Concert at Shri Mandir, San Diego

Alapanais need to be more crisp and "tighter"; neraval less restrained, swaras more free flowing... I could go on. Heck, anyway- here are some videos from a concert I did at Shri Mandir, San Diego last month with Radhakrishnan on the flute and Sanath Kumar on the mridangam. Feedback would be much appreciated.

Santhana Gopala: Khamas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD_WfN66MXY

Sriramachandro: Sriranjani
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeO9kjk7aPg

Dayarani: Mohanam and Sarideno: Vidapi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZLBEE0PrsI

Thillana: Rageshri
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfZy7pXQhe0

Kannodu Kaanbadhellam: Revisiting after a decade

Kannodu Kaanbadhellaam was the first film song I covered. Ever. On a casette, with the help of the "karaoke" button on the music system that would suppress the original voice (the casette was then supposed to go to ARR - but ah, well that's another story). That was ten years ago, but the memories are still fresh. "Jeans" had released a couple of years ago and although a ludicrous movie for the most part, it was a laugh riot in our family and we all loved it. In fact if I remember right, we watched it multiple times in the theatre. I was at the peak of my ARR craze then and every time I would see his name appear in the credits on the screen, with the ni-sa-ri-sa track playing in the background, I would melt. We loved the songs so much and I almost damaged the casette by playing it too many times. And my uncle would joke that his car just wouldn't move if he didn't play Jeans songs =) Ah, those were the days...

This song, kannodu, surprisingly wasn't a favorite at first. It was Nithyasree's first film song and I found it.. er.. funny - for lack of a better word. The visuals were hilarious and that added to the comic factor. But it slowly grew on me and as the influence of the movie waned, I started seeing the classical richness of the song. And then in 2001, something came over me suddenly and I wanted to explore that "karaoke" button on our music system (although we'd had the system for a while before that) and kannodu was the first that came to mind. Everything was simpler back then - from the process of recording to my process of thinking. It was a more naive, carefree mind, not super intent on self-nitpicking. And I surprise myself every time I think of how I recorded back then: the whole song done at a stretch (coz you see, I couldn't cut-copy-paste on a casette).

Fast forward to 2011. The spontaneity, the unbridled enthusiasm, the uninhibited singing - all muted. I like to call it maturity - to keep my sanity. But there's also one other huge difference now: "cooler" gadgets and recording softwares that seem to mock you and exaggerate the smallest flaw. And these things only make it that much harder to achieve complacency.

Anyway... I've had this karoake track for quite sometime now and I somehow never wanted to try recording it- I just wanted to be content with my decade-old recording and not venture into it again. But venture I did, and here's the result. I wanted to sing some actual "kalpana" swarams at the end but the karaoke track had an annoying loud flute sound playing the original swarams, so I couldn't sing anything else there, hmph.

So here goes...

Song: Kannodu kaanbadhellaam
Film: Jeans
Music: A. R. Rahman
Lyrics: Vairamuththu
Singer: Nithyasree Mahadevan



And here's the old one (which I'd posted here some years ago) again, for the record (I think the tempo got increased somehow as a result of which my voice is kinda distorted, but anyway)

My article on raga recognition in Sruti Magazine

I'm happy to share that my article on the neurophilosophy of raga recognition appeared in the September 2011 issue of Sruti. What started as a term paper for a class I took long ago (more than a year now) with Prof Paul Churchland has resulted in this. Thanks to Swaroop who first spotted it on my blog when I'd posted it for a very brief period last year; and of course, to the editor Ramnarayan.

As Octaves completes five years this month (that's right, five! hard to believe for me); it's a nice feeling to be writing musicology/ music theory related posts back to back. After all, I've always primarily been a theorist at heart.

Here's the article.
(Disclaimer: the model I discuss as I conceived of it in this context is just that: a model; a kind of an artificial neural network for heuristic purposes only)

PS: Please do subscribe to Sruti if you're interested in the Indian classical arts. It's an immensely valuable resource!

Raga recognition

Colored Ragas: Synesthesia and Carnatic Music

Here's something very curious - and very personal in some ways - I wanted to put out there so that hopefully, I get to hear what people have to say about this and even better would be to know if there are other people who have similar experiences.

