayamalava Gowlai has the 'N3'¹.

1: G2 - Sadharana Gandharam, G3 - Anthara Gandharam, N2 - Kaisiki Nishadham, N3 - Kakali Nishadham

Of course, the maestro did retire as a performing artist a few years later, after giving many more wonderful concerts. But even then he couldn’t resist the clamour of his adamant admirers, and made a spectacular comeback in 1996 when he was 88 years old, with a memorable concert in Hamsadhwani. Which inevitably makes us think of Sherlock Holmes, who just couldn’t be killed by his own creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but staged a comeback to live permanently in English literature — just as Semmangudi is bound to live on in Indian music!

A nice piece!

Click here for the pdf version. I will add more detail to the ragas by including Wikipedia links, links to conversations at rasikas.org, a list of compositions, and more. These are some preliminary ideas. If anyone wants to collaborate on the mind map, put your email address in the comments and I will get in touch with you.

I created a mind map for music and would like to have contributors come over and help me expand my knowledge by collaborating on this mind map! Those interested, please reply/comment and we will get in touch to collaborate on it.

Each melakarta raga has a different scale. The scales are constructed as follows: out of the twelve semitones of the octave S, R1, R2=G1, R3=G2, G3, M1, M2, P, D1, D2=N1, D3=N2, N3, a melakarta raga must necessarily have S and P, one of the M's, one each of the R's and G's, and one each of the D's and N's. Also, R must necessarily precede G and D must precede N. This gives 2 × 6 × 6 = 72 melakarta ragas. Finding melakarta ragas is a mathematical problem and following a simple set of rules, we can find the corresponding raga and the scale associated with it.

This scheme envisages the lower Sa (Keezh Shadjamam), upper Sa (Mael Shadjamam) and Pa (Panchamam) as fixed swaras, with the Ma (Madhyamam) having two variants and the remaining swaras Ri (Rishabam), Ga (Gandhaaram), Dha (Dhaivatham) and Ni (Nishaadham) as having three variants each. This leads to 72 seven-note combinations referred to as the Melakarta ragas.

A raga which has a subset of swaras from a Melakarta raga is said to be a janya (means born or derived from) of tha Melakarta raga. Every raga is the janya of a melakarta raga. Janya ragas whose notes are found in more than one melakarta raga are assigned (or associated) parent Melakarta based on subjective notions of similarity. This is obvious for ragas that have less than seven notes. For such ragas it can be associated with a Melakarta which has any of the different swaras in that position. For example, Hindolam has Rishabam and Panchamam missing. Hence, it could be considered a janya of Todi (also known as Hanumatodi) which has shudha rishabam or with Natabhairavi which has a chathusruthi rishabam. It is popularly associated with Natabhairavi.

List of Melakarta Raaga’s 

Suddha Madhyamam (1 - 36)

1. Indu Chakra

1. Kanakangi                                 S R1 G1 M1 P D1 N1
2. Ratnangi                                   S R1 G1 M1 P D1 N2
3. Ganamoorti                               S R1 G1 M1 P D1 N3
4. Vanaspati                                  S R1 G1 M1 P D2 N2
5. Manavati                                   S R1 G1 M1 P D2 N3    
6. Tanarupi                                    S R1 G1 M1 P D3 N3    

2. Netra Chakra

1. Senavati                                    S R1 G2 M1 P D1 N1
2. Hanumatodi                               S R1 G2 M1 P D1 N2
3. Dhenuka                                   S R1 G2 M1 P D1 N3
4. Natakapriya                               S R1 G2 M1 P D2 N2
5. Kokilapriya                                S R1 G2 M1 P D2 N3
6. Roopavati                                  S R1 G2 M1 P D3 N3

3. Agni Chakra

1. Gayakapriya                              S R1 G3 M1 P D1 N1
2. Vakulabharanam                        S R1 G3 M1 P D1 N2
3. Mayamalavagowla                      S R1 G3 M1 P D1 N3
4. Chakravakam                             S R1 G3 M1 P D2 N2
5. Sooryakantam                           S R1 G3 M1 P D2 N3
6. Hatakambari                              S R1 G3 M1 P D3 N3 

4. Veda Chakra

1. Jhankaradhwani                         S R2 G2 M1 P D1 N1
2. Natabhairavi                               S R2 G2 M1 P D1 N2
3. Keeravani                                  S R2 G2 M1 P D1 N3
4. Kharaharapriya                          S R2 G2 M1 P D2 N2
5. Gourimanohari                           S R2 G2 M1 P D2 N3
6. Varunapriya                               S R2 G2 M1 P D3 N3

5. Bana Chakra

1. Mararanjani                               S R2 G3 M1 P D1 N1
2. Charukesi                                  S R2 G3 M1 P D1 N2
3. Sarasangi                                  S R2 G3 M1 P D1 N3
4. Harikambhoji                             S R2 G3 M1 P D2 N2
5. Dheerasankarabharanam            S R2 G3 M1 P D2 N3
6. Naganandini                              S R2 G3 M1 P D3 N3

