52 Kaidas

Technique

2012-01-27T13:40:00.002-05:00

Pandit Suresh Talwalkar on the importance of technique:
(full screen it so you can read the subtitles, unless you speak Marathi)

I find this video to be incredibly inspiring, not only because he hammers home the importance of technique, but also because he seamlessly slides into talking about style...individual style. In my humble experience, we tabla players spend so much time working on technique, learning material and imitating/emulating our teachers and heros that we often don't develop our own voice. (welcome to the wild generalizations edition of 52 Kaidas!)

Hands up tabla players if you've ever thought: "I have to play this exactly like I was taught".

To a point, that's true. The preservation of such a rich and complicated musical tradition does depend on the information being passed accurately from teacher to student. It takes time...a long time....forever, even....to understand the intricacies of technique, tala, form, the myriad of different repertoire etc. But! Tabla is an oral tradition, and like the old broken telephone game, subtle variations are introduced with each passing. Over time, those subtle variations magnify, and a transformation begins to take place. Evolution.

I have certain repertoire (the Dhadhagegenage Farukhabad Chalan-Kaida) that is a good example of this. The version I have was taught to me by Ritesh Das, who had learned it from Pandit Shankar Ghosh. When I was researching that blog post, I found out that Gnan Prakash Ghosh is credited with that particular version. So, 'my' version is the 4th generation, minimum. I've probably, over time, introduced baya inflections, accents etc etc that are my own, either through my physical limitations (what actually sounds good with my hands) or my choices of the path I take through the material, the relationships I hear between strokes etc (and I continue to refine it each time I play it) and what I like. Similarly, Ritesh probably injected his own personality when he taught it to us, and so on down the line.

I have played 'my' version to a few different tabla players, and each time, an interesting thing has happened: "oh, that composition...it's good, but the correct version is this" and they play a different version of the same composition. The soul of the composition is the same...it still has the same groove, flows well at the same speed, BUT, some of the strokes are different, the accents are different, the structure is different, and because of this, the variations, the pathways for improvisation are necessarily different. I was taught to play a sur stroke for the phrase that starts the second half (TageTete). None of the other versions I've heard have TageTete in them, and none of them use a sur stroke anywhere. It's all kinar. Now...I like the sur, I've worked on it a lot, and it's something I do well, if I can say that. So, naturally, I'm going to focus on, and expand on the variations that show my strength.

And this is my main point: That's ok.

I'm not saying neglect anything that's hard, or doesn't come naturally, but it's ok to specialize in certain focused areas of technique, repertoire, or sound production because that is what makes us unique...that is our 'style'.

Both Swapan Chaudhuri and Suresh Talwalkar told me almost the exact same thing at different times, and I'll paraphrase:

Don't imitate. If you imitate, you will never 'own' what you do, because it's not yours. You will always be weaker than the person you're imitating. It will always be a facsimile of the original. Carve your own niche, and you'll automatically be the best within that niche.

I think that the fact that tabla, with all its strict rules and freakishly hard technique, has room within it for everyone to contribute their own voice is a testament to the richness of the tradition. It's not frozen in time. It's evolving right now, as we speak, with each and every person who is practicing or performing at this very moment. That's why there are thousands and thousands and thousands of different compositions, each different from the other, and that a single kaida (for example) is a universe unto itself.

To be honest...knowing this makes it easier for me to practice. Drilling something 300 or 1000 times is daunting, boring, hurts-physically, but also mentally, and is frustrating at times. But practicing something to make it my own, rather than trying to sound *just* like X or Y tabla player is way easier. I can play, in the little kid sense of the word. I can do what I like over and over again, and I don't even notice the hours going by.

So...technique is important! You must practice!! (sound of a whip cracking). But practicing is hard! It's no fun! (sadface) BUT...if you introduce 'style' to that equation, then practicing will be easy, and technique will automatically follow.

Also...practice with other people. It really helps.

/end gooey inspirational post

Another video

2012-01-24T15:17:00.002-05:00

The 2nd video from my solo concert on January 15th at Musideum.

This is a live version of the Sankha Chatterjee Farukhabad Chalan-Kaida I previously recorded and wrote about in the Four-in-one super-special mega-simul-post extravaganza!:
http://52kaidas.blogspot.com/2010/08/farukhabad-chalan-kaida-punjab-kaida.html

Another video from this concert:
http://52kaidas.blogspot.com/2012/01/video-video.html

And an audio recording:
http://52kaidas.blogspot.com/2012/01/live-in-concert-1.html

Please sign up for emails (see the Feedburner form on the right?) and feel free to fan-up on my Facebook artist page.
until next time,
TaTa!

Live in concert #1

2012-01-18T13:14:00.002-05:00

What?!? Two posts in two days? Madness I say... Madness!!

Here's a live version of a (previously posted) Farukhabad Chalan-Kaida, recorded on Jan 15 2012 at Musideum in Toronto:

Farukhabad Chalan-Kaida Live by Talawallah

Check out the timed comments, and feel free to leave your own if you're a Soundclouder.

I wrote a fairly big post about this in July 2010 when I posted the studio version. You can read about it here: http://52kaidas.blogspot.com/2010/07/dha-dha-gegenage.html

There's video of this concert here, in yesterday's post (never thought you'd see those words, didya?) : http://52kaidas.blogspot.com/2012/01/video-video.html

Not everything was videotaped, but there are a couple more clips coming eventually.

Here's a pic of the show, and my poster design:

Floor seating!

Cheers!

Video? Video!

2012-01-17T23:09:00.001-05:00

Hi all,
No lame excuses for my long absence (though I have been in India).

Just a brief post with a short video excerpt from my tabla solo concert this past Sunday.

This is a fairly well known kaida:
DhatiDhagenaDhaterekite
DhatiDhageThinnakena

Interesting, because it kinda breaks the super strict 'no bols that aren't in the theme' rule, though it's such a ubiquitous and lovely composition, and a fine example of how the rules can be bent for the sake of creativity, inspiration and flow.

I was fortunate to have Rattan Bhamrah accompanying me for what turned out to be a 90 minute solo in a rare musical instrument museum and store called Musideum, right here in Toronto. If you can, please go. It's simultaneously a playground and a temple of music...beautiful space.

More from this concert soon...

cheers,
Ed

A year of Jhaptal

2011-09-12T13:46:00.001-04:00

Hi! I'm back, finally. This year has been busy, lots of different stuff going on. I have a lot to share...what I've been up to, plans for the next year etc...it's another mega-simul-post-extravaganza! But first, two new new recordings:

<p>&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://tala-wallah.bandcamp.com/track/dha-dhatidhatidhadhadhinna"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Dha-DhatiDhatiDhaDhaDhinna by Tala-Wallah&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>

<p>&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://tala-wallah.bandcamp.com/track/lucknow-dhenedhinnagena"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Lucknow DheneDhinnagena by Tala-Wallah&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>

The first one is a very beginning kaida, albeit in Jhaptal (10 beat rhythm cycle) that I learned recently, and the second one, also in Jhaptal, is a little more involved, bol-wise. 'What I've Been Up To' will help explain, so here goes:

What I've Been Up To:

I spent the last year or so in a very intense training period. I took 4 online sessions (32 classes total) with Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri via the Ali Akbar College of Music, a bunch of private classes with Subhajyothi Guha in Toronto, spent Dec-Feb in Pune, taking classes with Pandit Suresh Talwalkar, and finally, I just finished an intense, incredibly humbling yet inspiring week-long workshop with Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri here in Toronto. Suffice it to say, I have several lifetimes of material to work on. This was all made possible by a generous grant from the Canada Council:

thankyouthankyouthankyou

The first Kaida:

This is the first kaida I learned from Pt Suresh Talwalkar in December. We worked on developing my technique further (tone, power etc) and he started me right back at the beginning, but in Jhaptal, which kept in interesting! I have studied Jhaptal before, but it was so great to start right at step one, slow it waaaaay down, and strip it right back to the basics.