I associate colors with ragas. Yes. And swaras too. Kharaharapriya is greenish; Kalyani is yellowish; Bahudhari is purplish; Nalinakanthi is orangish... Sa is yellowish, ri is greenish, ga is majenta, ma is reddish... I could go on. You might think either a) I'm making it all up, or b) I'm crazy. Well for now in my defense, I can only say neither is the case, unless you can jump into my brain (which, trust me, you likely wouldn't want to do). I've experienced this raga/ swara - color correlation since childhood. In fact, I associate colors with abstract things much more fundamental than colors and ragas in some sense: I see letters of the alphabet as well as numbers, as colored. I have always been very curious about this and among the handful of people I shared this with when I was growing up, no one seemed to experience anything similar. It was only a couple of years ago that I learned about synesthesia from this extremely insightful and engaging talk by V.S Ramachandran (and shamefully, I go to the very university he teaches at and I haven't had a chance to meet him yet). In brief, synesthesia is a neurological condition where multiple (usually two) senses/ perceptions get mixed up.

The correspondence (between the color and say, a raga) in my case seems to be completely random: there doesn't seem to be a pattern in the correlation between say, the frequency of a swara or the mood of a raga and the colors I associate with them respectively. Same goes with numbers and letters: I see no pattern (for instance, higher the number, darker the color). My initial suspicion was that this had its roots in the fact that I had colored plastic letters and numbers to play with when I was a kid; but now I doubt it, for I don't even seem to remember the colors of most of the pieces. But may be the colors, in their abstract, stuck on subconsciously and I lost the ability to actively recall what color each piece was. But even if all this began with my playing with these colored pieces of letters and numbers, how did it catch on to music as well? May be it's all linguistic after all? May be the color of a raga for me is the color I associate with the first letter of the name of the raga? For I see 'N' as orange, and Nalinakanthi is indeed orange too. But this cannot be the case: the foregoing example has to be a coincidence, for other ragas starting with N are not necessarily orange for me. In fact, I don't seem to always perceive ordinary words as colored (although letters are colored) and even when I do, the color seems to have little to do with the color I associate with not just the first, but any of the constituent letters (and similarly, the color of a raga seems to have little to do with the colors of the constituent swaras).

Two clarifications are in order. First, I think letters or numbers or ragas or whatever - produce a sensation of color only when they're "inside" and not "outside". I mean, when I look at a number or hear someone say a letter; or for that matter even hear someone sing a raga or a swara or sing it myself; I don't think the color sensation shows up. Or if it does, it certainly is not very strong. It is rather the thinking of these entities (for lack of a better word); that conjures up the colors for me. And second, it's extremely hard to put a name to each color I see! It's usually a haze and while I'm sure that I'm having a color sensation, I'm not sure what color it is. I think it's usually not even a well defined color (which is why the "ish-s" suffixed to names of all the colors I mentioned above)

I don't know if what I've described above is characteristic of synesthetes in general. May be I'm not synesthetic at all. One goal for this year is to go to a Cognitive Science lab and get a test done. How interesting that would be!

Sorry for the ramble. I've been wanting to write about this for so long now and finally, just dashed it off while in a restless mode :( Hope it all made at least some sense, and I'm very eager to hear your reactions.

Sanga thamizh kaviye

To me, sanga thamizh kaviye is a song in which KJY and Chitra epitomize the ultimate immaculateness of rendering classical based songs. Every nuance in every briga and every sangathi seems to have been ever so carefully sculpted and delicately put in place. Of course, maestro Ilaiyaraja's magic is seen through and through - in the choice of ragas (Abheri, Sriranjani, Sumanesaranjani), the structure of the interludes, the talam which seems to have a seamless gathibhedam, alternating between tishram and chaturshram; and so on. But I feel the rendition itself is so integral to the song that I wonder if it would have sounded as good if anyone else had sung it (and excuse my bias- can't help saying, "especially Chitra" :) ) Although not a big fan of the lyrics, I simply love this song for the music and the voices.
Here's my "unplugged" version of the song. I haven't ventured into trying any modifications or improvisations- I simply didn't want to. So here's a modest attempt of the textbook version.
Thanks for listening!

Song: sangaththamizh kaviye
Film: manadhil urudhi vendum
Music: Ilaiyaraja
Lyrics: Vaali
Singers: K.J.Yesudas; K.S. Chitra

Crazy Kiya Re

A break from my long drawn Carnatic/ Classical spell. Here's a racy bollywood number.

Not my usual kinda song choice, but thoroughly enjoyed singing it! Feedback would be much appreciated.

Song: Crazy Kiya Re
Movie: Dhoom 2
Music: Pritam
Singer: Sunidhi Chauhan

Wish list for my dream concert experience

I don't have a specific artist in mind; but I'd just LOVE to experience this dream (vocal/ instrumental) concert sometime. And I'm restricting myself here to the standard concert format- I could come up with other wish lists for other concert formats, but one's enough for now.