6. Ritu Chakra

1. Yagapriya                                  S R3 G3 M1 P D1 N1
2. Ragavardhini                              S R3 G3 M1 P D1 N2
3. Gangeyabhusani                        S R3 G3 M1 P D1 N3
4. Vagadheeswari                          S R3 G3 M1 P D2 N2
5. Sulini                                        S R3 G3 M1 P D2 N3
6. Chalanata                                  S R3 G3 M1 P D3 N3 

Prati Madhyamam (37-72)

7. Rishi Chakra

1. Salagam                                   S R1 G1 M2 P D1 N1
2. Jalarnavam                                S R1 G1 M2 P D1 N2
3. Jhalavarali                                 S R1 G1 M2 P D1 N3
4. Navaneetam                              S R1 G1 M2 P D2 N2
5. Pavani                                      S R1 G1 M2 P D2 N3
6. Raghupriya                               S R1 G1 M2 P D3 N3 

8. Vasu Chakra

1. Gavambodhi                              S R1 G2 M2 P D1 N1
2. Bhavapriya                                S R1 G2 M2 P D1 N2
3. Subhapantuvarali                       S R1 G2 M2 P D1 N3
4. Shadvidhamargini                      S R1 G2 M2 P D2 N2
5. Suvarnangi                                S R1 G2 M2 P D2 N3
6. Divyamani                                 S R1 G2 M2 P D3 N3

9. Brahma Chakra

1. Dhavalambari                            S R1 G3 M2 P D1 N1
2. Namanarayani                          S R1 G3 M2 P D1 N2
3. Kamavardhini                            S R1 G3 M2 P D1 N3
4. Ramapriya                                S R1 G3 M2 P D2 N2
5. Gamanasrama                          S R1 G3 M2 P D2 N3
6. Viswambhari                             S R1 G3 M2 P D3 N3

10. Disi Chakra

1. Syamalangi                               S R2 G2 M2 P D1 N1
2. Shanmukhapriya                        S R2 G2 M2 P D1 N2
3. Simhendramadhyamam              S R2 G2 M2 P D1 N3
4. Hemavati                                   S R2 G2 M2 P D2 N2
5. Dharmavati                                S R2 G2 M2 P D2 N3
6. Neetimati                                  S R2 G2 M2 P D3 N3

11. Rudra Chakra

1. Kantamani                                 S R2 G3 M2 P D1 N1
2. Rishabhapriya                            S R2 G3 M2 P D1 N2
3. Latangi                                      S R2 G3 M2 P D1 N3
4. Vachaspati                                S R2 G3 M2 P D2 N2
5. Mechakalyani                            S R2 G3 M2 P D2 N3
6. Chitrambhari                              S R2 G3 M2 P D3 N3

12. Aditya Chakra

1. Sucharitra                                 S R3 G3 M2 P D1 N1
2. Jyotiswarupini                            S R3 G3 M2 P D1 N2
3. Dhatuvardhini                             S R3 G3 M2 P D1 N3
4. Nasikabhusani                           S R3 G3 M2 P D2 N2
5. Kosalam                                   S R3 G3 M2 P D2 N3
6. Rasikapriya                               S R3 G3 M2 P D3 N3

[audio http://www.upload-mp3.com/files/12237_atygd/charukeshi_EBEBEB_experiment1.mp3]

Edit (19th August 08): I discovered that the Wordpress media player works really well! Wordpress says, "Take that, Blogger!". Anyway my Musical Experiments blog is still active, since Blogger is way easier to modify and customize. I have to give it to Wordpress for being elegant, practical and neat.

Claimer:- Too much fundae_putting for a very small issue. Excusus Maadimus.

Location: A semi-posh hotel in the heart of Bengaluru. Woodlands a.k.a Woody’s it is called.

So here I was, happily staying at this hotel [ albeit at company’s expense, but don’t ruin the moment ], which is supposedly famous in B’ lore for its breakfast. Not many star hotels can boast about that.

Aha, if that’s not enough, there is one more USP to this place. At all the dining venues, this mallu-run hotel plays Carnatic Music to give that xtra aambience effects.                  Yes. Good-ol’ Classy stuff that sits well with most of the senior Tam folk who seem to form a majority of the customers here [ and with me as well - if you still didn’t get the point ].

I think this must be an corollary/extension of that experimental research that, cows gave more milk when exposed to western classical music.

In the mornings, they play Mandolin Shrinivas. The same CD every day. I still liked it.

At dinner, for some weird reason, they play death-note Shehnai/saxophone. Morose funeral-ish stuff. I didn’t quite get the funda, but since the food was quite good, I didn’t bother much.

Well, enough of bitti publicity. Back to core issues. Or the lack of it.

