Vedanta Desika Suprabhatam

Here's the Desika Suprabhatam tuned as a ragamalika:

Lesser Known Gruhabhedams: 2X4: A Typology of Gruhabhedams| Rasikapriya, Dharmavati, and more

Here's the last video in the Lesser Known Gruhabhedam series:

Bindumalini Thillana - IndianRaga

Here's my second production for IndianRaga - a resurrection of a piece I had posted for the first time on this blog, nearly ten years ago! (See here.) It's a thillana composed by yours truly, with lyrics by my mother Smt. Viji Bhakthavatsalam. The team that came together for this production has done a fabulous job and I'm so grateful to them for bringing my composition alive.



If you liked this, please share widely and spread the word!

Dream

I'm in NYC visiting a dear friend, Diya, and I had the most incredible dream this morning - and for that I'm for once so thankful for jet lag and my general holiday laziness and reluctance to get out of bed well into the morning. A very concrete musical tune came to me out of nowhere and I haven't felt this blissed in a long time. The setting for the dream was basically (surprise!) my Facebook news feed, but what popped up in it was this beautiful video from a (imaginary) page I'd "liked": of Bombay Jayashree singing with her (Carnatic) orchestra on the beach, in front of a gorgeous South Indian temple. Oddly enough she was singing in Bengali - which was probably the result of recently attending a wonderful concert by Kaushiki Chakrabarty in which she sang a Bengali piece and/or the fact that Diya - whom I'm visiting now - is Bengali and/or the fact that I've lately been watching a Netflix series on Tagore's short stories. The highlight of the dream was the tune. What I heard - although it was just one line - was very intriguingly, a really well-defined and "distilled-out" tune with quite a unique meter and rhythm. (It was in khandam/ 5-beat cycle.) This has never happened to me before. Or it probably has a couple times but I've never woken up remembering the tune. This time I did, and it was an incredible feeling. I like the tune although it isn't very unique. I think it's nice - and sounds something like Pancham se Gara/ a Bihag-ish Khamaj, which has been quite a common Raga in film songs though. And I think I like it because I really had nothing to do with it. The tune isn't really mine. But what I'm feeling more than anything - pride/ happiness etc. - is a sense of intrigue. I'm fascinated by this experience and wonder if there have been other such Kekule's-Benzene-ring kind of moments of serendipity in music. (I'm sure there have, and much more grandiose ones.) I've always been a very deliberate - as opposed to a spontaneous - musician, and always felt inadequate because of that. That makes this dream even more fascinating. Right now I'm torn between developing this tune into a full-fledged composition and Googling on music and dreams. It's a good place to be :)

Sadly no amount of Google image search yielded a picture of Bombay Jayashree singing on the beach, but this post wouldn't be complete without her face, so here goes:

Har Tajurbe Ko released

Here we go. (Click here for some background on this song.) Please share and spread the word and if you like it please buy the track from iTunes and support the artists!

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/har-tajurbe-ko-feat.-ravichandra/id1097597195



Vocals: Subhamita Bannerjee
Composition: Sindhuja Bhakthavatsalam
Lyrics: Ajay Chandran
Flute: Ravichandra Kulur
Arrangement, Music Production, Mix and Master: Vijay Kannan

Thanks to Kaushik Sen of Rainbow Digital Studio, Kolkata, India; and Armando Cepeda's studio, Carlsbad, USA.

Artwork: "The Dive" by Sumithra Bhakthavatsalam (42hues.com)

Youtube link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOQ4xzGGTNU

Lyrics and translation:

har tajurbe ko taraazuu mein rakhaa
hisaabon mein uljha rahaa

Why weigh every experience? Why be ensnared in calculating every move?

zindagii saamne aayi
to ehtraam bhii na kiyaa

Life appeared in all its glory but alas, wasn't heeded to.

ik samandar peegayaa, phirbhi.. pyaas vohii pyaas rahii
mere andar koii bagaavat si.. aag vohiii aag rahii

Drinking the ocean in its entirety didn't quench the thirst...
Inside me is a rebellious fire that doesn't abate...