The tintal version of this kaida would be something like DhatiDhati DhaDhathunna, TatiTati DhaDhaDhinna, but the Jhaptal version has more shapes right off the bat:

Dha-Dhati Dhati DhaDhaDhinna, DhaDhaDhinna Dhati DhaDhaThinna

Delhi gharana.

Raise your hand if you've neglected the very first compositions/exercises you ever learned. I think a lot of people do that, and I'm guilty of it for sure. One of the things that is so challenging about this composition is that the bol groupings are very small.

Let me explain:

I think of each tabla stroke as a letter. When we first learn to read, we first learn to recognize the letters of the alphabet, then small words, then larger words, then we can absorb and create entire sentences with ease. Tabla is the same way. We first learn Ghe, Ke, na, Tete and so on. Then, we learn more complex letters, combination strokes: Dha (ghe+na), Thun, Dhin etc etc. After that, we learn small words: DhaTete, Thunnakena, terekite etc. Once you're a few years into learning, you're dealing with large, complex words and groups of words eg: DhatrekeDhetete Ketagedighene and the phrases get longer and longer, to the point that entire compositions become a single entity that we can recall, recite and perform. Anyone ever read Green Eggs and Ham? Written by celebrated children's author Dr Seuss, the entire book only uses a total of only 50 words. A small vocabulary for an entire book for sure, and while it's aimed at new readers, it can be a bit of a challenge to read, simply because of the repetition and rhyming (ok, maybe that's just me). This kaida is a bit like that. Lots of short words in gradual, low contrast permutations.

Sam, I am, indeed! ;)

This kaida is short, uses very small words, and therefore requires a different level of concentration (for me anyway) because everything is ripping past so quickly. It also uses strokes that are speed limiters: DhaDhaDhinna is a total workout stroke...all one finger, and a real burner if you do it for a long time.

Initially, I thought this composition was all about Na: there are lots of them, both alone, and in Dha strokes, after all. But once I got it up to a certain speed, it was Tun that really caught my ear. There are very cool patterns happening with Tun, and the Na strokes sort of become a bed, a flow, that the Tuns punctuate. If that makes sense ;)

It gets really exciting when the variations move away from the 'Dha-' in the theme, and get completely full!!

It was challenging to make an arrangement of this for a couple reasons: The kaida is short, and the tala is fast. I always try to find an interesting way into a kaida, hence the extended groove section off the top. There are three tabla tracks on here: a low D tabla, and a pair of high D tabla. The low tabla is a Mukta Das drum i picked up from Kala Kendar, and the baya is an old raw copper Benares shell that Mukta reheaded years ago. Both high tabla tracks use the same drums: a Haridas Vhatkar tabla, plus an old dented Mukta Das baya, again from Kala Kendar.

The lehara is originally from my old standby, the iLehra iPhone app, but I sent it to my good friend Suba Sankaran, and she composed and sang a whole bunch of variations on the lehara, which John Gzowski (guitar) and Prosad Caruk (sitar) played. Thank you, beautiful people!!

The second Kaida:

This is a beautiful Lucknow kaida i learned from Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri during the online classes, and it immediately became a favourite.

Important disclaimer!: The tihai is not Swapanji's composition...I was experimenting with the bols, and came up with this tihai. I decided to record it, mainly because I am always a little bit wary of recording class material verbatim.

This a 2-part kaida that has a really nice flow, and the variations are super interesting and challenging. I've already blathered on for too long on this post, but let me just say this: DheneDhinnagena is hard....especially hard not to cheat the last Na and turn it into a Ne. Ne is easier for sure, but the Na...well....it really balances the composition for me. I love how the variations focus down to smaller and smaller bol combinations, and the original tihai followed that direction. *Sigh*. Can you tell I have angst about recording my own tihai? :-/

This recording opens with a short Chakradar from Pt Suresh Talwalkar.

Oh, and the drums: Haridas Vhatkar tabla, plus a recent acquisition: a Mukta Das clay baya from Kala Kendar. Clay sounds great! I've always wanted one and the price was right. It took a little while to break in, but it has an earthy sound I quite like.

The plan for the next year or so:

Here's what's coming: I am planning 2 albums this year. A traditional Jhaptal album (all Jhaptal, all the time!!) and simultaneously, a remix (I prefer 'dub') album of the traditional tracks. I will record additional musicians on the dub tracks, and hopefully make a new kind of contemporary recording, with traditional tabla in the centre of a modern soundscape.
We'll see how THAT goes! ;)

So, first will be the traditional kaida, and shortly (and by that I mean 'at some point') thereafter, the remix track. And yes...the 1st track isn't entirely traditional accompaniment wise (electric guitar? shakers? am I mad??) BUT....I have big plans for the remix.

The vision for both albums has become quite large...I have a huge list of musicians in mind, for both albums (I'm trying to have different people, sounds and approaches on every track) but that brings me face-to-face with the eternal problem: finances. I want to pay everyone, but that's just not possible right now. I haven't thought it through, but if people are interested in pre-buying one or both albums, that could help. Drop me a line if you're interested.

Of course, the tracks are always pay-what-you-want (min $1) so you can always show your love that way!!

Social media

I'm taking advantage of various social media to these days. There's a Facebook artist page here: which will be mainly a platform for upcoming concert announcements and info. Feel free to 'like' :P

I'm also on Twitter (streaming in the box on the right) which I plan to use for mini-updates not worthy of a full post (i.e. 'like, omg! recording so-and-so for the next post!') and thoughts on music, and being a musician.

So...thanks for your patience, and please stay tuned...I'm quite excited about the next year of recordings!!

peace

52 Kaidas at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Maharaja Exhibit

2011-03-01T16:01:00.003-05:00

I finally got to the Art Gallery of Ontario's exhibition Maharaja: The Splendour of India’s Royal Courts today, and am absolutely honoured to announce that tracks from this blog are playing in one of the galleries. I knew this was happening, but it all went down right before I went to India, so I never got a chance to see it until today.

My elephant is in the shop sadly, so I took public transport...

I thought, you know, that the tracks would be really background and unnoticeable, but I'm pleased to say that they're very clearly audible, and fit the vibe in the gallery quite nicely...I can say that right? ;)

The exhibition is really really lovely, so if you're in/around Toronto, I encourage you to go. It runs until April 3rd, and people under the age of 25 get in free.

In other news...more tabla recordings are coming! I've been running around like mad since I got home, and it doesn't stop until April...

until then...tata! ;)

Hiatus...

2011-01-17T00:50:00.008-05:00

Hi all, and a belated happy new year!

First: apologies for being so absent from the blog. I'm in India, practicing and learning.

Second: I am planning a bunch of Jhaptal recordings over the next year. Stay tuned! (Signing up for emails is the easiest way...see the Feedburner form down to the right).

Third: All the Tintal tracks from the first year of the blog are now on one album on Bandcamp, and that album is available as a download. The cover art is by Krishan Jayatunge. (Folks who have downloaded tracks already can replace the cover if they like...click the pic and then 'save as...' then do whatever you do to change album covers)

Yes, I like the old-school street-vibe ;)

Fourth: There now exists an actual, physical CD of all the Tintal from the first year of the blog. It's not for sale yet, but it will eventually be available on the Bandcamp page for all those who don't/won't/can't do the digital thing. (Bandcamp now does physical sales! Huzzah!).

Fifth: The Jhaptal album will be a track-by-track download until it's complete, when it too will get cover art and be an actual CD etc. The album price will be the sum of the minimum individual d/l price, so there's no savings by waiting...get 'em while they're hot!

Tenth: Here is a small gallery of pics from a recent trip to Haridas Vhatkar's Tabla shop in Mumbai. Click here for the gallery. Listen for this drum in upcoming posts!

Haridas Vhatkar

So, thanks for all the support (and patience) over the first year...I know it's taking longer, MUCH longer than my initial, completely unrealistic plan of one Kaida a week, but I'm hooked, and will continue to record long-form classical tabla compositions until I hit 52...then...who knows! 52 Parans? ;)

Peace.

