Cajón Alert!

Greetings,
Here are a couple videos I shot of a pair of my guru-bhais (brother students) in my apartment in Pune:
Umesh Warbhuwan on cajón and Bhargav Garde on tabla. Both are longtime students of Taalyogi Pandit Suresh Talwalkar.

Umesh is an astonishing cajón player, oozing technique and tasty tabla stylings....check it: Here's the Jhaptal:



I'll wait while you go change your pants.

So.... they're working with divisions of 9-4-7 (9+4+7=20, cuts across the tala beautifully)

Try reciting throughout the whole video (including the final composition!):
TakitaTakitaDhikita Takadimi TakitaTakadimi

Bonus if you can keep Jhaptal on your hands as well ;) *see bottom of post for tala

GROOVY! and that final chakradar! *fans self*

Bhargav is an amazing tabla player... balance, speed, tone (though the camera is not getting the bayan very well, trust me, it's sweet)

Here's the 2nd vid: Tisrajati Tintal (Tisrajati=triplets, though Umesh moves into Chatusra [4s] at the end)



I should have warned you to wait to change your pants until after this video...sorry. Go ahead, I'll wait.

Bhargav is in a purely accompaniment role here, but it's NOT EASY. Keep tala, and you'll see why... Umesh is driving to the takiTA of the triplet from 2:34-3:24. :O

The rela (starting at 3:35 until 6:24) is phrases of 7 & 5: TakadimiTakita TakaTakita with some tasty tihais.

Nice goppucha yati (reduction) at 5:58...

aaaaand at 6:25 we hop up to chatusra nadai (4 or 8 subdivisions of the beat) for another blistering rela.

I cannot stress it enough: there are 2 reasons these guys play the way they do:
1. Good taalim (training) from Pt. Suresh Talwalkar
2. Insane amounts of practice.

These guys live at the Gurukul (school) with many other tabla and pakhawaj players, take 2 classes a day with Sureshji, practice in between classes--alone and in groups, and are massive nerds (nerds is a term of endearment in my book, fyi)

Phew!

I gotta go do laundry.

ciao for now!

(btw... both Umesh and Bhargav are on Facebook)

Sureshji working with Umesh (yes, he plays djembe too), pakhawaj wizard Omkar Dalvi (who also plays cajon),  Aashay Kulkarni (a smokin' tabla player, here on calabash) and Kulkarni Milind Vasudeo on harmonium.
I have video of the concert they were rehearsing for, editing, & will release soon...go... buy more pants...

*Jhaptal:
Divisions: 2-3-2-3

Theka:
Dhi Na
Dhi Dhi na
Thi na
Dhi Dhi na

Tala:
Clap-pinky
Clap-pinky-ring
Wave-pinky
Clap-pinky-ring

Class at Suresh Talwalkar's Taalyogi Ashram in Pune

Another solo in Chartal Ki Sawari...longer this time

Hello all,
New video from a concert I played the other night with sitarist Chris Hale:

You might recognize some of the material from these previous posts, but there's a bunch of stuff I haven't played or recorded before. Compositional types abound: mukra, paran, kaida, gat & chakradar. With lots of recitation.


So...

I learned most of the material I play here in a workshop with Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri, and it's all so very beautiful...the way the compositions follow the contours, and especially the sawari (little 'ride' on the last 3 beats of the tala) is really a joy to practice and play. I hope I do it justice.

Tabla has basically 2 types or extended families of composition: improvised, and fixed. I ramble on about the improvised forms (peshkar, kaida, kaida-rela, rela etc) a lot on this blog, so now it's time to focus on the short forms: mukra, gat, paran and chakradar.

I think of these forms as poems...rhythmic poems. One does not tend to improvise on them, though it's common to re-compose, or elaborate on one particular composition to put it in a different tala, or to just make a series of them that are all related. Some compositions have probably hundreds of versions, and every tabla player knows one you've never heard before. Still...they're fixed, not improvised.