Har Tajurbe Ko - original composition feat. Subhamita Bannerjee coming soon

TEN years since I started this blog. (Well, almost.) Amidst some philosophizing and soul-searching that've resulted in a few write-ups on music, the last decade has been filled with some wonderful (though not very frequent) musical collaborations both online and offline. In September of 2009 I had what's easily been the single most life-changing musical experience for me so far: I got to perform with Pt. Ravi Shankar's ensemble in Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles. As rewarding as the experience itself was, it also gave me the opportunity to build some invaluable musical connections. In particular, I've been very fortunate to have collaborated with two amazing musicians I met there: Ravichandra Kulur and Subhamita Bannerjee. Brindavani - a flute-centric piece I composed a couple years ago and played impeccably by Kulur-ji was the first of these collaborations. But in fact, although we managed to finish and release that piece first (in 2013), what I had originally thought of requesting Kulur-ji to play for was a ghazal-esque song that I had composed. Play he did - and gorgeously of course - but the song never saw the light of the day.

The genesis of the song started with Ajay Chandran's lovely lyrics. One day back in grad school I caught myself humming a tune that was a mishmash of the ragas Varamu and Hindolam. The two ragas differ in just one note: the dhaivatham, and I thought a raga that combined the two sounded really beautiful and I wanted to come up with something. I felt the mood of the raga would best suit something ghazal-like. I immediately went to Ajay Chandran's blog and found a poem that I liked a lot: har tajurbe. I came up with a basic tune for it and soon decided that it had to be sung by someone else. Although it was me who'd come up with the tune, execution was another ball game altogether and I was unhappy with my own rendition since I felt I was totally "Carnaticizing" it. I then approached Subhamita-di to sing it and she graciously obliged. She's brought so much life into this song with her mellifluous rendering and I will be eternally grateful to her.

The next big question of course was, who'd arrange it?! After keeping the song hibernating for years I finally approached Vijay Kannan - an extremely talented and popular flautist and arranger. He immediately agreed to work on it and I think he's done a fabulous job. After composing the song in 2012, and having Kulur-ji play for it the same year, and having Subhamita-di sing it the following year, I tried unsuccessfully to resurrect this song multiple times in the years that followed. It's finally done now - and for being able to revive and complete it, a BIG shoutout to Vijay. And sorry Vijay, for being a pain through the process ;)

There's a certain unparalleled joy in conceiving of something and then completely letting it go out of your hands and just watching others realize it. One part of me thinks that's euphemism for plain laziness, but what good is a PhD if your super power is not intellectualizing the mundane as a means to escapism: so I'm just going to say, distributed cognition for the win. (No but seriously, I mean it.)

The song is all done and will be out soon - watch out for it! And thanks in advance for listening ;)

Brindavani

Here we go.
Now on iTunes! https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/brindavani-feat.-kirthana/id646554483

Brindavani: a collaboration with Flautist Shri Ravichandra Kulur

It was around this time a year ago that this project took birth. Ravi Kulur ji - whom I'd met and performed with in Pt Ravi Shankar's ensemble in 2009 - was visiting San Diego and got in touch with me. He was going to be performing with Guruji and Anoushka. As I was just planning a casual meeting with him, it occurred to me out of the blue to ask him if he might be interested in recording something for me. Given his schedule and how big an artist he is, I really wasn't expecting him to agree, but thought of asking him anyway since I'd known him to be really nice. Ask I did, and to my absolute surprise and delight, he was more than willing. Amidst rehearsal schedules with Guruji and other artists, he was kind enough to entertain my request. At the time, what I had in mind was a ghazal I had composed - I wanted Kulur ji to play some aalaaps and interludes for it. But then I felt I needed to make more use of this unique opportunity and get him to play more. But everything other than the ghazal I had composed till then was proper Carnatic (especially structurally; and of course I didn't feel any of them was worth taking to Kulur ji). I was wondering how to create a flute-centric piece. I finally decided I had to write something new. I wanted to have a standalone flute piece with grand orchestration and may be add some vocals. With not much time left, I quickly came up a few lines in Brindavani in a thillana-esque style and decided to leave the rest to improvisation.