1. Maathe - Dharu Varnam - Khamas, Adi
2. Shankaram Abhirami - Kamalamanohari - Rupakam (swaram)
3. Ranjani Niranjani - Ranjani - Adi (ragam, swaram)
4. Chittam irangaadhenaiyya - Sahana - Khanda Chapu
5. Pirava varam thaarum - Latangi - Adi (ragam, neraval, swaram)
6. Niravatisukha - Ravichandrika - Adi
7. Inta sowkhya - Kapi - Adi (ragam, neraval, swaram)
8. RTP Nalinakanthi with swaras in Bahudhari, Hamsanadam, Valaji, Nattakurinji, Varamu, Behag.... you get the idea :P
9. Entha muddho - Bindumalini - Adi
10. Aliveni - Kurunji - Mishra Chapu
11. Thillana - Rageshri - Adi
12. Mangalam

Payaliya Jhankar

For a while now, I've been having what a friend rightly called "singer's block"- I simply haven't been able to sing. Not been practicing, abandoned music classes constantly feeling I don't have time for it, and worse, reinforcing in myself that I simply cannot do it. Grad school has indeed been exhausting, but I can't conscientiously convince myself that I don't have time to sing- it's rather just been a different avatar of plain procrastination I guess. I finally forced myself to resume music classes and it feels very rejuvenating! Anyway, all the ranting apart, here's a new song finally.

I first heard Payaliya Jhankaar, a popular "chota khayal" in Raag Puriya Dhanashri (Pantuvarali in Carnatic), when I was probably 6 or 7- sung by one of my cousins who was learning Hindustani. My sister and me used to love this song... And then after many years, there was the silken voice of Hariharan rendering a few lines of the song as a prelude to A.R.Rahman's "Hai Rama yeh kya hua"- what a magical piece of music that was! And then came Ajay Pohankar's very classy "indipop" version which has a natural "instant appeal" factor to it. I'd been wanting to cover his version for a long time but somehow never got around to doing it. It's here now; finally. Thanks to Vijay Narayanan for the vocal-cut track. (I had to then play around with the track to reduce the pitch, so it probably isn't as good as it could've been).

Song: Payaliya Jhankaar
Artist: Ajay Pohankar
Album: Piya Bavari Again
Covered by: Sindhuja Bhakthavatsalam




PS: Hope you like the new look of this blog! :)

Concert reviews/ discussions

Here are some reviews/ reports I've written at Rasikas- just thought I should post the links for the record:

Malladi Bros, Oct 2010

Shashank, April 2011

Ganesh-Kumaresh, April 2011

T.M. Krishna, May 2011

Sankari Krishnan, May 2011

R.K. Srikanthan and S. Ramakanth, March 2012

Carnatica Brothers, March 2012

O.S. Thyagarajan, March 2012

Suguna Varadachari, April 2012

Dr. Pantula Rama, September 2012

Sanjay Subrahmanyan, September 2012

Charumathi and Subhashri Ramachandran - Tribute to Pt. Ravi Shankar, March 2013

Malladi Brothers, March 2013

Neyveli Santhanagopalan, Nirmala Rajasekar, Geetha Bennet - Veena Trio, March 2013

GJR Krishnan, October 2013

Akkarai Sisters, October 2013

Sriranjani Santhanagopalan, September 2015

Aruna Sairam, Spetember 2015

Bombay Jayashri, October 2015

Ramakrishnan Murthy, November 2015

(The third on the list has generated some interesting discussions on instrumental music in Carnatic)

Feature on Sound Box

Thanks to Joseph Thomas (whom I'd like to refer to as the "father of Indian audioblogging" :) ), I along with a few other audiobloggers was featured in the March edition of the music trade magazine, Sound Box, in an article written by Jo on the Indian audioblogging culture. Here is a reproduction of it. Click on the images to enlarge.

My recording for Swaralahari

Here's the first of two parts of a recording I did for Swaralahari in October last year. With no experience before a camera, I was super duper nervous, to say the least- and it shows very well. I had decided against blogging about this, but then thought it should be here along with all my other musical endeavors- for the record. Hopefully there's a better next time!

http://www.swaralahari.org/site/playvideo.php?concertid=158

Celebrating GNB: (5) Santhathamu Ninne in Valaji

Ram writes...
------
I've been thinking for quite a while about what is unique about the song. Honestly, except for pointing out the 'Dvitiyakshara Prasam' I mentioned in earlier songs too, I couldn't come up with much. This is a typical Valaji. Of course, that doesn't mean this isn't a good composition. In fact, this is a great composition that completely relaxes a listener even before the pallavi is over. For all the GNB critics who think his music is nothing but speed, this composition is a fine example of his idea of melody. (And this point is reinforced by his other composition Mamakuleswaram in Thodi, a very slow piece)