The performance practice, unlike the long-forms, is to recite the composition first, then play. The poetry of these compositions lies equally in both realms... the vocalizations, if done well, can stand alone, are very lyrical, and can really illustrate the phrasing, grammar and flow, while the playing part operates on a completely other, abstract level...you hear a set of words (bols), then a musical or sonic representation in which you can 'hear' the words, but the real magic is that the drum sounds will set up accents and patterns that are not audible in the spoken language. One composition might, for example, have a progressive use of the open 'tun' stroke (open RH drum sound): 'tun' can be played alone (tun, di) or combined with open or closed baya (thun, dhin, dhen) and are grouped in combinations with a dizzying array of 'words' or longer phrases: dheneghene, gedighene, dhenegheran-ne, dighene, teteketagedighene, dhenetage, takedhene etc etc and when this happens, it's almost like another level of reality is exposed...the Matrix of Tabla! omg. Did I just go there? I really did. Tabla players DEFINITELY took the red pill ;)

So...the forms:

Mukra is a short composition, usually made up of bols from Pakhawaj. I think of mukras as small flourishes leading into sam...they're not usually a main-course type of composition, but can be very beautiful nonetheless. There is usually a tihai at the end of a Mukra. Mukra means 'face', but I'm not sure how that relates to tabla...perhaps it's more of a glance, or a glimpse of a face? Maybe a mischievous flare of the eyes.

Paran: compositions made up of pakhawaj and/or dance bols, including an ending tihai. Some of these bols are super obscure and cool... 'tunga', for example is pretty awesome, as is this entire phrase:
Ta--watun-ga-wa-tun-ga-dugga dugga tun-ga

Parans can also include entire words, and can take the form of prayers or invocations to Hindu deities. (see if you can find the album 'Masters of Tala -Raja Chatrapati Singh Pakhawaj Solo' for some AMAZING parans... wow)

Chakradar: basically a thukra or a paran (including tihai) that is repeated 3 times (aka Chakradar tihai). So, kind of a giant SUPER-Tihai. The real fun is that there are sub families of Chakradar, with carfully math'd out placements of 'dha' in relation to sam (1st beat). I'm not sure how to explain these at the moment...and besides, they deserve their own post. Later.

Gat: the king of tabla compositions (in certain Gharanas/styles anyway). Gats are super complex poetical forms that often (but not always) do NOT have a tihai. They're so cool, they don't even need a tihai. ;)

Gats often have virtuosic combinations of strokes (they can be quite long...blistering streams over many cycles), can change speeds (eg from chatusra (4s) to double tisra (6s) to misra nadai (7s) etc) all in one composition. There are gats that repeat each bol 2 or 3 or even 4 times in a row: dhenegheran-ne dhenegheran-ne gherenagedhene gherenagedhene etc;, there are gats that rhyme the ends and beginnings of phrases (i.e. finish with a tun, start with a tun, finish w a dhet, start with a dhet etc); the same phrase in 3 or 4 different speeds and on and on. Super rich creative soil, the gat. I do a couple gats in this solo.

Gats are also improv friendly...there are Gat-Kaidas, for example, where the body of the gat becomes a theme for improv. Amazing.

So, here's a time'd, absurdly detailed breakdown of what's happening in this solo:

0:00-2:15 Chris plays alap in Raga Jaunpuri (introduction of the raga, or melodic mode) *at 0:23 I get my list of compositions...basically a sheet that reminds me what I want to play, and in what order, as it's easy to forget in the heat of the moment, for me anyway. The entire compositions are not written there...just the first lines, so I know what's what.)

2:15-2:20 I give Chris the tempo

2:20 Chris starts the lehara (from beat 9) and I mark the first sam, and then adjust my mic stand, which is too low :P

tihai into the next cycle at 2:33, where i show the audience the 11 beats (I've talked about the tala cycle before starting, so now they can hear the pulse and the sawari in action) Chartal ki Sawari is broken down 2-2-2-2-1.5-1.5, and those 1.5s give the last three beats a very cool feel...the Sawari, or 'ride'.

2:43 theka, introducing the baya on beat 9

2:52 mukra (note how he tihai follows the sawari at the end of the tala *swoon*...but then again, ALL the tihais do that!)

3:02 first full cycles of theka (Dhin terekite Dhin na Thun na Kat Ta Dhin..Dha.re Dhin..Dha.re), and Chris improvises for a few cycles, still setting the mood.

3:58 Paran (my adaptation of something I know in tintal), followed by theka, and then a variation of the theka Swapanji taught that is very similar to Ektal (a 12 beat cycle, and an example of a subtle sense of humour ;)

4:34 Paran (from Swapanji), followed by Theka

5:00 Kaida (everything following this is from Swapanji unless noted), starting with single speed, introducing double, then full double, finishing with a tihai and theka (there always theka! the tabla version of idling, or grooving...won't mention it again)

7:26 Gat, recited a couple time then played. This is a Di Padi Gat, meaning that each phrase is played twice, flowing right into...

8:18 another Gat, that finishes with a phrase in Tisra nadai, right into...