The day arrived and I had to meet him at the studio. Back then, neither did I have a car, nor did I drive. The studio was in Carlsbad and getting there from La Jolla was a two hour bus ride. It was probably the best bus ride I've had though - an oceanic route, combined with the excitement of my first composition to be performed by a renowned artist made it truly memorable. After the long trip, I reached and Kulur ji who was already there greeted me. We began. What can I say - listening to him breeze away the flute from just a few feet away was exhilarating. We started with the Brindavani piece - his improvisations were transfixing. I felt extremely fortunate. We took about an hour and half and were done with whatever I had in mind. Thanked him, my stars, and most importantly Guruji Pt. Ravi Shankar - for it was because of him that I'd met Kulur ji.

Well, that was part one. Then began the orchestration woes. As I was worrying about whom to approach, Murali Venkataraman introduced me to Eshwar Ravishankar and I really need to thank him for that. Eshwar has worked tremendously for this song and his orchestration has truly elevated it to a level I hadn't imagined. I think his arrangement has added such grandeur to this song that it has come a long, long way from its genesis in what I wrote. Amidst the various challenges of power cuts, unreliable internet, an unstable computer, and exams and other deadlines, he has given his all to this. Through the last one year Eshwar and I have discussed, debated, argued about, and celebrated this piece, thanks to Gchat and Whatsapp. It was all a lot of fun and I've learnt many things.

Many thanks to Sanath for playing the mridangam on short notice when he was on a vacation in India. Many thanks also to Armando Cepeda (who's also worked with Guruji) who kindly let us use his studio for Kulur ji's recording. Thanks to Kirthana for her sweet vocals in the interlude, and last but not least, thanks to Abin Pushpakaran for the very dedicated and tireless work with the mixing and mastering. Here's hoping you all like this piece. Coming soon!!



PS: Kulur ji did also record for the ghazal I mentioned. The vocals have also been done by another gorgeous singer. I hope to release that soon as well.

endha mugam with Lalitharam

I have a lot to thank tfmpage for. Back in the day, that was my point of entry into the online world of musically like minded people. The Raga-Of-Song page (or ROS) was like home for a good 2-3 years and that's where I made some of my best musical associations. The song I'm presenting here today is the result of one such association- with Ram. Ram wrote the lyrics for which I composed the tune. This was one of my first compositions , and my very first experience with online collaboration (back then, Ram was in the US and me in India), which has become the order of the day today. Needless to say, it was a lot of fun! Although the song made its rounds within part of the ROS community and was quite well received, I think people were just being nice to me- probably because I was this kid just out of high school :P I now think the song was such an immature composition- half baked and cliched in a lot of ways despite some moving lines by Ram... (Not that I'm great now...!) Nevertheless, wanted to post it just for records- and to revisit those old ROS days... I can't believe it's been 9 years!!

Today, Ram is a noted music critic in the Chennai circles and the author of a book on the Carnatic music stalwart, G.N.Balasubramanyam titled "isaiulaga iLavarasar". I can only say I'm so pleased and proud! Way to go, Ram :)

This song goes out to my three good friends from ROS - Ram, Murali and Sheela. Glad to have met you all.

And dear blog visitor, will be glad to know what you thought of this piece!

