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

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

Lesser Known Gruhabhedams: 2X3: Hindolam vs. Hamsanandi

Lesser Known Gruhabhedams: 2X2: Charukesi vs. Gowrimanohari

Lesser Known Gruhabhedams: Season 2

Decided to make a second round on Lesser Known Gruhabhedam. Here's the first one in this second set:

Lesser Known Gruhabhedams: Lalitha and more

Here's the fourth and the last one in the Lesser known Gruhabhedam series.

Lesser Known Gruhabhedams: Lalitha

Here's the third in the Lesser known Gruhabhedam series.

Lesser known Gruhabhedams: Nattakurinji

Here's the second in the Lesser known Gruhabhedam series.

Lesser known Gruhabhedams: Rageshri

First of a series of videos on relatively lesser known gruhabhedams in classical/ film music.

Madras, Music, Madness

I'm currently visiting home after 3.5 long years, and the trip so far has been nothing short of fantastic. The highlight has definitely been attending concerts at the annual December music season in Chennai. Growing up in Bangalore I somehow never managed to attend the season - the first time I did attend was in 2010, but only managed to catch a handful of concerts. This time I was determined to spend at least a whole week and soak in as much of the music as I could, and I'm so glad to report that the plan fructified. A big shout out to amma and appa for all the planning, making the trip happen, and being awesome concert buddies. We heard 27 different concerts in all (not all of them fully, unfortunately) - averaging about 4 a day - and many of them were excellent. I'm still reeling from the whole experience and I thought I should write down a few thoughts on it when it's still fresh in my memory.

First of all, the sheer volume of concerts is mind-boggling. I've of course known about it very well but it's not until you're in the thick of it that you realize the magnitude. Although it was the Madras Music Academy that pioneered it all 90 years ago and has continued to hold sway over the season, the burgeoning of several other sabhas over the decades has quite massively scaled up the season. By a conservative estimate, there are about 25 (prominent-ish) sabhas in the city, and each of them have 3-5 concerts a day, and the primetime of the season lasts about 15 days, from Dec 15th to the 31st - you do the math. The rasika is then faced with the incredibly hard choice each hour everyday, as to where to be. I constantly found myself wishing I could be at multiple venues at the same time. Attending one awesome concert almost always meant missing another, but after the first few days I learned to make peace with this inevitable fact and not be greedy. Talking about misses, a few musicians I was hoping to hear (each for a totally different reason than the other) but sadly wasn't able to were Abhishek Raghuram, Pantula Rama, and T.M. Krishna who sang just one concert. But anyway, no complaints as I got to hear several other great concerts. Here are some highlights of my experience.

When I think back about the season experience this time, probably the one image that comes to mind immediately is that of the young vainika Ramana Balachandran playing for 'Prabhata Sangeetham' early in the morning at 5:30. (It was my first time hearing him live but dad had heard him at Sheshadripuram in Bangalore a while ago and had been praising him since.) Ramana's absolutely wonderful playing in a beautiful ambience created by 40-50 lit oil lamps in a small, intimate setting will be something I will remember for a long time. His Bowli (Karuna nidhiye), Sama (Annapurne), Harikambodhi (Enadhu manam), and Purvikalyani (Meenakshi) were extremely delectable. At times he would sing along as he played and that made it even more enjoyable. In fact throughout the season, the concerts I enjoyed the most happened to be veena concerts. I heard two concerts by Jayanthi (Kumaresh) akka - one with pianist Anil Srinivasan at Spaces in Besant Nagar, and another solo concert at the Music Academy. I loved both - the former was set in a lovely outdoor ambience and the veena and the piano blended quite beautifully. Akka played a very moving Kaapi (Ragam, Tanam, Inta Sowkhyamani), and Anil Srinivasan's playing there brought to mind flashes of immortal film songs based on the raga. Akka's Music Academy concert was probably the best concert I experienced in the entire trip. She played an astounding Charukeshi. (Incidentally she had played a Charukeshi RTP at the Academy in 2010 as well, but each time - if it's even possible - she keeps outdoing herself.) Her sustains and pulling off (pun intended) unbelievably long gamaka-laden phrases without plucking need to be experienced first hand and cannot be described in words. Lastly I also heard Ashwin Anand at Music Academy whose playing also I enjoyed a lot. He played a lovely Dhanyasi (Meenalochani) and Kambodhi (Ragam, Tanam, Sri Subramanyaya). Another instrumentalist I really enjoyed listening to was flautist J.A. Jayanth - he played a very memorable Nandagopala (Yamunakalyani), and elaborated on Kambodhi (O Rangasayee).

Some of the vocal performances I enjoyed were Brinda Manickavasagam's Madhyamavati (Palinchu Kamakshi), Aishwarya Vidya Raghunath's and Ashwath Narayanan's Shankarabharanams (Shankaracharyam and Manasu swadhina respectively), Vidya Kalyanaraman's Saveri (Rama bana), and Bharat Sundar's (extremely complicated and riveting) Thodi RTP - all at the Academy. Oh, and how can I not mention one of my favorite musicians - Ramakrishnan Murthy! I was delighted beyond words that he chose Begada for his main piece, a relatively rare choice. He sang a wonderful ragam, followed by Nadopasana. I also have to mention his exceedingly beautiful renditions of Sripatimiha Nandagopagrihe in Khamas and Sambandar's kaadhalal kasindhu... followed by shuddhamum ashuddhamum in Yamunakalyani and Sindhubhairavi.