DhigenaDhigenaDhatige

2010-10-27T13:48:00.002-04:00

This is a composition I learned recently from Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri, and it's lovely, groovy and very fun to play. The strokes aren't terribly complicated (then again, I'm not playing it terribly fast) but the shapes are very interesting. The theme is a reduction (aka Gopuccha Yati) 9-8-6-3 DgTnkn and it features lots of sur strokes and very active baya. Great practice, as the naDhi combinations are tricky to nail accurately at speed, lots of off-beats (1/8 & 1/4 beat), and the variations are exquisite: phrases of 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4 and 3 all make an appearance; a series where sam* is hidden; compound variations with internal tihais...a real goldmine of rhythmic tools! The tihai...well, the tihai is a mind-bender to be sure ;)

About the recording:
Another exotic location! I spent 2 dreamy weeks at the Banff Centre in Alberta Canada, rehearsing and creating with my band Autorickshaw and a 5-piece brass band before going on tour. Each musician at the Banff Centre gets their own rehearsal space, in my case, a small hut. I took a portable recording solution (laptop, small USB interface and 1 microphone) to test it out for my upcoming trip to India, and I recorded this one morning to see what the setup produced, quality-wise.

My music hut in the mountains

I didn't really intend this for the blog...I was noodling a bit before playing the composition, and it didn't cut the mustard, hence the abrupt beginning. I recycled one of George Koller's dilruba tracks for the lehara.

The portable setup doesn't capture the baya as well as I'd like, but I think that's a combination of the room (tiny, soundproof), the mic, and the almost total lack of humidity in Banff, which is at an elevation of 1,463 m (4,800 ft) in the Rocky Mountains. I have never, ever had such a hard time keeping my drums in tune, but the beauty of the surroundings offset that a bit. :)

My music hut, from slightly farther away...

I performed a short (52 Kaidas-style) tabla solo in concert while we were at the Banff Centre, and I'm waiting to get a copy from them. If it's passable, I'll post it.

*Sam=the first beat of the rhythmic cycle, aka the downbeat.

Farukhabad Chalan-Kaida, Punjab Kaida, new Dha Dha gegenage AND Funky Lucknow Rela

2010-08-15T16:11:00.019-04:00

Four-in-one super-special mega-simul-post extravaganza!

Featuring: Exotic Locations! Triple Gharana Action! Spicy Photos! Silky Dilruba! High Fidelity Stereophonic Sound! Mad Experimentation!

Farukhabad Chalan-Kaida

<a href="http://tala-wallah.bandcamp.com/track/dhin-na-kre-dhin-na-chalan-kaida">Dhin--Na-Kre Dhin-Na Chalan-Kaida by Tala-Wallah</a>

Punjab Kaida

<a href="http://tala-wallah.bandcamp.com/track/ghen-na-punjab-kaida">Ghen-Na- Punjab Kaida by Tala-Wallah</a>

Dha Dha gegenage update

<a href="http://tala-wallah.bandcamp.com/track/dha-dha-gegenage">Dha Dha gegenage by Tala-Wallah</a>

Funky Lucknow Rela

<a href="http://tala-wallah.bandcamp.com/track/funky-lucknow-rela">Funky Lucknow Rela by Tala-Wallah</a>

All four recordings feature super excellent, Zen-master-esque musician George Koller on Dilruba, with a pair of fretless bass treats...look for more GK in the future...

Notes on the first recording, Farukhabad Chalan-Kaida:

Things open with a Lucknow Paran taught by my first teacher, Ritesh Das, who I believe learned it from Swapan Chaudhuri. KeTageDhatunna KeTageDhatunna KeTageDhatunna KiteDha = tricky! But ultimately satisfying.

The main composition I very recently learned in a 3 day workshop with Subhajyothi Guha. He originally ID'd it as a Peshkar-Chalan but the way it's presented here is more Chalan-Kaida in character. I fell deeply in love with it immediately. Farukhabad Gharana.

This was composed by Subhajyothi's teacher, Pandit Sankha Chatterjee, himself a student of Ustad Masit Khan, Ustad Keramatulla Khan (the son of Ustad Masit Khan), AND Ustad Allarakha Khan (more on this below...). All super heavyweight tabla players. Wow. Holy lineage, Batman.

I have to share a story here...Subhajyothi very generously asked me to perform in a Saraswati Puja celebration concert at his home in Kolkata in 2002. I was nervous (1st tabla solo in India, at my teacher's house, on Saraswati Puja...talk about pressure) and I had no idea who was playing lehara. Turns out that Pandit Sankha Chatterjee was there, and very generously volunteered to play harmonium. Oh dear. Still...it went fairly well...he was of course an awesome accompanist and very gentle and encouraging, even when the wheels came of a couple of tihais right before the finish line....{blushes}

Pandit Sankha Chatterjee, and some nervous guy...

Back to the composition. Really really lovely composition. The phrases are Peshkar-like for sure (and yet have a folk-y quality, no?), and I love the way it moves...very spaciously funky (Tabla Space Funk? you heard it here first people!). I'm going to work on the Peshkar side with Subhajyothi when he comes back in September.

Where this was recorded:

Family vacation cottage rental, Oxtongue Lake, Ontario, Canada.
Tala-Wallah Studios, Algonquin Branch?

Yes, I took not only my drums on vacation, but also my recording studio! My family is soooo tolerant...very grateful that they put up with my antics. ;) I was staying in a tiny cabin that was apparently (if the owner, who we dubbed The Big Lebowski is to be believed) the original Algonquin Park rangers cabin from something like 1908. An honest-to-goodness log cabin, people. Great for capturing that...ummm...woody log cabin sound that is so sought after. That carpet really ties the room together, does it not?

Disclaimer: I usually like to sit with a new composition for a long time before I attempt to perform or record it, and this is brand new in my repertoire, so....it will mature with age. ;)

Notes on the second recording, Punjab Kaida:

Up next is another composition I learned from Subhajyothi Guha, a Punjab Kaida, composed by none other than the great maestro Alla Rakha, who taught it to Subho's teacher, Sankha Chatterjee.

Let's talk oral tradition for a second here...This composition isn't very old compared to some tabla compositions out there, but has been passed down over 4 teacher-student generations: Alla Rakha->Sankha Chatterjee->Subajyothi Guha->moi. Pretty cool to be able to trace the path through time and people, no?

This falls squarely into the Very Challenging Kaida category. "Two kinds of 'Ghe Na' " was how Subhajyothi prefaced this in class. It took me a long time to feel this...it's so technical that it demands a ton of practice before the hands get comfortable and the ears can open up...that's how it was for me, anyway. Total left hand burner, with all the deep, open Ghen strokes. Boom! Very Satisfying! Very grounded feeling too, while still floating over the tala...interesting combination. Of course, the sur Ta is sweetness and light!

By the way, Alla Rakha was my introduction to tabla. Story time! (what is with all the stories?? I must be getting old...)

When I was 18, a good friend {waves at Karen} recommended I listen to Indian classical music, which I had never heard. I picked up a Ravi Shankar cassette on the Deutsche Grammophon label, and lo-and-behold, 3rd track, side A: an Alla Rakha tabla solo. Totally. Blew My. Mind. Karen knew a fellow named Art Levine who knew Ritesh, got his phone number, and my journey started.

Here's the album. You can listen to a sample of the tabla solo in question....notice anything unusual? No accompaniment! Just pure, raw Alla Rakha 14-beat tabla awesomeness!

I love this, however....I think that some sort of accompaniment is really important for tabla solo repertoire...without the framework of the tala cycle clearly shown, a beautiful composition can turn into a blistering stream of notes, especially to non-tabla players. Plus, I find a good lehara completely hypnotizing, allowing some sort of deeper listening, not to mention helping the tension and release that is so important. not criticizing this recording in any way....just saying the lehara is the canvas on which the solo is painted. Of course, Alla Rakha could pull anything off...

This is an excerpt of a much longer recording (45 min) I did in June as prep for a tabla solo concert at Musidium in Toronto. I wasn't planning to do anything with it, but this is at a sprightly tempo, so here it is....