Song: endha mugam
Ragam: Ragamalika (Darbari Kanada, Sahana, Ranjani, Charukeshi, Behag)
Thalam: Rupakam
Lyrics: Ramachandran Mahadevan (Lalitaram)
Tune: Self



And here are the lyrics:

entha mugam nOkkinaalum unthan mugam thOnRuvathEn
enthan manam thudippathaiyE unthan manam uNarnthidumO?
thanthai thaay thamakkai muthal entha mugam kaNda pOthum
chinthai ellaam silirkkachcheiyyum vinthai mugam therigiRathE!!!

munnam pala piRavigaLil kaLiththu kaziththu magizhnthathupOl
innum pala eNNam en agththil vazivathu En?
pongum un karuNai veLLam pagarndhidumE naan maRaiyum
Engum en mananilaiayi nee paarthaalthaanE thuyar maRaiyum

thEdum en manam kaNdum irangaamal oLivathEnO
naadum nOkkaththudan naanirukkum thavam veeNO
pathiyenRu koNdEn unnai,sathi seithu thaviRkkalaamO
mathimayakkum maayavanE,vithi maaRRa thayakkamEnO

nithamunnai piriyEnena muththamittuth thazhuvi ennai
eththanayO kURiyathu aththanaiyum poiyaachchuthO?
meththamaiyal koNda intha kuRRamaRra pEthathanai
saththaminRi neengkiyathu uththamanuk-kazhagaagumO?

pannagaththil paduththurungum ennagaththu naayaganE
viNNavarum maNNavarum vaNangum anbar-kaavalanE
paNNisaiththu kathaRum intha pEthaithanai paaraayO
ennilaiayi uNarnthu enthan idarneekka vaaraayO

Download here.

Thillana - Raagam Bindumalini

[UPDATE as of August 2018: Click here for a spunky recreation of this piece with an amazing team for IndianRaga.]

Here's a new composition from mom and me- a thillana in Bindumalini. Thillanas have always attracted me and needless to say, Lalgudi thillanas have been some of the most inspiring ones, as I'm sure any Lalgudi rasika would agree. I feel blessed and fortunate to have learned some of his pieces from his own sister.

I was under the impression that there was no thillana in Bindumalini- it was only after I finished this piece that I got to know (thanks to Jayanthi akka) that there were at least three more, one of them by the maestro Lalgudi himself! Still haven't had a chance to listen to any of them though, and I hope to do so sometime soon. (Links/ references in this regard most welcome!)

This piece was done a couple of months ago and I wasn't planning on blogging this anytime now, but the abundant, incessant rains in San Diego now prompted me to :) The lyrics by my mom are about rain- a tribute to the Rain God, if you will. As always, loved collaborating with amma :) This is my first attempt at composing a thillana - feedback with pointers/ critiques most welcome. Please do let us know your thoughts!

Special thanks to my Guru and Jayanthi akka for their constant encouragement for my compositions!

And rain on, San Diego!

Thillana
Ragam: Bindumalini
Thalam: Adi
Tune (Jathis, swarms): Self
Lyrics: Vijayalakshmi Bhakthavatsalam

Charanam verse (with some edits over many iterations):

mAriyE nee vAri vazhangum vaLLal anRO un
aruL inRi ivvulagil uyirgaL uyvathuNDO
vAzha ulaginil peythiDAi kOdhai solpaDi
aLavAi pozhinthiDuvAi vaLamAi vAzhavaippAi
pORRi unai pADiDuvOm poitthiDAmal parinthu varuvAi

gumugumu venRu vAnam kumurudhe taDa taDa venRu mAri varugudhe
manamum thuLLudhE mazgizhchikkoLLudhE vaazhi

Varnam in Lalitha Ragam

It was about three years ago I think, when I decided to attempt one more varnam after the Bahudari one. My ever enthusiastic mom of course readily agreed again to write the lyrics. This time I asked her to try something different- instead of the usual theistic overtones, I suggested her to write something on the Raga itself, since Lalitha had left an indelible mark on me. It is an epitome of beauty, serenity, tranquil... I can go on and on (Popular songs in this raga : Hiranmayim by Muththuswami Dikshitar; Idhazhil Kadhai Ezhudhum by Ilaiyaraja, Vairamuththu)
For some reason, this song did not see the light of the day all these years- something kept me from recording it. Today, my sister's blog post prompted me to record this!
So its up here now for you to listen and appraise.