One vocal concert I was quite bowled over by was Sriranjani Santhanagopalan's at Bharat Kalachar. What a sweet and also extremely pliable voice she has! She sang a fantastic Vagadeeshwari. I felt her ragam delineation was quite out of the box and extremely well done. There were glimpses of Jog-like finishes and in general quite a few Hindustani-type touches that I really enjoyed. She sang Paramatmudu Velige and her kanakku and pattern-rich neraval and swarams in multiple nadais were so deftly and effortlessly done. She has an abundance of creativity and the ability (and voice) to pull off whatever her mind can conceive, and her music is as aesthetic as it is cerebral.

And of course, there were the superstars Ranjani and Gayathri whom I heard at the Academy. How, how, how do they do it every single time? Such perfection with such consistency! In one word, superb (yet again). The highpoint for me was when Gayathri did a gruhabhedam with Abhogi and Valaji in the (Reethigowla) RTP ragamalika swaram section. It was amazing how she could so nonchalantly switch back and forth. I'd love to see a brain scan of hers while she's at it! (Here's a recording of her doing that very same thing in a different concert: https://soundcloud.com/ranjani-gayatri/abhogivalachi_grahabhedamp3)

This post wouldn't be complete without talking about the veteran Seetha Narayanan mami. Hers was undoubtedly one of the most enjoyable concerts and more than that, it was a rich learning experience. What a lovely Bhairavi (Janani Mamava) and Kaapi (Inta Sowkhyamani) she sang! Hers is the kind of music that a music student should go to, if they are ever in doubt about anything. Such perfection and clarity of sangathis and such bhava-rich singing, without any fuss on stage. And if you thought she'd just stick to the "traditionally traditional" fare, you're mistaken - she topped off the already wonderful concert with a fantastic RTP in Nasikabhushani. A truly memorable concert. (See here for a detailed write up about this concert in Tamil by Lalitharam: https://carnaticmusicreview.wordpress.com/2016/12/27/seetha-narayanan/)

Among the younger folk, I very much enjoyed Kruthi Bhat whom I heard at Kalarasana. I loved her Mohanam (Rajagopalam). She also sang a very good Sahana ragam followed by Nijamukha (main piece). She finished with a really wonderful rendition of Lalgudi's Pahadi thillana. What really impressed me was the effort she took to reach quite far into the mandara sthayi, a rarity for female singers. Especially given her age, that was commendable. I hope she continues doing this - her voice is quite lovely at the base range. I also heard Sai Sisters at Narada Gana Sabha mini hall, who sang an impressive Thodi with very well done poruttham swarams for 'soumitri thyagarajuni' in Dacukovalena. It's a pleasure to hear the twins' perfectly in-sync voices.

Another small regret I have is that I couldn't attend as many lec-dems as I'd have liked to. But I did manage to attend one very good one, on 'The Structure of Padams' by Vid. Nirmala Sundararajan at the Academy. A direct disciple of T. Mukta - one of the revered torch bearers of padams in Carnatic music - she gave an enlightening lec-dem. She pointed out that contrary to say, krithis and varnams, no book to her knowledge talks about how padams should be composed. But by and large, padams have a pallavi, anupallavi, and multiple charanams. She then underlined that padams involve a lot of dhatu repetitions and are so rich in raga bhavam that they give you the feeling of singing/ listening to a ragam elaboration. She demonstrated this by singing portions of several padams - what's common to most of them are the long, winding lines replete with the characteristic features of the ragam, with layam in fact taking a back seat. Mostly themed on exchanges between a Nayaka and Nayika, padams cover a wide range of emotions from longing to anger. My favorite rendition of hers was the Sahana padam Morathopu.

Overall the season experience was wonderful. I wish I could write more elaborately about each of the concerts I enjoyed but that unfortunately will be a humongous task for which I don't have the time at the moment. One thing that could be better is acoustics and sound: apart from a handful of places like the Academy, Narada Gana Sabha, and Kalarasana, auditoriums have miles to go in terms of sound quality.

As with probably any institution in the world, the season isn't without its muck - I've come to learn there's quite a rigid hierarchy and a mad race to the top, there are prestige issues, there's pedigree politics, and oodles of factionalism and parochialism. There's lots that can change for the better. But as an outsider, my takeaway is that good talent (although perhaps not without the help of other resources) doesn't go unrecognized, and that if you want to listen to good music, the season has plenty to offer. There is no dearth of talent for sure. (Also, on any given day except for one or two of the evening concerts that are ticketed, all concerts are free!) Yes, there are artists not getting the attention they deserve, but setting aside those politics, as a rasika if you seek them out, you will find them. And if you're invested enough, get your hands dirty and "be the change".

Thank you, Chennai!