So, one day at the breakfast, the hotel features the Southie menu filled with awesomeness, the Idlis, the Vadas, dosas…. and also some mandatory nuisances like the Upma [ a.k.a Uppittu. as if an alias changes the hideousness ]. And being a devout member of the caffeine cultus, I order a coffee as well. Wait, let me rephrase.

A true-to-Bengaluru-tradition Cothasian fresh, piping hot, delicious cuppa coffee, with a frothy layer as a visual bonus.

Ya, it was something like that. I’m a bit restrained with appraisals.

It was of course sugar-free, to suit the oldies. So, I take the  semi-crystalline, semi-powdery sugar sachet, and pour it down. It made a small hole into that layer, sinking in slowly. Maybe I was already high in anticipation of the coffee, or maybe bengaluru’s   early-morning cold had excited my mind, in either case, this sight brought a smile to my face. I assume the classy people around me thought I was some downmarket crazy oaf. That is, if they hadn’t already thought of that, while I came to have the breakfast in my pair of jazzy bermudae.

To me, however, it reminded of old cartoon characters. When they used to fall out of planes, or space, or anywhere else… Dropping through columns of white clouds, making appropriate look-alike cut-out holes in the process.

Maybe I’m imagining a bit too much. “Much ado about nothing”- ing about a petty issue.

Signing off with a recent chat with Akella. [ Expletives included ]

Me : Hey, I found a house in Wilson Garden. Pretty neat. And near as well..

Akella : So, when are you shifting to a proper house?

Me : Wtf, this house is closeby, has a maid, and a TV as well.      You can’t get properer than that.

Akella : No, I meant why are you staying in a Garden?

Me : You Whore.

Some people never change…

And that is good…

And that is all…

After a couple years of this 'home schooling', I was introduced to the marvellous world of Gaanaamrutha Bodhini and other such books, when I started to play the violin. From that point my guesses were more educated, mainly because I could make the right association reinforced by the actual knowlegde of the underlying notes/swaras, which helped to a great extent.

But then sometimes, as the saying goes, when identifying ragas, Ignorance Is Bliss... Sometimes, although only about 2-3 times out of 10, knowing the swarams doesn't really help because of several reasons. One of the biggest traps is 'Gruha Bedham' or Tonal shifts. Ilayaraja, and a few other composers employ this a lot to convey a change in mood, for instance, and if one is not observant enough, utter confusion is the only possible result.

Bottom line: Half Quarter-baked carnatic music enthusiasts such as myself, sometimes fall for such traps and end up arguing about the raga to no end....which, in its own right, a lot of fun!

Actually the main reason behind this post was a simple epiphany a few days back. As I was wondering about all the above, I suddenly realized that all these swara notations - Ri1, Ri2, Ga2, Ga3, etc.. must have been very recent (although a few ages ago) maths/physics based interpretations of the whole carnatic music system. This must certainly have not been the notion the Original GODS (The Sangeetha Trimurthis, and others) had in mind when composing the legendary krithis and varnams that exist even today and are being passed on from generation to generation endlessly. Otherwise we wouldn't have ragas like Arabhi & Devagandhaari differing mostly only in their rasam or flavour .... Or even ragas like Vegavaahini & Bindhumaalini, which, to ara-gorais like me, seem overwhelmingly similar to their parent ragam Chakravaham.  Wondering about all this is a quite an exothermic process, and the precipitate from this brain-sublimation is only the unescapable realization of the sheer genius of great composers like Saint Thyagaraja, Dikshadhar, Syama Sastri, Swathi Thirunal, Sivan, Annamacharya only to mention a very few.

In conclusion, I think the process of learning carnatic music, is a lifelong experience, if only one is so inclined. This may be true with any classical form of music, but I have not had the chance to explore yet. I guess, that, would have to wait for another lifetime.  :-)

Things I could not do:

• Read (anything)
• Write
• Listen to music
• Watch movies

All I could do was work, come back home, TV, sleep and that is it :(

Here is a start at least. Hopefully the times of this kind are over and I can be back to my old self or something better :)

I started the day with listening to Akhilandeshwari in Dwinjavanti, a beautiful composition of Dikshitar. And I post the same below.

Here is the lyrics and a recording of MS to go along with it.

raagam: dvijaavanti

28 harikaambhOji janya
Aa: S R2 M1 G3 M1 P D2 S
Av: S N2 D2 P M1 G3 M1 R2 G2 R2 S N2 D2 N2 S

taaLam: aadi
Composer: Muttuswaamy Dikshitar

Pallavi

akhilANDEshvari rakSamAm Agama sampradAya nipuNE shrI

Anupallavi

nikhila lOka nityAtmikE vimalE nirmalE shyAmaLE sakala kalE

CaraNam

lambOdara guruguha pUjitE lambAlakOdbhAsitEhasitE
vAgdEvatArAdhitE varadE varashailarAjanutE shAradE
jambhAri sambhAvitE janArddananutE jujAvanti rAganutE jallI
maddaLa jhar jhara vAdya nAdamuditE jHnAnapradE

Fingers crossed as ever !