(Updated recording with swaram and 2 speeds)



VARNAM
Ragam:Lalitha (SRGMDNS ; SNDMGRS ,janyam of Mayamalavagowla(15))
Talam:Adi
Swaras (tune) :Sindhuja Bhakthavatsalam.
Lyrics: Vijayalakshmi Bhakthavatsalam.

Swaram:

( Notation used: lower case-mandra sthaayi, upper case-madhyama sthaayi, upper case bold-thaara sthaayi )

Pallavi:
Ma,D ,MGM DaMa DNSR | SaSN NDMG | MaGR Ga,, ||
MGRN DMDM GMGR SnSR | Sa,, ,,nd | nS,R ,SRG ||

Anupallavi:
SaSa NNDD MDMG MDGa | GMDa MDNi | SRGM DNSa ||
NDNS ,RSR GMR, ,SNS| N,D, MDM, |SNDM GRS,||

Muktaayi Swaram:
dndS nRSG RMGM DDMa | DMGM NDMD |SNDR SNSa ||
SRNS ,RSR G,,M ,GR, | RNDM | ,DMa MGRR ,SnS ||

Charanam :
Ni,, ,NSR SNDa SNDM | Ga,, ,,MD GaMG RGMD ||

Chittai Swarams:
1. Ma,, ,,Ga ,,Ri ,,Ri | Sa,n ,,da | niSR GMaD ||
2. NSRN SDNS NDMM DMGM | GRnS ndnS | RnSR GMMD ||
3.MDNS NDMa ,,Ga ,MaM | GRnS ndnd | mdnS Rni, ||
SRGM ,GRG RGMD ,MGM GMDN ,DMD MDNS ,SND ||
4.SaRN SNDN ,DMD ,MGG | Ma,, ,,,, | ,,,G MDND ||
SaRN SNDN ,DMD ,MGG | Ma,, ,,GM | Da,M DNSR ||
SRGM DMGM RiNS NDNS | SRNS NDNS | RNDM Da,, ||
MDGM ,MGR SRnS ,Snd | ddnS RnSR | GMDN SRGa ||
GMRG MMGR SRNS RSND | MGRS NDMG | RSND NDMD ||

Lyrics:
Pallavi:
mAthE mALavagowLai peRRa magaLE!
lalithE ena nAmam koNdAi

Anupallavi:
rAginiyE ERRam peRRAi sa ri ga ma da ni sa
thayai koNdu iRanginAi sa ni da ma ga ri sa

Charanam:
nin ezhilil en vasam izhanthEnE!

Transaltion:
Pallavi:
Oh lovely damsel,daughter of Mayamalavagowla,
You got to be named Lalitha.

Anupallavi:
Oh Ragini! you ascend as sa ri ga ma da ni sa
Nevertheless, mercifully descend for us; as sa ni da ma ga ri sa.

Charanam:
I lost myself in your beauty!

Beauutiful Bahudari!!

Update: you can find my other varnam composition in Lalitha ragam here.

My affair with Bahudari started when I was in class six...to me its one of those 'goosebumpsy' ragas!-if u know what I mean... :) I remember the day vividly-the day I was taught Brova Barama...how immensely grateful I was, to my teacher, for introducing such a wonderful raga to me!I just kept singing it over and over again to myself as I walked back home-it was elevating!
Over the years,Bahudari only lured me more and more, thanks to geniuses like U.Srinivas,Ganesh & Kumaresh,Rahman and many others; and about three and a half years back, I kinda felt compelled from within to try writing something in it. Since I find it a lot of fun to play around with swaras, I thought a varnam would be the best thing to try.
So I composed something and showed it to my mom and asked her for lyrics. Being a singer herself,she was really pleased and immediately started working on it.It was a thoroughly enjoyable excercise trying to fit her lyrics with my swaras.A perfectionist that she is, she really wouldn't be satisfied easily! Finally,after about 3-4 days we thought it had shaped up fine.

So here it is:
Comments of course, are most welcome.





VARNAM
Ragam:Bahudari (SGMPDNS ; SNPMGS ,janyam of Harikambodhi(28) )
Talam:Adi
Swaras (tune) :Self.
Lyrics: Vijayalakshmi Bhakthavatsalam.