Rethinking Ragas in Film Music

Or, How I learned to stop worrying about ragas and just love film music.

Some 16 years ago when I was just starting life on the internet, one of my entry points was this lovely page called 'Raga of Songs' on tfmpage.com. It was a discussion forum where day in and day out, enthusiastic folks (some, over-enthusiastic like myself) would pore over the use of ragas in film songs. We would get down to the minutest of details, unearthing (now in my view some of the most insignificant) 'anya' swaras in the chords of a particular interlude that made the song deviate from its 'main' raga. The whole exercise was a mad obsession for me. It remained a mad obsession for quite a while. And this was of course not just me or the few people on tfmpage.com. 'Ragas in film songs' has forever been a pet topic for several rasikas as well as musicians. My own interest in this in fact comes from several people in my immediate and extended family. I still fondly remember a G.S.Mani tape on the topic my dad used to play decades ago. Many practicing Carnatic musicians have also often discussed this with great interest. For instance, here is the legend T.N. Seshagopalan praising Ilaiyaraja's use of Hamsanandi, here is Sikkil Gurucharan talking about Ilaiyaraja deftly alternating between Kalyani and Kosalam in Sundari Kannal, and then of course there are the many lec-dem videos by Charulatha Mani on the topic.

Over the last few years though, I've begun to question this whole idea of associating film songs with ragas for many reasons. Not all of these reasons are objective (in the sense of being removed from personal judgment). I'll admit that these are a combination of (what I think are) some principled reasons based on certain fundamental aspects of the Carnatic tradition, and some purely personal and idiosyncratic factors that have to do with my general propensities moving in a different direction over the years. Let me say at the outset that I don't claim to break any ground here. Probably by the end of it some of you will have found all of this entirely obvious but still find intellectual and entertainment value in figuring out ragas of film songs. I have no qualms with that :)

So why am I less enthusiastic about ragas in film songs today?

1. (Mis)appropriation of the idea of 'Raga' in Carnatic music: It might probably help by starting with what a raga is not. A raga is not a set of notes or swaras. Scholars and musicians have time and again reminded us that a raga has a form and life that goes beyond its constituent notes. And therefore - and more to the point here - a raga is not a scale, i.e. a raga cannot be reduced to its arohana and avarohana. A raga comprises phraseologies, pidis, gamakas, and prayogas that go well beyond its basic notes. This is a classic instance of the whole being more than the sum of its parts. Sure, some ragas are closer to the scales formed by their notes than others, and have fewer of typical prayogas etc., but no raga is just a scale. My biggest beef with associating film songs with ragas, saying "Song X is in a Raga Y" is that more often than not the song is not in that raga, but just has the swaras of that raga in their most basic form. In essence then, when claiming that a film song is in a particular raga, what we are doing (often if not always) is appropriating a classical term into a non-classical context: and that is problem # 1. When we claim that Sundari kannal is in the raga Kalyani, we are appropriating the term 'raga', as well as the idea of 'Kalyani' itself from a classical into a non-classical context, and I think to avoid misunderstanding, we need to be very clear about this if we want to make this claim. In my view, Sundari kannal is not Kalyani, and the charanams don't go into Kosalam. Why? Because the song has none of the characteristic phraseologies or prayogas of Kalyani. What it does have, are the basic notes of Kalyani. So I think the song is really in the Kalyani scale, stripped of all the lakshanas of Kalyani. (Thanks to my awesome student, I learned that this is called the Lydian Mode in Western classical, so that's probably what this song is closer to, than Kalyani.) To my ears, there isn't an iota of similarity between Sundari kannal and say, Nidhi chala sukhama. And for similar but slightly different reasons I don't think there's Kosalam in it (in the charanams and interludes) either. Sure, the Kalyani scale, with the Ri2 replaced by Ri3 yields the Kosalam scale, but some 45 odd seconds of some subsets of Kosalam notes - and rendered pretty plain without any gamakas - don't maketh a Kosalam. Kosalam is definitely a much more "scalar" raga than Kalyani, so I would be relatively more sympathetic to the Kosalam claim about this song than the Kalyani claim, but I'd still have reservations in saying that the charanams are in full-blown Kosalam. (Of course, I'm sure Gurucharan knows exactly what he's talking about and that he would be able to pull off a fabulous RTP in Kosalam - as he in fact briefly does in the video - that will sound almost nothing like Sundari kannal - but I still think it's important to remind ourselves of this difference between raga and scale.)

For similar reasons, Ennavaley is not Kedaram - not even just the first lines of the pallavi (and no, one occurrence of Ri3 doesn't make it Kedaram + Nattai), Sundari neeyum is not Kedaram, and Pon maalai pozhudhu isn't Kedaram. (For starters, none of these songs has the typical S-M-G-M phrase of Kedaram, let alone the pidis, gamakas etc..) Puducheri kacheri is SO NOT Shankarabharanam and sadly, even Omkara nadanu is not really Shankarabharanam. You get the idea. As I said, the problem is less acute when it comes to the more scalar ragas - ragas without many typical prayogas or phraseologies - but I still think it's a long stretch to say Kaali perungaya dabba is in Rishabhapriya or Ooru vittu ooru vandhu is in Shanmugapriya - even though these are both relatively scalar ragas. These songs are so un-Carnatic in nature that we simply cannot associate them with ragas. We might say they use the scales of these ragas.