This was recorded in my brother's living room while I was house sitting....not quite an exotic enough location for the new tag, but, every space sounds different, plus it features a rented AKG 414 microphone. Still....to be perfectly honest, the Sennheiser 421 proves itself again and again as the best tabla recording mic I own. I always end up using about 75% 421 in the blend, even with a +$1000 mic on hand.

Notes on the Third Recording, Dha Dha gegenage update:

This is an update of the previous post, Dha Dha gegenage, with a new, vastly improved lehara. If you bought the old version, and want the new one, drop me an email and I'll send the new file. Thanks to the folks who buy tracks, by the way. Especially those folks that invariably buy each one as soon as it comes out. The support means a lot. You did know you can buy these, right? Pay what you want, starting at a buck. There's a 'Buy' link right on the player!

Did you know you can also embed these fancy Bandcamp players anywhere you like on the web? Click the 'Share', link on the player, pick your destination, pick a psycho-tastic visualizer and you're off!

PS listen for the bonus George Koller quote right at the end of the recording! I had to...just HAD to keep that in! :D

Which leads to my favourite recording of this little quartet....

Notes on the Funky Lucknow Rela:

This is a Lucknow Rela I learned from Subhajyothi Guha in the recent workshop mentioned above. Once again, it was love at first hearing. The Terekite is a real treat in here. I was practicing this at the cottage, but didn't get to record it, mainly due to the increasing difficulty of waking up early as the trip progressed. :P

While this is a Rela, I've given it a bit of a different treatment here (heh...'different' to say the least...): introduce the skeleton of the composition, and then fill in the body (aka Rang...I think....definitionally challenged, again. Anyone confirm Rang is the right term?).

Here's the deal: In the case of a kaida, the thematic material is presented at 1/2 or even 1/4 speed before the final performance speed is reached via doubling. The approach used here is different...example using a sentence:

Tarun And Bikram Love Appalum.

Just the first letters?

T A B L A!

So...rather than playing single-double, this approach uses just the first letter of each word, then fills in the rest of the letters. The trick is that the speed doesn't increase...just the density. When the maestros do this, it's like a blurry picture suddenly coming into sharp focus. With 3D glasses on. Deeply cool.

The underlying groove of this composition is so completely funktastic that I spent one whole practice session just playing the skeleton, and thought to myself...what would the skeleton and the body sound like together on different pitched tabla?

So....the experimentation part: There are 4 tabla parts on here...2 low D tabla tracks, playing the skeleton all the way through, and two high D tabla parts playing the full Rela.

I knew the funk was strong with this once the tabla was recorded....then George laid down the bass track, and my head exploded. Let me put it this way....George took the funk, distilled it into 100-proof tabla-funk moonshine, lit it on fire and launched it into orbit. Killer bass playing George...wow. And yes...that is a single take on bass. No edits. He did 2 takes, and I used the entire 2nd take, blending in parts of the first take in the alapana and at the end for extra phatness.

oh man....my brain melted all over the camera
shortly after this pic was taken

While the core is traditional, the addition of the fretless bass definitely makes for a non-traditional presentation, but I make no apologies. If a more modern interpretation brings people into the world of tabla, I'm all for it. Funky Lucknow Rela needs Funky Treatment. Who am I to resist?

One of the things I like about having a recording studio perpetually set up and ready-to-go is that I can embrace spontaneous ideas like this, fire up the studio, and have a result in a pretty short time. One of the best things a musician can have at home, as far as I'm concerned, is a recording studio...no matter how basic.

While the tabla parts are not quite up to my usual standards of cleanliness and precision (high speed unison is fun...but can be messy...when the train goes off the tracks, it ain't pretty), I was inspired, it was spontaneous, and it'll do for a first attempt.

I composed 2 variations in here, and I break down to the skeleton and back to the body for both...one variation has increasing Taka's...1-2-3-4, (akin to Srotogata Yati in Carnatic drumming; lit. 'stream becoming a river') and the other has increasing and decreasing Taka's...1-2-3-2-1 (à la Mrdanga Yati in Carnatic drumming, a shape following the shape of the Mrdangam)*.

So, many thanks to Subhajyothi Guha for teaching me the three main compositions presented here, George Koller for absolutely knocking the accompaniment out of the park into outer space, and of course to Ritesh Das, who guided me expertly and patiently in the early years.

Tabla....iiin....Spaaaaace!

Peace.

*Yati definitions from The Principals and Practices of South Indian Drumming by Dr. Trichy Sankaran

Once again, all the lehara melodies are transcribed from the indispensable iLehra iPhone/iTouch/iPad app.

Special thanks to Memsaab for her razor sharp proofreading...my brother doesn't actually have a LOVING room...but he does have a living room. ;)

Dha Dha gegenage

2010-07-22T00:18:00.014-04:00

Oh my...it's been almost 2 months! Who'dve imagined that the spring and summer would be so busy? ;)

So, a treat! Here's a composition very close to my heart: Dha Dha gegenage...

<a href="http://tala-wallah.bandcamp.com/track/dha-dha-gegenage">Dha Dha gegenage by Tala-Wallah</a>

UPDATED. I've edited the text below, given that I have some new information...

This might raise some eyebrows, since, as far as I can tell, it's an unusual version of this composition

This was taught to me by Ritesh Das, my first teacher, and Ritesh's first teacher, Shankar Ghosh, taught it to him.

I have heard a number of different versions of this composition, though I've never formally learned any other version. When I play this version for most tabla players, I am immediately corrected...tabla controversy! BUT: this is the Jnan Prakash Ghosh version. That is my understanding, anyway. There are other versions.

This is a Chalan, more specifically, and Chalan-Kaida. Chalan means movement or flow.

Chalan is a pretty wide-ranging compositional form...some Chalans are short, fixed compositions, like the famous:
DhatiDha - DhatighenaThunakena DhatiDha -
KreDhet - Dhagena Ti - Dhatighena thunnakena
Ti - kttk Ti - kttk Ta trkttk Ta trkttk
trkttgDha trkt DhatiDhagena DhatiDhagena

This type has only a few versions, and is presented more like a gat, thukra or chakradar. Others are structured more like Kaidas, i.e. theme and variations, and, as I learned yesterday, even Peshkar-Chalans exist. Excellent! The Reese's peanutbutter cup of tabla compositions! ;)

So, here's the little history I've gleaned: The original version was modified (re-composed?) by Jnan Prakash Ghosh, and is more Na-heavy than the original. There is a story that someone played this new version for tabla giant Karamatullah Khan, and his response not terribly positive. Still...Jnan Pakash Ghosh was unquestionably a master tabla player and composer, and I adore this composition. I'd love to learn the other one(s).

This is another one of those very deep tabla compositions...the more I play it, the more the possibilities open up. I thought it was all about NaNa when I first learned it years ago....then Dhene seemed to be defining things...of course Tete is it's own universe as well...and the baya is like long, slow ocean swells....if I could get them all singing and flowing together, equally balanced, I think the picture would be complete. Actually...I think that the beauty of this composition is that different elements come into focus as the kaida progresses. The art is in being able to smoothly and seamlessly draw the ear from one to another as they develop.

Check out Dhene for example...it sets up its own pattern within the complexity around it, and the first bunch of variations highlight Dhene, creating lovely little patterns. Then, TageTeteGhege comes into focus, then Nanaghene...heh...this is rather too subjective. If you zoom in on other elements, you'll hear different things. Very cool. I LOVE tabla.

What else...I did the lehara myself this time...I might record someone else playing later. I'm trying to coordinate with a dilruba player. OH! and I love that Ta is on sur in the 2nd part of the theme and variations (TegeTete gege), and the way the 2nd part morphs in size to accommodate the first part tickles me to no end.

Things start with a short tihai (from khali), then directly into the theme, single speed, then double. No theka, I know I know, bad Talawallah!, but I like the intensity of this composition, and didn't want to have a drawn-out introduction.

Hope everyone is having a grand summer!

Thanks to my teacher and good friend Subhajyothi Guha for the history of this composition, and to Kirby Shelstad and Don Robertson who initially identified it as a Chalan on Facebook. Thanks!

Percolates. I wanted to use percolates in here somewhere, but it didn't fit. Percolates.