Swaram:

( Notation used: lower case-mandra sthaayi, upper case-madhyama sthaayi, upper case bold-thaara sthaayi )

Pallavi:
Sa,S ,,NP DNPM GPMG | MaPM GSdn | dnSG MPDN ||
DNSN ,PMG PDNP ,GMG | SGnS ,GSG | MPaD NPDN ||

Anupallavi:
NiPD NSNP MaPD NPMG |GaSG nsaG |GPMG Ga,, ||
nSGG ,MGM PPaD NSNS | GaSG MPMG | GMNS NPDN||

Chittaiswaram:
SaSa NPDN SNPM NNPM | PDNP DNSN | NSGN Sa,, ||
SNPM GSnS dnSp pdnS |GGSM MGPP | MNNP DNSG ||

Charanam:
PaDN PaGM PDNS ,NPM | GaPM GaSG | MPMG ,SGM ||

Mukthayiswarams:
1.Pa,M ,,Ga ,,,, niSa | Ga,S ,,Ma | ,Ga, PaMa||
2.Ga,, ,,SG MPMG MGGn | Sa,n Ga,S | Ma,G PaDN||
3.GMPD NSSN SGNS SNNP | DNSM PDNG | MPDN Sa,,||
NNPD NPPM PMNP SNNP | DNSG SGNS |NSGM PMGS ||
4.SaGS GaGM PMGM PDNS | Ga,, ,,,, | ,,,, ,,,, ||(a)
SaGS GaGM PMGM PDNS | Ga,S Ni,S | NPaS NPMG ||(b)
SaGS GaGM PMGM PDNS | Ga,N Sa,P | DaNS NPMG || (c)
SaGS GaGM PMGM PDNS | Ga,N Sa,P |DaNS Ga,,||
SGMG MPMG GSNN Sa,, | DNSN SGSN | PDNS Ni,, ||
SNNP MGMP DNSN Pa,, | GMPD NSNP | NPMG Ma,, ||
SNPM GSNP MGSP MGSn | SGMP ,DNS | Ma,G ,,S, Ma,G ,,S,||

Words:

Pallavi:
kaNNA un thaay iruvar moovulagin thaay nee anRO
maNNai uNdu aNdam muzhuthum annaikku vAyil kAttinAy

Anupallavi:
pANdavrkku nee thuNai irunthAy pArthanukku geethai uRaitthAy
un perumayai pAda Or piraviyum pOthumO

Charanam:
paraman unnudan en jeevan iNayAthO

Of course, it doesn’t take much to ‘compose’ something like this, since its simply about permuting and combining swaras (aesthetically of course)from a pre-defined set. So one is confined by the bounds of the raga. Needless to say its much more challenging to compose something ‘non-hard core-carnatic’ (aka ‘light’, I don’t understand why though!) – isn’t it more exciting to play a game with lesser rules?!
Sigh,only, I wish I was talented enough for that- like some of my ‘senior’ audiobloggers here :D
(Nevertheless, amma and me worked on another such project about a year after this -will be posting it in one of my forthcoming posts)

Another dimension to Bahudari:

Here’s another song in the same raga, albeit in stark contrast -
Thee thee from Thiruda Thiruda…
However many times I listen to this song, ever since it released way back in 1993, it leaves me awestruck everytime!
A song which emphatically testifies the genius of my GOD, Rahman! (The flute piece in the 2nd interlude-woww!!)
Needless to say, its not in pure Bahudari , but I love the way Rahman has gone berserk! :D

So here's my version of it:

Not sure I’ve really captured the spark in Carolene’s voice though…
(BTW, does anyone know if this singer has sung any other song?? Beautiful voice and great modulation-very sad that she disappeared from the scene after just one song…)
BTW this is my first attempt at mixing and it was not until I did this song that I realized how big a task it is (in spite of using just primitive methods)! – realized that just singing alone is such a small part of the entire process of presenting a song!!