8:52 a sort-of-kinda rela I made up on the spot, and barely survive...this is the tabla equivalent of drifting in a car...you're skidding and sliding, still moving forwards, somewhat in control, but maybe not entirely :P My notes simply said 'improv on tisra gat phrase'

9:41 Mukra, recited and played a couple times...lovelovelove this composition! Din Din NaNa kitetake....and those 'Nas' are open Na's...on the rim of the drum, not regular types...mos def a pakhawaj bol.

10:39 Paran, recited and played a couple times...the tihai is some very challenging technique...many many repititions at slow slow speed to get it right, and keep it intact at top speed: Dha - kitetake din . ghere Dha

11:20 Gat. MONSTER Gat. 2 cycle beast of a Gat. Very beautiful composition, but hard. Recite, playplayplay. I kinda break the rules here btw...Gats are supposed to be played Bhari/Khali (like a kaida..version with bass strokes and then a version partially without bass strokes), but I wanted to try to play all the compositions 3 times in a row, you know, just to make it harder O.o

12:33 Paran, and one of my favourite parans ever! Swapanji taught us 3 different tihais for this...i'm playing the simplist one...the hardest one is crazy technical mountain climbing and I can't play it...yet. working on it. This composition is NOT about tunafish, despite what you might think.

13:32 Chakradar (aka super tihai) this one starts out with a couple phrases of 7, in 11 beats...7-11, get it? *facepalm* None of these are easy, but the 2nd palla (repeat) of this one starts on the offbeat, and crosses sam on the offbeat and finishes with a tihai in groups of 5, so yeah...hard. One of the most fun to recite though.

--speed increase--

14:59 Gat...sort of... this is an adaptation of a tintal Gat I learned from Pandit Anindo Chatterjee (I play it at 5:46 if this recording) and my version isn't really all that super...I actually met with Anindoji in Toronto the night before the concert, and he made a very nice chakradar version, but I couldn't get it stable enough to pull off in concert that quickly, so I reverted to my version. *sigh* Next time.

at 15:12 I launch out of the ending phrase of the gat into a Adjrada-y groove, then into a kitcheri-y* version of the Farukhabad Chalan-Kaida I recorded here and this is another wet-road drifting session...I could've played a lot longer, but I could feel the traction slipping, so I bailed into a tihai. Yup...I believe in honesty! ;) *kitcheri-y because I'm mixing in strokes not in the original composition.

16:41 Paran (I talk about this on the video). Some challenging baya work here, and I tag a tihai onto the end that is not part of the original composition Swapanji taught (apologies!) BUT! it IS made up of bols from the original composition, so hopefully that smooths the infraction somewhat.

17:40 final Paran, and it's another 2 cycle beast, crossing sam in the middle of a phrase, and with a tihai that is so precarious that a 1/4 beat error is unrecoverable. I was going to say fatal, but you can always ditch the main 'chute and go to the backup 'chute...i.e., revert to theka and try again! ;)
I tag a tihai onto this composition as well, just to really give it that 'final tihai' feeling.

and if anyone actually read all that, and followed along, get yourself a Tabla Geek patch and sew it on your kurta!

OH! aaaand, i would like to give major props to Chris Hale for his wonderful playing...this tala, and especially this tala with these rhythms is NOT easy to keep lehara for. Awesome job Chris! *Kran* hi-five.

That's all for now, thanks for reading, listening, and oh, hey! if you like what I'm doing here, feel free to buy a track, or an album...everything is over here on Bandcamp.

tata, dinginatoms
E

Pair of Rupak recordings (plus video)

Quick post, mostly music:

I rediscovered my Soundcloud account recently (honestly...it's nigh impossible to keep track of all the places one has to post muic, video, gigs etc etc these days. sigh).

anyway...here are a couple things I haven't posted before:

A rupak solo I recorded, apparently, 4 years ago. I have a very dim memory of recording this, but it sounds ok. Lots of different composition types...parans, kaida, rela:


and an excerpt from an Autorickshaw tune with a Rupak kaida-rela. This is an adaptation of a composition I learned from Pt Swapan Chaudhuri. I added the rela-type elements, and it features an experimental layered vocal lehara by Suba Sankaran (daughter of mrdangam maestro Trichy Sankaran). EDIT: I played this kaida yesterday, and it's definitely a kaida, even with all the trkt fills I added. Dunno what I was thinking...I kinda rushed this post a bit. Bonus info: 2 unison tabla tracks via multitrack overdubbing:


and here's the whole song:


AND! Because why not, since it's Rupak day: a raw, early version of my Rupak kaida video:

Dhatete, Dhagenatete

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.





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.

Dhatreke Dhigena Dhigena Dhagena

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

Tintal (16 beats), tisra nadai



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.

Dha Dha Dha Ghena Dha

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.