DhageTete GheGheTete

2010-05-29T10:28:00.016-04:00

This edition of 52 kaidas features an apparently simple* tintal kaida from the Lucknow gharana. Actually, more like 2 kaidas, with a strong family resemblance. Lucknow twins, perhaps? I think of them as parent and child, but either one works.

<a href="http://tala-wallah.bandcamp.com/track/dhagetete-gheghetete">DhageTete GheGheTete by Tala-Wallah</a>

DhageTeteGheGheTete KeTaGheGhe Terekite / DhageTeteGheGheTete KeTaGheGhe NaNaGhene

and, starting at 3:13:

KeTaGheGheTerekite / KeTaGheGheNaNaGhene

The 2nd one I learned a long time ago in a workshop with Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri, and the first one I've kind of pieced together from listening and practicing. More on that later...

I say apparently simple because the strokes are not complicated, and appear very straightforwardly square at first glance. In fact, the 2nd chapter, KeTaGheGheTerekite...doesn't even have any combination strokes at all until the tihai: everything is individual RH or LH strokes. Should be easy, right? Beginner composition, right? HA! Very tricky, and uniquely so, in my repertoire anyway.

Ever try to brush your teeth with your left hand? (flip of you're a southpaw) Ouch. A friend of mine studied with the Kodo Drummers on Sado Island in Japan for a year, and the first thing they did when he arrived was forbid him from using his right hand for anything....chopsticks? LH. Brush up the teeth? LH. Throw/catch? LH. Write, cook, clean, you name it?....LH. This was to try to break the RH's dominance, and make his drum strokes more balanced. (It worked, by the way....he's practically ambidextrous at this point).

In this kaida, the bass drum leads the way, and it is a fantastic way to develop baya prowess, stamina, speed, strength and control. [<- things tabla players dream about]

The LH conundrum aside, and despite the 'simple' strokes, the kaida is very lush and fertile, with lots of possibilities for improvisation. The elements that make up the theme are very small and compact, and fit together like puzzle pieces...including the fact that some pieces don't fit together at all, so you have to spend time with it to learn the ins-and-outs. As usual, I feel like I could practice this every day for a year, and still have farther to go....but then my already glacial pace of posting would completely grind to a halt!

As mentioned, I've never had a formal class on DGTTGGTTKTGGTRKT. I have a practice exercise based on it, and I've heard Swapanji play it a number of times, so I have worked on it over the years, developing a few of my own variations, and trying to lift as many off recordings as possible. The fit with KTGGTRKT is so obvious that I glom them together into a big extendo-super-kaida!

Couple things to note:

I have heard Farukhabad Gharana versions of both of these kaidas with one important difference: it seems that Farukhabad plays the Ta on gab/sihai, while Lucknow plays the Ta on sur. It makes a HUGE difference, not only in the character of the composition, but in the variations that can be made. I like both, but am partial to sur, as you might have noticed. ;)

In fact, there are probably dozens of versions of this composition, possibly from different Gharanas, with slightly different strokes (Dhene NaNaGhene instead of GheGheNaNaGhene for example)...feel free to share if you have any! and feel free to chime in if you have history or stories.

Another interesting point to note is that KTGGTRKT follows an unusual form for a kaida: rather than the usual binary Bhari-Khali form where the same phrase is played twice with Bhari and Khali falling over the 2 phrases, this one is a four-parter:

Bhari-Bhari-Khali-Bhari or Open-Open-Closed-Open

Similar to Tintal theka, n'est-ce pas? Usually I see this type of form with relas, especially when the phrases are very short, but not usually with kaidas. The variations follow the form Bh-Bh-Kh-Bh form for the most part, but there are 2 regularly proportioned ones in there, one directly from Swapanji, and one of mine.

What else....let's see: I recorded this twice, because my baya was tuned waaay too low the first time (it was raining) and it just didn't translate into the recording (still...slap on those headphones people!) PLUS the C# drum didn't agree with my usual mics or mic'ing technique for some mysterious reason, so I rented a nice AKG 414 for a month. :D

I plan on upping the posting pace while I have this mic, so stay tuned.

Almost forgot: there are 2 other compositions in this recording!

Things open up with a Chakradar that is based on one I learned from Swapanji. I did a bol-swap to make it pertinent to the kaidas in focus (with apologies to Swapanji). In other words, I adored the calculation, and adapted it to fit the theme of this post. It features one of my very favourite rhythmic devices: the reduction (aka Gopuccha Yati in Karnatic music).

KTGGTRKTD-

TRKTD-

KTD-

TD-

...

The recording closes with a Farukhabad Gharana Gat (Gat=fixed composition, usually very rich in varied stroke combinations) that I learned from Pandit Anindo Chatterjee. I don't have any history on this one (composer etc) but it has lots of open tabla strokes (din, dheneghene, dhenenanaghene etc to contrast with the total lack of those strokes elsewhere in the post), and a very nice very compact tihai.

Deepest respect and thanks to my friend Prosad, who played sitar on the recording. Check his stuff out here. And here and here.

Finally, in what is rapidly becoming a 52Kaidas tradition, I have a music recommendation.

I think my dear friend Memsaab absolutely nailed it when she intro'd him on her fabtastic blog, and I'm stealing it: meet Tamilian Renaissance Man Wilbur Sargunaraj.

Put it this way: I smiled so much the first week I had his album that my face hurt. And that was before I dug into his 38-and-counting youtube videos, his eye-popping website and started following him on Facebook, where he's super-humanly hyper-actively engaging with his fans on a daily basis.

Ahem...I give you the newly adopted theme song for 52 Kaidas: Blog Song

<a href="http://wilbursargunaraj.bandcamp.com/track/blog-song">Blog Song by Wilbur Sargunaraj</a>

Chicken 65 is also mouth and eye watering-ly fantastic, and Melanin Man is another fav, albeit on the more serious side. You know what?....the whole album is good. Buy it from Bandcamp and all the $$ goes directly to him.

Love Marriage is the big 400,000+ hit breakout youtube viral video.

I think that's all....I hope you enjoy.

Tata!

*as if anything in tabla is 'simple'. Who am I kidding?? ;)

Dhatete, Dhagenatete

2010-04-13T15:59:00.018-04:00

Not one, not two, but three kaidas! ah! ah! aaah! (in my best Count von Count voice)

UPDATE: New audio...see the PPPS at the bottom of the post for details.

<a href="http://tala-wallah.bandcamp.com/track/dhatete-dhagenatete-trad">Dhatete, Dhagenatete (trad) by Tala-Wallah</a>

In light of my taciturn posting style of late, I thought a big splashy ~~14+~~ 15 minute recording was due.

So, here are three tintal kaidas, all related to one another. The second kaida is the centre of this little family, and the other two are its offspring, if you like.

Now, it should be noted that these are extremely tabla-geeky. Nothing flashy, no fireworks, just simple kaidas expanded as far as I can take them. A non-trained ear is probably not going to follow all the subtle variations and modulations on the thematic material, but please, don't let that discourage you!, it's just that these are very detailed and, well, deeply geeky. There are a veritable cornucopia of methods of rhythmic variation herein.

DhaTete DhaTete DhaDhaTete DhageThunnaKena is a famous Delhi gharana kaida. I've even heard of it referred to as the 'King of Kaidas'. Suffice to say every single tabla player knows this kaida, and in a vast ocean of repertoire, that really is something.

The kaida has very few strokes in the theme, but has a massive scope for improvisation and composition. I learned this from my first teacher, Ritesh Das, who learned it from his teacher, Swapan Chaudhuri.

The kaida is so famous that there is a great story, nay, legendary story, about it:

One time someone challenged my teacher, Pandit Anokelal, to a contest. He agreed, but exercised his prerogative in choosing the first composition. "Okay, I will play," he replied, "but we must start with the kayda, dha tete," a famous beginner's composition with only a few strokes in its theme. He began to play the kayda. He played and played, using only 'dha te te' strokes. Everything he composed in the khuli (open left hand drum section) was matched exactly in the mundi (closed section). Two hours later he was still playing this simple composition and showed no sign of relenting in his outpouring of energy or invention. Hearing this incredible display of mastery, the challenger decided not to try to answer at all, and packed up his drums.
-Mahapurush Misra

[from The Classical Music of North India by Ali Akbar Khan, pg 225]

Two hours people. Chased the guy right out of town!