Needless to say by the way, none of this is about making any value judgments about the compositions. I think many of these are fantastic songs.

"But of course!", you might say: "A "filmi" Kalyani is not going to sound the same as a Carnatic Kalyani, and don't we know that very well? We just use the name 'Kalyani' more loosely/ broadly in the film context and we're very aware of that." Well, if there is always this understanding of the distinction, the problem - at least at the level of comprehension of the 'Carnatic Kalyani' - is probably not as big. But there's a problem nevertheless - at the level of categorization and nomenclature. I think it's not just an approximation to say that Sundari kannal is in Kalyani. I think it's plain false - for reasons explained above. And such raga associations with film songs could cause a misunderstanding for people not familiar with the Carnatic paradigm.

"Ilaiyaraja does not know Carnatic music." thunders T.M. Krishna, here: https://youtu.be/9zVVy62EtHg?t=33m33s

(I wonder how this hasn't made headlines and gone viral on social media yet - clearly, not many people (particularly Ilaiyaraja fans) have watched this yet which is probably good ;) )

As much as I didn't quite appreciate the confrontational tone he takes (here and at various points throughout the lecture series) - despite making the purportedly humble claim that he doesn't know any film music (and I trust that was earnest) - I really recommend these lectures to anyone looking to learn anything about Carnatic music. It's quite an educative series, and the man makes several important and interesting points, particularly about the history and evolution of Raga in Carnatic music. I personally learned quite a bit from them and many points he makes here reinforced my understanding of the idea of Raga in Carnatic music and influenced much of what I'm saying here. (I'm not completely on board with him on the "scales vs. ragas" issue though - and this musical fiction I wrote sometime ago talks about why: http://srutimag.blogspot.com/2016/01/ragaland-romance-of-many-anubhavas.html) Coming back to the Ilaiyaraja comment: Raja claiming that Maand is a Carnatic raga - even if that's wrong - doesn't necessarily mean he doesn't know Carnatic music. (By the way a Hindustani musician once told me - contrary to what T.M.Krishna says - that Maand is not even of Hindustani origin, but comes from the Rajasthani folk tradition. Now I don't know which one of these is true.) The most charitable way I can think of to interpret that remark about Ilaiyaraja is to situate it in the current context of ragas in film songs. All we can probably say is that the bulk of Ilaiyaraja's songs are not in Carnatic ragas. (There are definitely quite a few exceptions like Poo maalai vaangi vandhaan.) This still doesn't mean that Ilaiyaraja "does not know Carnatic music" - all it means is that he doesn't operate in the Carnatic paradigm. But moving on...

2. Songs that are not really in any raga OR scale getting put in a box: I don't think "What raga or scale is this song in?" is a valid question for any and every song. A song might even sound very classical and still not be in any raga or scale - for instance Ennavaley or Manam Virumbuthey or Sippi irukkudhu... These are some of my favorite songs, but I often see songs such as these getting boxed into some raga. I think these (and several thousand others) don't fall into any raga or even a (existing) scale. Each of these is just a (really well-done) melange of different scales and ragas (as the case may be).

3. A personal decline of appetite for figuring out ragas in film songs: Gradually over the years, I've become much less interested in finding out ragas of songs - except of course cases where the raga of the song is so obvious it leaps out at you. Involuntarily, my focus has shifted to the overall aesthetic and emotional appeal of the song irrespective of what raga it is (or is not) in. This is in (large) part due to the above reasons, but it also just has to do with an idiosyncratic move away from the obsessive need to break down a song to bits and analyze it. This in fact also happens when I listen to Carnatic songs in a new raga, but to a lesser extent.

[While I find myself moving away from putting raga names to film songs and generally (over) analyzing songs, one phenomenon I still can't resist is gruhabhedam: both in the Carnatic and film contexts. I'm still a sucker for really intriguing theoretical ideas being aesthetically executed. If you think about it though, recognizing/ appreciating gruhabhedam has nothing to do with ragas. As long as we have in place our fundamental concepts of shruthi, tonic, shadja, swara, and swarasthana, we can talk about gruhabhedam without reference to raga. I've written on this topic many times on this blog, the most recent one is here.]