There are two striking features in GNB's kriti rendition. One is Briga and the Other is Bigu. The two features are often juxtaposed one after another, creating a stunning effect. In the Pallavi of this Kriti, the 'Briga' at 'NinnE' and the cascasding 'Bigus' 'nIvEyani' is an example of this effect. I'm not sure if Sindhu's swarakshara usage at 'Ga dhA' in Anu Pallavi was conceived by GNB. It sounds fantastic and that is what matters. And I think 'Vanditha muni jana' is a wonderful place for neraval. If it is Valaji, I would any day swap the kalpana swarams for 'first speed' neraval.
--------

Song: santhathamu ninne
Ragam: Valaji
Thalam: Adi
Composer: GNB

Celebrating GNB: (4) Kamalacharane in Amritabehag

Here's the next in the ongoing GNB series.
-----
Ram writes...

The Amritabehag kriti, "Kamala Charane", is another example of GNB's genius. This raga, like Sivashakti is a creation of GNB. The twisted arohanam goes like, "Sa Ma Ga Pa Ni Da Sa" and the avarohanam is "Sa Ni Da Ma Ga Sa" and the raga is classified as a Janyam of 65th Melakartha, Mechakalyani.

According to hearsay, GNB conceived this raga inspired by some vakra/varja phrases in Kalyani played by the legendary Rajaratnam Pillai. I feel that could have been true only if Ragas were just scales with Swaras. Many ragas, especially ones like Kalyani are much more than a scale. While the scale certainly forms the skeleton of the raga, the life of a raga is much more than a scale. While we can say Amruta Behag is derived from the Kalyani scale for all practical purposes, it has nothing to do with the Kalyani Raga (lakshana). In fact, it seems to have some resemblance to amrutavarshini (which in turn has little to do with Kalyani).

The composition "Kamala CharanE" set in Madhyama Kala is often sung as a brisk filler before than main piece in a concert. There is a genre (or shall we say sub-genre) of songs that are suited for rendering at a high speed and are good vehicles for projecting the capabilities of voice. (It is interesting to note many such Adi-tala songs have an eduppu after 1.5 beats). It is needless to say "Kamala CharanE" is among them. The song is a joyous outburst with several sangatis. Some sangatis revolving around the dhaivatam are very moving too.

The beautifully coined chitta swarams helps the listener get a proper understanding of the characteristics of the raga.

GNB's family say this is one rare song in which GNB has left a Mudra. The name "Vimarsanananda" in the Charanam is apparently GNB's "Diksha name".

Sindhu has done justice to this wonderful composition by rendering at a liesurely pace. This speed, unlike the often heard break-neck speed, helps the listener appreciate the beauty of the raga better.

----
Read in Tamil here.

Song: kamalacharane
Ragam: Amritabehag
Thalam: Adi
Composer: GNB

Celebrating GNB: (3) Ni padame gathi in Nalinakanthi

Updated recording along with collaborators: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmZJ98nX75s

As Octaves turns four this month, I present one of my favorite ragas today- Nalinakanthi. After a hiatus (Ram just had a baby girl- yay!), we return to the GNB series, and I'll let Ram do most of the talking (or writing!), but would just like to reiterate that I'm grateful to all the visitors here who've kept this blog going. I've turned my focus largely to Carnatic over the last one year or so and I'm totally enjoying this phase. I'm deeply indebted to my guru for this and I hope I constantly get better at it.
September is a very eventful month in our family- dad's, sister's and nephew's birthdays, and sister's anniversary- so this goes out to all of them! :) Hope I've done some justice to this piece...

----------------------------
Ram writes...

The kriti 'Ni PadamE' is probably the most famous composition of GNB. An article by BVK Sastri, written in the 1950s mentions that this song along with 'Sada Palaya' was very popular even then.

Despite being a popular raga, there aren't many compositions in Nalinakanthi. During GNB's time 'Manivanala' was probably the only composition known in this raga. Later compositions of GNB and Lalgudi Jayaraman are welcome additions to this wonderful raga.

While Tyagaraja's composition oozes with exuberance and brings out the briskness with its 'duritha kala' sangathis, GNB's "Ni PadamE' is set in 'reNdu kettAn' kaalapramaNam and that in my opinion adds more 'rakthi' to the raga without compromising on the briskness. The 'eduppu' or the starting phrase too is significantly different from 'Manavinala'.

GNB has embellished several famous kritis with new sangatis that contain beautiful swaraksharams. One stunning example is 'sa ma ni ga ma ga sudha' in the kriti 'Samaja Varagamana'. While all the 'aksharams' are right in front of our eyes, I still wonder why it takes such geniuses like GNB and Balamurali to unearth such swarakshara gems, while an ordinary mortal just reads the line and at the most appreciates the saahithya bhava.