The first kaida in the recording is a version of DhaTete in tisra nadai (triplets) that Swapan Chaudhuri taught in a workshop years ago. I use these three kaidas as a warmup before practice, and while this one can be played at a faster tempo (usually to the discomfort of the accompanist), I like to use it as a sort of lengthy exposition of the original DhaTete kaida in the transitional tisra phase.

Next up is the the original DhaTete (including some of my variations), and after that I transition directly* into a Lucknow response:
DhagenaTete DhagenaTete DhageThunnaKena

* technically, I'm breaking all sorts of rules here...I should finish one kaida, play theka, introduce the next theme in slow speed and so on, but I like to keep these three close.

I learned DhagenaTete from Ritesh Das (who learned it Swapan Chaudhuri), and it was identified as a sort of companion to DhaTete. In the old days, before recordings and concert goers laden with secreted recording gear, a tabla player would hear a composition in a performance, and perhaps only imbibe the core idea of the composition, and would then compose something inspired by what they heard, but not exactly the same. I like to think that this is one of those. (There's a term for this, usually applied to gats: Jhora (similar), that I'm not sure applies to this...or that I've spelled it right...feel free to elucidate in the comments)

While it's Lucknow, it uses the Delhi two-finger style, and naturally forks off in a completely different direction, albeit with some similar approaches early on (accents on the bold):
DhaTete DhaTete DhaDhaTete - DhaTete DhaDha...
vs
DhagenaTete DhagenaTete - DhagenaTete...

etc.

Anyway...I hope you enjoy. Only 45 more to go.

On a completely different note, have you heard Bollywood session musician Charanjit Singh's prescient 1982 Acid-house record 10 Ragas to a Disco Beat? Really, you must hear it:

http://www.theoriginalsoundtrack.com/2010/04/thoughts-on-10-ragas-to-a-disco-beat/
(video at the bottom of the post)

and be sure to read part 2:
http://www.theoriginalsoundtrack.com/2010/04/further-thoughts-on-ten-ragas-to-a-disco-beat/

PS: the recording...I usually don't like stereo tabla recordings where the tabla and baya are widely separated (I think of it as one instrument, not two) but I thought that it might be fun to try for this one, if only because the interaction of the 2 drums is so darn cool. Also, I mixed the stereo field from the tabla players perspective-tabla on the right, baya on the left.

PPS I am going to try to get my friend Chris Hale to record the lehara on sitar, so the audio might get updated soon, but I want to post it asap, even if the lehara is a cheese-tasticly effected mix of harmonium (gasp!) mandolin and Wurlitzer. Too much 70s Bollywood in my musical diet lately, I guess ;)

PPPS Audio Update: I recorded Chris Hale playing the lehara on sitar. ~~I also did a slightly different mix...easter eggs to be found later in the recording. (rewards for people who hang on until the 9:43 mark ;)~~ [I decided against the slight remix-y thing I originally did...still up on the bandcamp page though]

Many thanks to Chris, and to Anita Katakkar, who let us use her house and her very nice microphone for the sitar recording. Bhairavi lehara melody from iLehra app.

Uthan, Palta Theka

2010-02-22T22:38:00.012-05:00

Ok, so the whole 'Kaida a Week' thing may not be entirely accurate....BUT, I will record 52 of these, eventually. Sign up for email notifications (down, right). The blog will email you when I put a new recording up.

To get back into the swing of things, 2 of my very favourite introduction compositions: an Uthan and Palta Theka.

<a href="http://tala-wallah.bandcamp.com/track/uthan-palta-theka">Uthan, Palta Theka by Tala-Wallah</a>

An Uthan is an introductory composition, either improvised, or pre composed, that features heavy-duty tabla bols, and usually multiple nadais (aka subdivisions: 4, 6, 8 in this case). This particular composition has an absolutely massive tihai, with 9 repetitions of Dha tun na ke tete Dha- ne Dha - ne Dha - in each palla, so 27 in total. There are 81 Dha s if anyone is counting. The math is interesting as well...16-16, 16.5-16.5 and sum to sum. Composed by Swapan Chaudhuri.

The next composition was taught to me as a Peshkar, but it's much more like a Palta Theka. Basically, variations on the strokes in the theka, tintal in this case.

Swapan Chaudhuri composed this for a tabla ensemble at the Ali Akbar College of Music a long time ago, and it is really very lovely (the composition...not necessarily my rendition;). The development of the bols is orderly, yet incredibly interesting and creative. Note that the usual kaida rules apply here...bhari-khali and maintaining the original bols, but there is a bit more leeway...dheneghene (on sur) isn't in the theme, for example, but since sur strokes are such a big part of the theka, they fit. Interesting. Oh, and the tihai has kept me up late on many occasions....it is a serious handful, and a perfect example of the beautiful complexity of Indian classical music.

I used the same Darbari Kanada lehara (from iLehra app) as last time...it's quickly become a go-to lehara.

Update! my friend Chris Hale played the lehara on sitar. Hopefully, we'll be able to do this on a regular basis.

Dhatreke Dhigena Dhigena Dhagena

2010-01-16T00:12:00.005-05:00

Third post, so, in my best Dennis Hopper voice...Tisrafy, Man!

Tintal (16 beats), tisra nadai

<a href="http://tala-wallah.bandcamp.com/track/dhatreke-dhigena-dhigena-dhagena">Dhatreke Dhigena Dhigena Dhagena by Tala-Wallah</a>

Tabla never ceases to humble me. This composition is deceptive: the strokes aren't particularly hard, but the groupings are tricky...lots of 5s and 7s going on, along with Gopuccha Yati (rhythmic reductions) and other goodness.

Tonally, it's a treat...lots of sur strokes, which I love, combined with growling baya. Well, my baya growls, though it should probably purr. Ah, practice, how I need thee.

There's a bit of a trompe-l'oreille* off the top...working on the 7+5 conundrum got me into a kind of chalan thing, and I thought I'd include it.

Speaking of which...I guess this is a kaida, though it has a bit of a chalan vibe going on too...

I learned this in a workshop with Swapan Chaudhuri in Toronto in 2007. After the workshop was over, he played a tabla solo that completely blew everyone's minds. I was fortunate enough to occupy the sound-guy chair...ever so stressful, but he and Ramesh (Misra-sarangi) sounded fantastic.

I have to say that the mandolin lehara** took almost as long to get together as the tabla part did. I'm never really satisfied with my recordings either (he says, several mixes later) I'd love to record in a large reverberant space, but my apartment is small and dry, so canned 'verb will have to do.

* Trompe L'oreille, from the french expression Trompe L'oeil (fool the eye) L'oreille means ear...

** The lehara is a direct transcription from the iLehra iPhone/iPod application. Darbari Kanada, in case anyone's interested.

If you are a tabla player, and have an iPhone/iPod touch, this is app is
Totally. Amazing. Best $15 you'll ever spend. Go...GO NOW!:
iLehra

There's also an iTanpura (cool, also used on these recordings) and (cringe) and iTablaPro app, which will apparently "blow your mind with his virtuoso tabla playing"...riiight. Of course, I'm as guilty on the lehera front, so I'll shush now. Seriously though, the iTablaPro app will be very useful for instrumental/vocal/dance practice. Great apps all around, and kudos to the developer.

PS I have a big contemporary piece to learn for a concert on Feb 7th (rehearsals approach), so I'm not sure if I can get another solo together in a week...we'll see.

DhagenaDha terekite

2010-01-10T18:53:00.011-05:00

A kaida-rela in tintal (16 beats). I learned this in a workshop with Swapan Chaudhuri years ago. It's fairly short, but the sur strokes are a nice touch, and very Swapanji.