Having said all that though, I think there are many situations where it does make sense to talk about the raga of a film song:
1. When the song is actually classical in nature and is true to the raga (even if only in parts) and doesn't just make use of the notes of the scale: several old classics come to mind: Paarthen siritthen (Sahana), Mounathil Vilayadum (Sama), Poo maalai vaangi vandhan ((Darbaari) Kaanada) to name a few.
2. When the song is not really classical in nature, but in a scale that is not too far from the raga: As I mentioned earlier, some ragas are much closer to the scale formed by their notes than others. In such cases, since the difference between scale and raga is not too huge, it might be more acceptable to say that a song is in a certain raga. Lots of ragas fall under this category: Hamsanandi, Panthuvarali, Hamsadhwani, Mohanam to a good extent, Simhendramadhyamam, Dharmavati to name a few. Even in these cases, we're still misappropriating the term 'raga' into a non-classical context, but the misappropriation may not be as grave. This is the reason I think why a Sundari kannal sounds nothing like a Nidhi chala sukhama, whereas a Vellarikka pinju vellarikka sounds quite related to a Mohana Rama or Evarura. An interesting case in point is the assoication of Hindustani ragas to (mostly older) Hindi film songs. To the best of my knowledge Hindustani music is not as "hung up" or hardcore about prayogas and phraseologies as Carnatic is, and so lots of the ragas there are quite similar to the scales. So I think it's easier and less problematic to make this association of raga with song in the Hindustani-Hindi film music context. (Of course, even here I'm sure there are exceptions.)
3. For pure intellectual gratification derived from figuring out a scale and putting a name to it: This is great, but to be exercised with caution :)

In a nutshell then, "ragafication" of film songs doesn't work a lot of the time, and if we still want to do it, we should be very careful about it.

Okay, that was a LOT of rambling, and I'll stop at that. Thanks for reading!

Gruhabhedam and Ilaiyaraja - again

Gruhabhedam as a musical phenomenon can never cease to amaze. Gayathri's (of Ranjani-Gayathri duo) brilliant, awe-inspiring Music Academy lec-dem on the topic has recently generated a lot of interesting discussion in the Carnatic music circles, and prompted me to write this long-pending post.

But this post is not about Gruhabhedam in Carnatic music. It is about Ilaiyaraja. Again. (Here and here are articles I've written on Raja and Gruhabhedam in the past.) In my view, just like in Carnatic music, there are good and bad ways of doing Gruhabhedam in film music. I'll get to the bad at the end, but here's the good - or rather, the really, really good. The song I have in mind is aasai adhigam vechu from the film Marupadiyum: http://mio.to/album/Marupadiyum+%281993%29

Gruhabhedam in Sindhubhairavi has been handled exquisitely by stalwarts in Carnatic music - check out this piece by Tanjore S. Kalyanaraman for instance, and then there's of course Lalgudi's legendary swarajathi. But this song - aasai adhigam - is a brilliant case of gruhabhedam from Sindhubhairavi in the film music context. It seems like an innocuous song at first glance but on closer listening you see the beast unleashed in the first interlude and go on to wreak havoc till the end. What a masterpiece! Let me say at the outset that this is not a traditional gruhabhedam involving two "ragas" per se. The song is predominantly in Sindhubhairavi but what it morphs into via gruhabhedam is not really a raga: it's more a scale, or rather parts of a scale - the major scale, roughly speaking.

UPDATE: See this video where I discuss this song.

It starts out in straightforward Sindhubhairavi and continues to be so until half of the first interlude. Then at 1:35 you see it happening. There's a departure from Sindhubhairavi and you hear a more fun and upbeat few seconds there from 1:35 to about 1:42. For a long time I didn't think it was anything special - it just seemed to be a normal change of notes/ modes/ moods. But on closer inspection I found that those notes should really still just sound like Sindhubharivai - 1:35 - 1:43 the notes should be nnnn rr rsss... Why do they sound different? Because there are background chords there that have changed the shruthi! If you listen closely you'll hear a pa-sa bass in the background that makes the nnnn rr rsss sound like rrrr mm mggg. And that's where it starts - taking the Sa of Sindhubhairavi as Ga. And then there's a superbly seamless transition back to Sindhubhairavi around 1:43. And then back to major scale (ish) again in the charanam from 1:53 - 2:09. And then back to Sindhubhairavi at 2:09. What's this man made of?

The charanam beginning ("chinna poNNu naa...") sounds like gpgss... ns rr npp... Why? Again, because he's made us subconsciously move the shadjam. The corresponding Sindhubhairavi notes for that line would be sgsdd... pd nn pgg. But we don't hear it as Sindhubhairavi because of the way Janaki sings it - long, plain notes, and a landing on the da of Sindhubhairavi on the word "naa" making it feel like sa. Here's a short demo I did, singing these lines as in the original, and in a slightly different way if we want to retain Sindhubhairavi. With some very slight modification to the rendering, the feel can be changed back to Sindhubhairavi: with some small gamakas and highlighting the pa. (The singing isn't great - Janaki's shruthi is insanely high for me and the corresponding lower pitch too low.)





So it looks like by simply highlighting the pa and not fixating on da, you get a Sindhubhairavi feel rather than the "fun-n-frolicky" major scale feel. But why remain in plain old Sindhubhairavi when you can come up with genius stuff like this? The second interlude again goes back and forth between major scale (ish) in the instruments and Sindhubhairavi in Janaki's humming. I think for me this song will go down as one of the most incredible gruhabhedams done in film music.

There's of course a lot more the song has to boast about: the tune, the singing, and the instruments all brilliantly capture the state of mind of the woman singing it in the movie and the context couldn't have asked for a better song.