GNB's compositions too are adorned with beautiful swaraksharams. Like in the Mohanam (Sada Palaya) and Khamas (Pada Bhajana) compositions, in the Nalinakanthi composition too, the kriti begins with a wonderful swarakshara phrase in 'Ni Pa'. Another attribute that elevates the composition is the 'dvitiyakshara prasam'(explained earlier in this series). While in the Sivasakthi composition, the lines in the anu-pallavi and charanam are adorned with 'Dvitiyakshara prAsam', in this composition along with those two parts even the pallavi contains DvitiyAkshara prAsam.

While usage of such rhyming words is common, occurance for such 'prAsam' in all the lines of a composition is rare. The greatness of this composition is that, at no place we feel that the 'rhyming word' is a forced fit. Like Dikshitar, GNB too has interweaved the raga name beautifully into the composition.

Despite several innovations and embellishments, the composition structure remains fairly simple and sounds uncontrived. Which, by the way, is not a simple task to come up with. (I'm sure Sindhu will vouch for that).

While Sindhu has rendered the composition nicely, probably for the first time in this series, I felt the 'absence' of Mridangam accompaniement. Also, the choice of the line 'nA pApamu' for swaraprastaram doesn't gel with the mood of the ragam. In my opinion, the pleading 'bhava' of the lyrics contradicts the raga bhava of Nalinakanti.
--------------

Song: ni paadame gathi
Ragam: Nalinakanthi
Thalam: Rupakam
Composer: GNB

RIP Swarnalatha

It still isn't sinking in. Swarnalatha is not with us any more. One of the most expressive, mellifluous voices, I'm sure she's been an inspiration to lots and lots of aspiring singers like myself. What I adore about her is the impeccable note precision while at the same time being so expressive! A sonorous tinge to her voice makes it all the more attractive. At the risk of sounding cliched, I say with all my heart that she continues to live with us through her songs. It's indeed a strange feeling when artists leave us with their works behind them- it brings to us lessons about permanence and impermanence at the same time...

ennuLLE ennuLLE pala minnal Ezhum nEram... RIP Swarnalatha. You shall be sorely and deeply missed.

Celebrating GNB: (2) Varnam in Andholika

Here is our second in the GNB series started here last month.
--------------------------

Ram writes...

Andolika, a Karaharapriya janyam, has an asymmetric structure to its scale, despite having the same number of swarams in the arohanam and avarohanam. Tyagaraja's 'Raga Sudha Rasa' is the most famous composition in this raga. While Tyagaraja beautifully brings out the essence of the raga in the very first phrase of the kriti, GNB's varnam builds on it and showcases several new facets.

Before getting into a discussion on the varnam, a few lines about GNB and Andholika:

It is interesting to note that several of GNB's favourites belong to the Karaharapriya family. GNB has handled ragas like Abhogi, Jayamanohari, Reethigowlai, Andholika elaborately. However, he has hardly sung Karaharapriya.

The modern day Andolika is based on the framework conceived by GNB. (Although Sri. S.Rajam once told me that Andolika was among the favourites of the legendary Naina Pillai and Muthiah Bhagavathar). On GNB's 81st birthday, Sri. T.M.Tyagarajan spoke at a function at Indian Fine Arts Society, Chennai; about GNB's first concert in Thanjavur. GNB was yet to establish himself at Thanjavur, the (then) Mecca of Carnatic Music. His appearance in movies had hampered his reputation as a Carnatic musician. While the Thanjavur audience were sceptical about the 'Talkie Vidwan', GNB launched into an alapanai in Andolika. Even as the experts were trying to identify the raga, GNB had delved into the depths of the raga through his brilliant brikas. (TMT's recount left such a deep impact on my mind that I used the same as the opening chapter of my book on GNB)

Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan was so impressed with GNB's delineation of Andolika that he started singing them in his concerts too. (While GNB started singing Gavathi due to the Ustad's influence. He even composed a varnam in Gavathi.)

Onto this varnam: There is a popular notion that Varnams are practice pieces - widely used for warming up. While it is true in the case of some elementary varnams, in many cases they turn out to be a brilliant medium to project both the composer's as well as the performer's innovative musical ideas. I would even go to the extent of saying that the Bhairavi varnam and the Nattakurunji varnam are each the most beautiful piece in the respective ragas. Such varnams give us deep insight into the various facets of the raga. One can also add this particular varnam in Andholika (along with the GNB varnams in Kadanakuthuhalam and Gavathi)- which is probably the most popular among the GNB varnams- to this list. While his other varnams are predominantly sung by the GNB school singers, this varnam is widely performed by musicians of other schools too. In my opinion, Sri. DK Jayaraman's rendition of this varnam is the best.