<a href="http://tala-wallah.bandcamp.com/track/dhagenadha-terekite">DhagenaDha terekite by Tala-Wallah</a>

A kaida-rela, by the way, is a composition that has a kaida-like structure, but has strokes that resemble a rela (fast & flowing). Interestingly, the usual khali-bhari clues, ThunNaKeNa and DhinNaGeNa are not present here, but takeTa- and tageDha- serve the same purpose. I'm assuming it's Lucknow gharana*.

The sruthi is D, and the lehara is a fairly common one in raga Chandrakauns (courtesy iLehra app).

*Gharana: lit. 'house' or school, akin to style

Dha-kre DhatiDhagena

2009-12-31T18:03:00.017-05:00

10 beats to ring in 2010!

The first formal post of this project.

This is a Punjab kaida in Jhaptal (10 beats) that I got from a friend who had the pleasure of taking a workshop with Zakir Hussain in New York (!!!). There are a couple small tihais to start, and the recording finishes with a Farukhabad thukra I learned from Subhajyoti Guha.

The lehara is played on a 5 string electric mandolin. I don't have weekly access to a Sarangi player, so electric mandolin will have to do. Lehara courtesy iLehra app.

<a href="http://tala-wallah.bandcamp.com/track/dha-kre-dhatidhagena">Dha-kre DhatiDhagena by Tala-Wallah</a>

Dha Dha Dha Ghena Dha

2009-12-18T18:45:00.018-05:00

Lets start this yearlong journey with something that's already recorded...

Tintal (tisra nadai). Includes an Ajrada kaida, a few gats and a chakradar. This is from Autorickshaw's CD Four Higher, recorded in 2004.

<a href="http://autorickshaw.bandcamp.com/track/tisra-tani">Tisra Tani by Autorickshaw</a>

What is a kaida?

2009-12-17T10:30:00.020-05:00

A good friend of mine asked me this when I told him about this blog. He's a very accomplished musician and composer who has studied south Indian music, but he's never studied tabla theory or practice. I agreed that an explanation of some sort is in order.

Disclaimer:
It is, I'm discovering as I write this, fairly difficult to explain what's going on here for people who aren't already in the know. The explanation usually takes place over many many classes, replete with examples and exercises, during, say, the first 6-12 months of study. The kaidas themselves are the vehicle for the information, so writing it down is tricky, to say the least. The following is way longer than I intended it to be, and not for the faint of heart, but there's lots of explaining to do, so here goes...

To start at the beginning: this is a blog of tabla solo recordings, with a focus on kaidas and compositions in the kaida family.

Tabla is a percussion instrument used in north Indian classical music, as well as in folk, devotional and increasingly, popular music, both inside and outside India.

Tabla consists of 2 drums: a treble drum (called dayan) and a bass drum (called bayan).

The history of tabla is slightly contentious, and I'm not going to wade in with an opinion (did i mention I'm no scholar?) The Wikipedia entry for tabla changes on a regular basis, and not just a bit...it get's completely rewritten, so a couple of well-spaced visits to the tabla entry will give you a range of opinions ;)

A kaida is a type of tabla composition. There are different types of tabla compositions, both fixed (pre-composed) and improvised. I'll play a variety of different types of composition in each solo, and will identify them, with sources, gharanas (styles or schools, lit 'houses') etc when possible.

Kaida is a form based on theme and variation. A rhythmic seed (theme) is introduced, which is then used as a basis for elaboration through improvisation and/or composition.

The word kaida is an Arabic word meaning 'rule' or 'a system of rules'. The rules for playing a kaida are complex, but in short, one must only use the bols that are in the original theme, follow the rules of tala, and maintain the bhari-khali structure.

Each of those terms requires lengthy explanations, and I will try to explain these in detail over the course of this project. As I mentioned, I'm not a scholar or a writer, so I would refer anyone who is interested in knowing more to an excellent series of books by David Courtney.

Tala: time is cyclical in Indian classical music. Rather than time signatures with bars and beats, rhythmic cycles are used.

So, a tala is a rhythmic cycle of a certain number of beats. For example, 7, 8, 12, 16. I'll identify the rhythm cycle by name and number of beats in each post.

Bhari-Khali: in a nutshell: full-empty, or, as I prefer, open-closed. As mentioned before, a set of tabla consists of a pair of drums, a treble drum (dayan), and a bass drum (bayan). Tabla strokes are played on either one or the other drum, or on both simultaneously.

There are what I think of as 2 states of many strokes played on tabla: an open state and a closed state. Water and ice are the same material, but in different states, if that helps with the concept. So, any stroke that has an open, bass component, can be played without that bass component, or in a 'closed' state. The open stroke Ghe (an open, resonant bass stroke on the bayan) can be closed by playing a stroke so the drum doesn't resonate. Instead of a 'boom', one gets a 'slap', called Ke. A combination stroke, played on both drums, can be closed in the same way, but keep in mind that only the bass component changes. The stroke Dha is a combination of Ghe on the bayan, and Na on the dayan. To close this stroke, one simply omits the Ghe part of the stroke, playing only the Na (which then changes name to Ta in most cases and is an example of why writing about tabla is tricky, and is why it is almost impossible to learn tabla from a book... or a blog for that matter!).

Some tabla strokes are only played on the dayan, and have no 'closed' state.

Are you completely lost yet? The important thing, when listening, is to notice what happens with the bass strokes, and to listen for the pattern repeating without the bass strokes.

So, to summarize: any kaida theme or variation has 2 parts: an open part, and a closed part. These 2 parts are essentially the same material, but the second time it is presented in a different state. First we hear it open, then closed.

But... it's not that simple! The open part often closes before we get to the closed part, and the closed part opens up again about 1/2 way through. So, only about 1/4 of the material is actually without bass strokes, and where things open and close changes, depending on the kaida, the tala, the phrases being used, the player's aesthetic choice at that moment in time, the prevailing wind, etc. (Ok, I'm kidding about the wind part...)

A crude version of the above can be illustrated thus: (O=open, C=closed, and the material repeats, in a different state, after the bar line: |)

OOOO OOOO | CCCC OOOO

But what may happen is more like this:

OOOO OOOC | CCCO OOOO

or

OOOO OOOC | CCCC COOO

Example with real tabla strokes:

Dha - ghe na Ta ge ghe na Dha - ghe na Thun na ke na |
Ta - ke na Ta ke ke na Dha - ghe na Dhin na ghe na

Which, using my crude O/C illustration method, would be shown roughly like this:

OOOO OOCC |
CCCC OOOO

So, this is our theme. The first line is the Bhari, and the second line is the Khali. The actual closed strokes are in italics. So, Dha became Ta, and Ghe became Ke, and Thun is the closed version of Dhin.

Bols:
At this (late) point, I should explain tabla language. Tabla is taught through an oral tradition, so, passed down from teacher to student verbally. Every stroke that can be played on tabla can be spoken. Indeed, must be spoken! This is how tabla players learn, compose, improvise, remember. These words are called bols, and they are very specific: each bol is an instruction to play a certain stroke. There are bols for each sound that can be made on tabla, whether on the dayan, or on the bayan, or simultaneously on both drums.

The language itself is beautiful on a number of levels: the bols are onomatopoeic, and a well delivered recitation of a tabla composition can be as beautiful as the performance.

A combination stroke, (i.e. a stroke played simultaneously on both drums) has one bol, and so contains an instruction for both hands. If one plays Ghe on the bayan, and Na on the dayan at the same time, one gets a new stroke: Dha.

Formatting permitting, let me see if I can show how this works:

Dayan: Na Na
Bayan: Ghe Ghe
__________
Both drums: Dha Ghe Na

Someone once said something like: 'Writing about music is like dancing about architecture' and I wholeheartedly agree! Best to listen.

On a side note, tabla players are often seen mumbling to themselves and counting on their fingers in public. This is perfectly normal. We're practicing! Although i know one person who almost got into a car accident while calculating a tricky tihai, and I've walked blindly into traffic on more than one occasion...