That was about the brilliant stuff. And as promised, here's the bad stuff:
Ilaiyaraja fans, please forgive me but I think nanna neenu gellalare - the 80s Kannada song - is a particularly mundane way of doing Gruhabhedam: 2nd song here. It could serve well to initiate someone into the very basics of Gruhabhedam but beyond that I find it quite shallow and in-your-face. It is too overt and the mood doesn't change along with change of ragas and I find the song to have little musical value. In fact I think the ragas don't change really - all that's happening is that the singers are mouthing different swaras.

Edit: While I think the song is musically flippant objectively speaking, friends have made me realize that it is unfair to evaluate it in a vacuum, stripping it of its context - I acknowledge that the song is set in a particular milieu and reflects the image of the iconic "Dr. Raj" of the 80s. And the context/ film in which this song occurs was probably flippant to begin with. Hat tip to Chaya Rao and Madhusudhan Rao.

Anyway - this was just an e.g. to illustrate a specific point. Needless to say there's simply way too much awesomeness to take from Raja's music - and that's that.

Ragaland - A Romance of Many Anubhavas

Here's an article I wrote for Sruti magazine: http://srutimag.blogspot.com/2016/01/ragaland-romance-of-many-anubhavas.html

Udayaravichandrika/ Shrotaswini with a Nattai twist

(Dear blog, you've been abandoned for too long now :( Hopefully more posts coming soon.)

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I'd always found an uncanny similarity between Shuddha Dhanyasi and Nattai. The sadharana gandharam in the former, when rendered in certain ways sounded to me like the shatshruthi rishabham of Nattai. Totally unrelatedly (or so I thought), some 10 years ago I discovered this lovely raga called Shrothaswini, thanks to a film song. I learnt that it was Shuddha Dhanyasi, but with kakali nishadham instead of the kaishiki. And then sometime last year I found this absolute gem: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpUJtEgBS6k Prof SR Janakiraman explains so wonderfully the connection between Shuddha Dhanyasi, Shrotaswini, and Nattai. (And the way he holds the kakali nishadham - "nishcahlam" - is something to die for.) Shrothaswini is even more similar to Nattai than is Shuddha Dhanyasi coz of the former's kakali nishadham! And I also learnt from this video that Shrotaswini is probably just a fancy, new name for an old raga - Dikshitar's own - Udayaravichandrika. (Prof SRJ does not use the name Shrotaswini at all.) Up until this I'd thought that Udayaravichandrika was the same as Shuddha Dhanyasi. I think this is in fact the popular opinion, which Prof SRJ challenges.

Anyway, I was obsessing about this Udayaravichandrika/ Shrothaswini - Nattai connection over the last few days and couldn't help but record this small piece. Hope you like it.

Feature on my guru Lalgudi Rajalakshmi in Sruti magazine

Here's an article I wrote on my guru for Sruti. Many thanks as always to the editor, Mr. Ramnarayan.

Lalgudi Rajalakshmi

Ilaiyaraja live in San Jose

I know this post comes very late - I just didn't have the time to sit and write about it, and moreover, for a while after it was over, I was in a stupor and was unable to put anything of what I felt in words. Nevertheless, I thought I should say something about the concert here for the record, since it was easily one of the most cherished musical experiences I have ever had. On March 1st I witnessed a dream concert: "Maestro" Ilaiyaraja was in San Jose with his entire team of amazing musicians. From Chitra to SPB to Hariharan to the no-name stars in the orchestra, the show was nothing short of magic. Four decades of musical brilliance came alive in the 5-or-so hours. The orchestra was impeccable, the singers masterly and fervent, and the man - Raja - himself, stood there truly like a king, bursting with all the years of well-earned and rightful pride and authority. It was an unforgettable evening and I was so emotionally charged - like all the other die-hard fans I'm sure - that I had a "hangover" for almost a week after the concert. I would be doing injustice to the concert if I start talking about any one or two songs, and it would be impossible for me to write in detail about every song. Still, I'll just go ahead and say that pottu vaiththa kadhal had me at the edge of my seat from start to end and sundari kannal and thenpandi chemmaiyile brought tears. If you closed your eyes, you'd think it was the original casette playing (but with the recording boosted up and digitized to modern standards). The rushing violins in sundari kannal were transfixing and the trumpets just so grandiose. Chitra, my idol was her usual adorable self, and SPB was giving us some glimpses of Raja's genius by narrating some anecdotes during composing and having the orchestra play for us some short, isolated bits to highlight the strength of those particular sections. Mano was jovial and entertaining and was a true sport when Raja pulled his leg about his Thamizh years ago when he was learning Shenbagame (although I wonder who *wouldn't* have been a sport with Raja), and Karthik had a great stage presence. The four women who were part of the chorus and also had some solos/ duets each were amazing too. Unfortunately I don't know their names - except for one of them, NSK Ramya. Overall, wonderful evening and the heart felt heavy as it came to an end. Some people were put off by Raja's quirks - they felt he was being too arrogant and not respectful of the people who had paid a lot to watch him. Well, some of his comments were indeed uncalled for - like when he asked "idhu dhaan neenga vaazhara latchanama" or something to that effect when people were whistling/ loudly cheering to some of the songs. But then he's extraordinary, and for all the years of joy he has given us, I don't think I have anything to grumble about and will take anything from him in return for his out-of-the-world music.
We've always known this man to be superhuman, but seeing him live, listening to him sing, pray, pour his heart out, love, cheer, and also admonish, scold, and rant was truly something else. An evening I'll remember for a long time to come.