This brisk Adi Tala varnam is on GNB's Ishta Devatha 'Nadarupasundari'. Musicologist SAK Durga notes that, "The term 'Nadarupasundari' is very unique. Usually 'Naada Rupam' is associated with Lord Shiva. Tyagaraja says, "Nada Thanum anisham shankaram". GNB was probably the first person to concieve Shakthi as "Nadarupini".

Several interesting patterns can be noticed in the chitta-swarams of the varnam. Various porthams such as,

Ri Ma Pa Nadarupa
Ma Pa Ni Sa Nadarupa
Ri Ma Ri Sa Nadarupa

reflect GNB's style of singing Kalpanaswarams.

The phrase without Sa and Pa in the third chittaswaram (ririma niniri mamani ririma niririma) is rendered almost completely without gamakams. Such prayogams are truly ahead of his times. One can find such usages today in ragas like Madhyamavathi too.

Although GNB does not indulge in complex arithmetics, he uses several interesting patterns. One example would be the Gopucha Yati in the fourth Chitta Swaram (sanidhamari nidhamari dhamari mari..)

While Sindhuja does justice to this composition through her rendition, the listener is invariably left longing for more. GNB, when rendering varnams, usually compliments the chittaswarams with a few brisk rounds of kalpana swarams. Probably a few rounds of spontaneous swarams from Sindhuja would have served as the icing on the cake :-)

Lalitha Ram

-----------------------------

Song: nee dayaradha (thana varnam)
Ragam: Andholika (S R2 M1 P N2 S, S N2 D2 M1 R2 S)
Thalam: Adi
Composer: GNB



Sahithyam:-
Pallavi: nee dayaradha neerajaakshi naa taramerigi nanneluko
Anupallavi: kadhamba dhaNda sumachara paashaankusha, sitaamsu kalaadhariNi
Charanam: naadaroopasundari naaraayaNi

As always, feedback most welcome. We hope you continue to support our efforts in this series.

Celebrating GNB: (1) Sri chakra raja in Shivashakthi

As many of you would know, this year is being celebrated world over as G.N.Balasubramanyam's birth centenary year (He was born on Jan 6 1910). As a contribution to the celebrations, I wanted to do my own small bit in dedicating this year to GNB. Towards this effort is a GNB series on my blog starting today. I intend to sing some of his famous compositions once every 2-3 weeks and upload here. And I want to thank here my guru Smt. Lakshmi Raghavan (who belongs to the GNB school and was a student of Charumathi Ramachandran) who taught me all these songs.

I'm collaborating in this effort with a long time friend, Lalitha Ram (Ramachandran Mahadevan), the author of a popular Tamil book on GNB "isaiulaga iLavarasar" and GNB scholar. Ram also contributed extensively with research inputs to the making of a documentary and co-edited a commemorative volume on GNB (which was also featured this year at the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana), both released for this centenary year.
In this series we plan to have a short write up by Ram about each song I present. Thanks to him, this series will also be parallely featured in the tamil e-zine, tamiloviyam.com. This being the very first in the series, Ram has for us a brief introduction to GNB's compositions, followed by the write up on the song.
I hope you enjoy the series and support our efforts till the end.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Ram writes...

First, I congratulate Sindhuja for coming up with this fitting tribute to GNB on his centenary year. I would also like to thank her for letting me be a part of it.

GNB's compositions - a brief introduction
GNB belongs to the elite list of top notch musicians who were composers too. Like GNB's concerts, his compositions too are amalgamations of intellect and aesthetics. Prof. Sambamurti writes, "His vast experience on the concert platform and his knowledge of the likes and dislikes of concert goers have provided a useful background for the shape of the compositions". It is usually thought that too much of an intellectual approach can kill the aesthetics. Highly technical attempts often sound contrived. GNB incorporated several technical aspects in his compositions like the swaraksharams, complex chittaswarams, unconventional eduppus, new musical scales etc. Yet, all his compositions sound pleasing and graceful.

To quote GNB, "Whenever I was in a contemplative mood, I used to get visions of musical forms. I desired to give them a permanent form by shaping them into kirtanas. But thereafter, I did not give them a second look. I left it to my disciples to make the best use of them." Although, GNB didn't give them a second look (S.Rajam termed GNB's decision to not sing his compositions as a great 'Sangita drOgam'), some of his compositions gained immense popularity even in his life time, thanks to his disciples TR Balasubramniyam and ML Vasanthakumari.