On to the next relevant term:

Lehara: a melodic ostinato that outlines the tala. A melody that helps the listener and the performer hear the rhythmic cycle. When listening to a tabla solo, it's useful to tune into the lehara initially, and figure out where the time cycle is. Beat 1 is the strongest, and is usually pretty obvious, but not always. Indian rhythm has a lot of tension and release, and without any kind of context or framework for the drumming (the lehara, or some other way of marking the tala cycle), tabla solo can sound like a blistering stream of notes. The lehara provides a frame of reference.

In a concert (or recording), the lehara would ideally be provided by an instrument called a sarangi (IMHO), but dilruba, esraj, violin, sitar, sarod or even voice can be used. Or, unfortunately, harmonium.

In the case of this blog, I don't have access to any of the above instruments, (or people to play them once a week!) but I do have a funky little 5-string electric mandolin (I just love U. Srinivas!) that I will play the leharas on. I don't like this anymore than you do, believe me, but I'm sure I'll get better over the year. Still, at least the leharas aren't sequenced, and at least it's not harmionium!

The kaida form:
Kaida is a very strict form. There are rules. Here's a rough map of what happens during the presentation of a kaida:

1. establish the tala (the context, if you will)
This is done in 2 ways: by the lehara, which marks the time cycle melodically, in the case of a tabla solo, and by the drummer, who plays the theka -a series of strokes specific to each tala. The thekas for some common talas:

Tintal (16 beats)
Dha Dhin Dhin Dha | Dha Dhin Dhin Dha |
Na Tin Tin Ta | tete Dhin Dhin Dha |

Jhaptal (10 beats)
Dhin Na | Dhin Dhin Na |
Tin Na | Dhin Dhin Na |

Rupak (7 beats)
Tin Tin Na | Dhin Na | Dhin Na |

2. introduce the kaida theme slowly
The theme of the kaida is presented at 1/2 or even 1/4 of the eventual speed. This allows the listener to clearly hear the thematic material, and allows the player to establish exactly what they're about to do.

3. Optional

Between step 2 (single speed kaida theme) and step 4 (double speed kaida theme) there is an optional step. In a kaida that has even subdivisions (2, 4, 8 etc) the kaida theme can be played in triplets, and it will eventually (I promise!) cycle around and meet up with the beginning of the tala again. If the kaida theme is originally in triplets, the theme can be played in even subdivisions, and it too will, eventually, hook up with the beginning of the tala again.

There is no way I am attempting to illustrate this with blogger's primitive text editing, but maybe photoshop can help:

4. Double speed!
Play the kaida theme at 2x, or even 4x the speed of step 2. This is the final performance speed.

5. Present variations on the theme.
This is the bulk of the kaida, and allows the player to elaborate on the thematic material in a myriad of creative ways, while still adhering to the rules stated way back at the beginning. The construction of variations is such a massive subject I'm not going to attempt to get into it here. Hopefully, I'll be able to use examples over the course of this project.

6. Finish with a tihai
A tihai is a rhythmic pattern repeated three times, ending (usually) on the first beat of the rhythmic cycle, which is called sam.

The first beat (the downbeat) is the most important point in any tala. Tabla can be very mathematical, and tihais are a good example of this. Let's say we are in a 16 beat cycle (tintal). We want to play a pattern that repeats three times, and lands on the first beat of the cycle. For this example, let's have the tihai start from the first beat of the cycle and let's have it take 2 cycles to complete, ending on the first beat of the 3rd cycle.

16+16 =32 beats. But that doesn't take us to the downbeat..it only takes us to the 16th beat of the 2nd cycle! So, we need to play for 33 beats.

Here's some basic math:

33 divided by three is.....11! So, in tintal, if we start on sam, play an 11 beat pattern three times, we will land back on sam. Very satisfying!

It's hard to do yourself initially, but you can try this with a friend (and earn your first 'tala geek' scout badge in the process):
person 1 counts to 16 over and over again, at a constant tempo!
person 2 joins in, starting at 1 of course, but only counts to 11, and does that three times.
Eventually, both people will hit 1 simultaneously!
Boom! Tihai! The kaida is finished!

7. Back to the theka (step 1). Rinse, repeat with the next kaida.

Ok, that's a start, though I'm not sure how helpful it will be to newcomers to tabla. Feel free to ask questions, and I'll try my best to explain things further. That being said, I don't intend this to be a super scholarly treatise...I just want to engage my love of three things: tabla, recording and web geekery.

I hope you enjoy.

About the recording process...

2009-12-16T19:23:00.010-05:00

A few people have emailed to ask about what recording gear/process I'm using, so here it is:

My home studio is small, and it's taken a long time to get it to a functional, ergonomic place. Problem: A computer tends to sit on a desk, and tabla players tend to sit on the floor...so....hard to use the computer.
Solution? Laptop: A Macbook in my case, running Logic Pro 8.

Mics:

Sennheiser 421 (very nice on baya)
Audio Technica 3035 (courtesy of a JLSC win, and surprisingly good on tabla)
Audio Technica AE5100 (live)

Wishlist: AKG 414

Preamp:
Universal Audio DCS Remote Pre (sadly discontinued on the downside... but on sale on the upside!) which is great because it has a remote...so, no leaning over the drums to fiddle with knobs, it can be controlled from right beside me. Tons of great features (monitoring etc) and it also has real VU meters, which tickles me to no end.

Interface/converters:
Edirol FA-101, which is a weak link in the chain to be sure, but the jump up to a whole other level costs a whole other level of $$...so...this'll do for now. I record at 24 bit 44.1, but I've been encouraged to record at higher sample rates, which I might try.
Edit: I've added an Apogee Duet to the chain. I record through the Duet, and mix through it, but still have to use the Edirol if I want to use external effects units (FMR stuff).

Control surface:
The software is controlled with a Faderport, a very small piece of kit with a fader (imagine!), transport controls (play, stop, record etc) and sundry other functions. Very handy: again, no fiddling with the laptop (and getting baby powder all over it!), the Faderport sits right beside me.

The recording process is fairly straightforward: do it until I get a single pass that's perfect! Err...heh...or at least until I get a pass that's as close to perfect as possible. I will never be perfect, and I'm totally fine with that.

I usually pick leharas from the excellent iLehra iPod/iPhone application, transcribe them and record them on electric mandolin, or hopefully record someone else playing them. The tanpuras are recorded directly out of the iTanpura app by the same developer.

Almost all the drums I have are made by Mukta Das in Kolkata, imported by Kala Kendar in Toronto.

Mix in the box in Logic with a variety of plugins, mostly stock Logic plugs, but I've been adding some 3rd party stuff which I really like:
PSP Audioware Old Timer compressor and RetroQ eq and Bricasti M7 impulse responses for the Space Designer convolution reverb in Logic (the Amsterdam Hall is pretty sweet).

To be honest, I could spend twice as long mixing these tracks as I already do...mixing is truly an art unto itself. And mastering is fiendish wizardry...

After the mix is done, I bounce it down, and run the stereo file through some outboard gear (a rudimentary mastering process): FMR Audio RNC and RNLA and throw Logic's Adaptive Limiter on at the very end.

I have a pair of Spirit Absolute 2 passive monitors (a semi-permanent loan from my friend and recording guru Dylan Bell) that are powered by a cheap Kenwood stereo amp. My room is a disaster for mixing: 16 foot ceilings, no treatment at all, so it seems pretty silly to invest in a real amp. I have a pair of Sony 7506 monitor headphones that are great for tracking, lovely for listening to reggae on (tons of bass) but useless for mixing.

Finally, I upload the 24bit .aiff file to Bandcamp, which converts it into a variety of formats for download and embedding (including groovy visualizations!)

...and that's pretty much it. Probably more than anyone wanted to know, but that's my audio geek side for you.

Oh, a note about the embedded player: as I mentioned, Bandcamp converts the original file into a variety of formats for download (from mp3 to lossless formats like FLAC etc) but the embedded player uses a 128kbps mp3, which is lower than you want to go for most music...complex sounds like cymbals, or, (hey! whaddya know?) tabla, will suffer digital conversion artifacts at 128 kbps. If you want a better sound, feel free to download a higher quality format ;)

Thanks for listening!