Of rakti, scales, and hedonism

!Rambler Alert!

The motivation for this piece really was the question, "What ragas do I like, and why?" I don't think I can come up with even a remotely satisfying answer to that. In fact, I'm not sure if it's even possible to answer this, but I've found it quite interesting and stimulating to mull over the question (like a zillion other pointless ones) and I believe I stumbled upon some intriguing observations. Well, at least intriguing for me. Right from when I was a child, I've been drawn to certain ragas that I believe have a certain kind of "personality". But rather than trying to characterize this personality, which seems daunting, let me try to explain with examples. When I was little, Hamsadhwani was an absolute favorite. Natural, I guess: it's undoubtedly a "happy" raga, and the very first krithi I learnt was in this raga (Vinayaka). As I grew older, Hamsadhwani started seeming kinda mundane, but I believe my new preferences were still similar in a sense: for many many years now, I've died for Bahudhari, Hamsanadham, Nalinakanthi, Ranjani, Dharmavati, Varamu and Bindumalini. This is surely not an exhaustive list, but you get the idea. All of these have an almost visceral effect on me: I feel physically exhilarated/ stimulated/ touched; and Nalinakanti is the most strongly evocative of these (Check out this (compositionally very simple) piece, that I can listen to endlessly, while almost feeling my heart leaping.) On the other hand, ragas like Thodi, Begada, Reetigowlai, Bhairavi and to an extent even Sahana, don't have this effect. I respect and revere them. I fear (yes) and love them, but I'm not sure they give me the kind of "high" that the former set of ragas give me. The difference in preference was way stronger when I was younger - I just wouldn't be able to appreciate these latter ragas. I guess age and experience have helped me mature - I'm glad that now there are certain pieces in Bhairavi for instance, that I absolutely love. Based on these preferences, many connoisseurs of Carnatic music might not consider my breed "serious"/ "deep"/ "pure". Here comes what's most interesting to me. I feel that the former ragas are in a sense hedonistic. The focus is on strong emotional appeal, if not always pleasure. Well, I could say that ultimately it all comes down to pleasure in some sense: even Shubhapantuvarali evokes a kind of a pleasure - through its heaviness - but that's different from the pleasure that Nalinakanti brings about. Ragas like Bhairavi on the other hand seem to be somewhat on a "higher" plane. And it seems to me that this hedonism has been systematically curbed - just like hedonism in life in general. Pedagogically, we are (may be tacitly) encouraged to appreciate the more "serious" ragas like Reetigowlai or Bhairavi. They take musical maturity, conditioning, depth and involvement to appreciate. Of course, I need to keep throwing disclaimers throughout this piece that these claims are not grounded in any kind of experiment - neurological or sociological - but are just strong-ish hunches I have.

This Bhairavi-group of ragas are what are usually referred to as "rakti" ragas. (Some like Thodi are also "ghana" ragas, and may be not all ghana ragas are considered rakti ragas, but I won't go into that here.) Vidushi R. Vedavalli lucidly explains what rakti is in this Sruti article. Basically, rakti ragas are defined more by the raga "swaroopa" or form, rather than by the swaras alone. I like to think of this idea as a kind of 'holism': in rakti ragas, the whole is more than the sum of its parts. For some more philosophical jargon (sorry, can't help flaunting my disciplinary bias): rakti ragas don't reduce to the swaras, and don't supervene on the swaras. They have a distinct identity that emerges in terms of phrases, usages, prayogams, gamakams etc. and the mere scales of these ragas cannot fully capture these facets. My feeling is that the aptitude for these ragas is rooted in a deep reverence/ musical intelligence/ musical discipline. I feel it's unlikely for someone to say they get a plain "kick" out of, say, Huseni. (Of course, a LOT depends on the kind of notes too: Begada roughly belonging to the major scale certainly sounds happier than Huseni, so rakti apart, I'm sure a "theory" about preferences needs to be more nuanced and account for this point. Clearly, I am glossing over details, but given the sloppy theorist that I am, let me proceed anyway.) But interestingly, I feel in musical experience that involves tremendous amounts of conditioning - as is often the case with a Carnatic rasika - it is so hard to distinguish between "pure emotion" and "conditioned emotion". I mean, someone might say they are really touched by Begada and argue that they are as touched by it as I am by say, Nalinakanthi (I'm quite sure my dad would say that, and he was never trained in music - but he's of course a self-trained listener and rasika). Of course, mental states are entirely personal and we'll never know, but I'm still going to (audaciously) try to argue that Begada-appreciation is finer, more nuanced and more conditioned than Nalinakanthi-appreciation. To bring back the hedonism metaphor, the liking for the latter seems kinda "baser", less refined as far as music goes. Now what's curious about this is that as Smt Vedavalli says, the very meaning of rakti is that which is "pleasing and engages the mind joyfully": "ranjayati iti raktihi". Ha, so much for my insistence on almost the reverse. I have a half-baked response to this as well, but I'll spare you for now and move on.