There are several references that mention that GNB composed more than 250 pieces. In a letter to 'Sudesa Mitran', written in 1948, GNB mentions that he composed more than 50 songs. MLV, in an interview, mentions that majority of his compositions were composed in the 1950s. In his foreword to Gana Baskara Manimalai (the first volume of GNB compositions), Mysore Vasudevacharya says, "GNB has composed hundreds of songs in praise of Rajarajeswari". The first volume, Gana Baskara Mani Malai, was published in 1956. Subsequently, two more volumes have been published in 1971 and 2005. In all, 7 varnams, 72 kritis and 1 thillana are available with complete notation. While we have lost more than 50% of his compositions, the available ones suffice to convey to us GNB's genius.

Many of GNB's compositions are in ragas that do not boast of a large number of kritis (for. example in Raga Kadanakuthuhalam, the only famous kriti is 'Raghuvamsa Sudha'. The structure of the Patnam Subramaniya Iyer composition is more suited for portraying an instrumentalist's virtuosity. On the other hand, GNB's two compositions in the raga (along with Muthiah Bagavathar's 'Giripriyam') bring out the melody in an aesthetic way. Malavi, Chenchu Kambodhi, Narayani, Veenadhari, Saranga Tarangini are other ragas that belong to this category.) The chittaswarams, especially in the rare ragas are of great use in understanding the essence of such ragams. Some of them have interesting swara patterns (for e.g. dAtu prayogam) and laya patterns (for. e.g. Gopucha Yati). Even his kritis in ragas that have a large number of composition (e.g. thodi) his usages are unique (e.g. G G RS eduppu in thodi for Mamakuleswaram or the eduppu at tAra shadjam for bahudari in the kriti 'unnadiyE').
GNB has composed in Tamil, Telugu and Sanskrit. In an article, GNB writes, "Dikshitar's kritis are detached, impersonal descriptions and sthotras of the hindu pantheon while those of Tyagaraja are records of his personal and emotional experience of God". One finds both approaches in GNB's compositions - although one cannot be sure if the compositions written in 'first person' do actually reflect GNB's personal experience. More than the lyrical content, GNB's compositions are known for their musical beauty.

While majority of the kritis are set Adi or Rupaka tala, some kritis are set in talas like Misra Jampa and Kanda Triputa. Many of the compositions are simple in structure reflecting the composing style of Tyagaraja. Some compositions have madhyama kala sahithyam and inter-weaving of raga mudra like that of a Dikshitar composition. The other musician-composer who was of great inspiration to GNB was Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavathar. Muthiah Bhagavathar was one of the few composers to have come up with new ragas. GNB followed his foot steps in creating new ragas viz. Sivasakthi and Amruta Behag. Although many of his compositions reflect his singing style, it must be noted that his songs are sung widely by musicians belonging to other schools (e.g. OST, N.Ramani, Sowmya, TNS) too. It is said that GNB did not have any mudra in his compositions. (His family says 'vimarsana nanda' in the kriti 'Kamala CharanE' is said to be his 'Diksha Namam'). On a keener look, as beautifully pointed out in a seminar by musicologist SAK Durga, one will realise that the entire composition is his mudra. His compositions stand out unique and do not require a 'verbal mudra' for identification.

Srichakraraja nilaye

With the above general introduction to GNB's compositions, let us take a deeper look at the first composition featured in this series.
Sivasakthi, a GNB creation, is a janya raga of Karaharapriya. The scale is interesting as it is not traditional. Traditional ragas would compulsorily have at least five swaras in the arohanam and avarohanam. Siva Sakthi has just four swaras, 'Sa Ga Ma and Dha' in the arOhanam and has 'Ni' in addition to the aforementioned swarams. When Balamuralikrishna came up with ragas like Mahathi, there were several criticisms for not following the 'five swara' principle. It is interesting to note that GNB didn't face any such criticism. The reason is probably the way he dealt with the raga. Upon listening to the composition, it is difficult to associate the raga with an unconventional or non-traditional scale- the raga is easy on the ears and sounds perfectly "natural".
Veena Maestro S.Balachander once described the concept behind the scale: the 9 swaras (four in the arohanam and five the avarohanam) depict the nine faces of the 'Sri chakram' (widely used in Devi upasana). Of the nine faces, four represent Siva and five represent his female counterpart Shakthi. Appropriately the arOhanam has four swarams representing the faces of siva and the avarOhanam has five faces representing shakthi's five faces. The phrases, 'Sri chakra Raja nilayE' and 'Sivashakthi aikya rUpini' are consistent with the above described concept.

Although a madhyama kala composition, I've heard this song being sung as a filler between two heavy pieces. The composition, especially in the anupallavi has ample scope for duritha kala sangatis. I've also heard this composition rendered in a elaborate manner. The moving 'hindholam-ish' phrases in the pUrvagam and the more ebullient 'abhogi-ish' phrases on the utrAngam makes this raga (and varamu, a close cousin) a unique blend of swaras.