One thing that's common to my "adrenalin-pumping" ragas is that they're all scale-based. I have no idea why. It's also indeed puzzling why/ how a "characterless" Chandrakouns/ Charukeshi/ Gambheera Nattai/ Srothaswini tug at my heart way more than any standard rakti raga that's supposed to be full of character. Well that's the question at the heart of this piece and evidently, I still don't have a clue as to how to answer it. It's also very curious that usually, in almost everything I do, I'm way more analytical than emotional. So is it probably that these scale-based ragas are actually intellectually stimulating for me? And this intellectual stimulation is somehow translating to emotional appeal in a way I can't tell? Likely. All I can say I guess is that I like the non-traditional appeal of these ragas.

It's of course heartening that many top notch artists indulge in a Charukeshi or Srothaswini for an RTP (yes, "indulge"; and that word can only be used for these kind of ragas: you can't possibly "indulge" in a Bhairavi lest you make her angry). Right now, I'm getting back to a breathtaking Charukeshi RTP by Jayanthi Kumaresh.

Oh, and check out this interesting blog post by Sanjay Subrahmanyam on this topic.

My experience with Pt Ravi Shankar in Sruti Magazine

Pt Ravi Shankar's passing away has, needless to say, been a great loss to musicians and rasikas world over. As Sruti celebrates the maestro's life and work this month, I write on my experience performing with his ensemble at Hollywood Bowl in 2009 - thanks to Mr. Ramnarayan.

OCTAVES has hit the one hundred mark with this one, and I couldn't think of anything better for a hundredth post! Thanks to friends, family, and visitors who've kept this going.

The Ravi Shankar experience by

Song for documentary on Shri S. Rajam

Today, Chennai saw the release of a DVD production on the life and works of Shri S. Rajam, renowned painter and Carnatic musician. It is directed by Lalitharam and Kaanthan Balakrishna Shastri, the music is composed by Murali Venkatraman, with lyrics by Hari Krishnan. All of their efforts are commendable and I urge you all to buy the DVD from kalakendra.com. Since Rajam was an unabashed proponent of Vivadi ragas - which back in the day were considered ominous for some reason - Ram requested Murali to compose most of the songs in Vivadi ragas as a tribute to the man. Here is a song that I have sung in the raga Maararnjani.

I had to fight hard with the beastly self critic in me to post this but oh well, here it is anyway, for the record.



The rest of the compositions are wonderful, in ragas including Gamanashrama, Suryakantham, Gangeyabhushani, and a Gruhabhedam from Mohanam to Kamaprabha; and sung by some amazing singers including Adithi Devarajan, Karthik Nagarajan and Murali himself and are all available on youtube. Please do check them out as well.

Happy Birthday to my Guru

Here's my first attempt at proper website design: http://www.lalgudirajalakshmi.com. This had been on my task list for way too long and I finally got down to doing it and showed it to my Guru today, on her birthday. So glad that it made her very happy.
She's a wonderful artist and Guru and an amazing woman. So please spread the word about this new site!

PS: Blogger is awesome. Thanks to Blogger for being SO malleable and giving complete control over the html and css: highly recommend for newbies such as myself. And thanks to Karthik for helping with a couple of key issues and tackling this obstinate monster called Internet Explorer.

Nattaikurinji and Kharaharapriya

I recently performed a thematic concert for my cousin Hari Devanath's music school in the Bay Area, Sri Paduka Academy. The theme was melam-janyam and I tried to explore various melam-janyam relationships. To this end, I picked three melam-janyam pairs: Kalyani-Amritabehag where the janyam has little or no resemblance to the melam; Harikambodhi-Nattaikurinji where the janyam has all seven swaras, yet does not qualify as a melam due to its characteristic vakra usages and despite sharing all the swaras with the melam, has a unique identity of itself; and lastly Kharaharapriya-Sriranjani where the janyam conforms to the very conventional understanding we have of janya ragas: its swaras form a subset of those of the melam and the flavor/ feel of the raga is also very similar to that of the parent raga. For lack of time I couldn't take up the interesting class of bhashanga janya ragas but briefly spoke about it. Many thanks to Hari and Vivek Sundarraman - who also teaches at Paduka - for the opportunity. The energy of the kids was infectious.

Here are the Nattaikurinji and the Kharaharapriya pieces. I can't but add disclaimers: there are shruti lapses (which unfortunately I couldn't notice when I sang), and my obstinate voice refuses to go below the middle Sa - I've a long way to go. But this post is mainly for the accompanists: Divya Mohan on the violin and Gopal Ravindran on the mridangam, both all of 16 years, were great. You'll see how Divya's violin carasses the raga - especially Kharaharapriya, and the gait of Gopal's thani is beautiful. I learnt a ton from these folks!

Last but certainly not least, thanks to my Guru for everything.

Here we go. Needless to say, criticisms welcome!




Last edit: July 23 2012 - included the Nattaikurinji recording.