Another notable feature in this kriti is the 'dvitIyAkshara prAsam' , i.e. is the rhyming syllable on the second letter. (e.g. Ethavunara and Seetha gowri in Tyagaraja's kalyani kriti). Each of the lines in anu-pallavi and charanam are adorned with 'dvitIyAkshara prAsam'. According to Prof. TRS says, "It is uncommon to find a composer using 'dvitIyAkshara prAsam' on all lines of a compositions. In the case of GNB, it is a regular feature".

This song was a part of the popular gramaphone record of MLV, 'Guru Vandanam' , and is now regularly sung by Sudha Ragunathan. GNB has composed one more composition in this ragam, 'Vinuthapalini". Hopefully, in the coming years, this composition too will attain the popularity level of 'Sri Chakra Raja".

Lalitha Ram

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Here's the song. Tried an aalapana, followed by the song and then some swaras. As always, feedback much appreciated!

Song: Sri chakra raja nilaye
Raga: Shivashakthi (S G2 M1 D2 S; S N2 D2 M1 G2 S)
Thalam: Adi
Composer: GNB



Profuse apologies for some mistakes in the lyrics. I will definitely be more careful in future. Below are the *correct* lyrics:

Pallavi: sri chakra raja nilaye shivashakthi aikya rUpiNi

Anupallavi: pAshAnkusha bANEkshudhaNda bEsakalAdhari pAhi pAhi

Charanam: asurakula nAshini sreesha kEshava sahajAmini
IshaguNa gAnathOshini kOshAnthara sthithapOshini

Reflection....

I recently came to a realization- it seems to me like I'm not an artiste in the true sense of the word at all. Here's why: I think a key characteristic for an artiste is to be spontaneous. And I'm the least spontaneous person with respect to almost everything. I don't talk spontaneously, I don't write spontaneously and I don't SING spontaneously. I don't do anything on impulse. Everything needs to be reasoned and planned out. I never surprise myself or anyone around me. When I think about it, it's such an irony that I'm into as spontaneous an art as music. I sat down to think one day, why I love composing Carnatic songs. And it dawned on me that that has to do with my lack of spontaneity as well! May be if I were a natural talent, I would tend to do alaapanais with ease and rattle away kalpana swaras. Why compose? Coz it involves careful thought, construction and coming up with a concrete form. It's so much easier than doing an aalaapanai or singing swaras.... for the simple reason that it doesn't require spontaneity and is not extempore!

I've always firmly believed that with singing, Carnatic is much tougher than film songs, but with composing, it's exactly the other way round. Why? coz true singing in Carnatic involves manodharma- or imagination (in the form of aalaapanai, neraval, swaram etc), and if you want to be good, it better not be "pre-meditated imagination"! And composing Carnatic I believe is easy since SO much of it comes ready made in the form of ragas. So if you pick a raga in which to compose, it has its standard usages and nuances and you just go with the flow. There are boundaries. There are rules. And with limited pieces to move around in the game, its not too hard to come up with a standard classical composition. (There's at least a small challenge only if you pick rare ragas, but that's not all too tough either) Where as with "filmi" songs, a whole new range of possibilites arise. Chords. Harmonies. Overlays. Variety of instruments. There's lesser rules, so it's that much tougher to produce a good piece with not much to follow.

Anyway, coming back to me- if art means spontaneity, then I must admit I'm hardly an artiste. I'm so regimented in my thoughts... Sometimes, the thought that I'm fundamentally wired this way scares me. But many times, I feel good as well. I find immense pleasure in analyzing a piece of music philosophically. So if this is what is "natural" to me, then is this art as well? I don't know.

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.

innum ennai - Singaravelan

If I were asked to use the word "grand" for any one Tamil film song, it would be for this one. True to the name of the raga of this song - Gambheera Nattai - that's what this song is: majestic. Of course, what else can we expect when all the pillars of Tamil film music come together - the maestro, SPB and S. Janaki...
One song whose prelude alone can give goosebumps, one song which is such a magnificent combination of intelligence and aesthetics, one song I can never tire listening to.

(If there's something I don't like about this song, its probably the lyrics and the visuals - but the music more than makes up for both of these!)

I've collaborated on this song - for the first time - with Vivek Mahadevan. I think he's done a beautiful job of this! It was a pleasure working with him. And as many of you may know, he's getting married very soon! So Vivek, here's wishing you and your wife-to-be a very happy married life and the best of everything! :)

A little about the mix: the k-track is something I created by a simple voice-removal from the original and I was pleasantly surprised to hear the result - I thought it wasn't bad at all, for a voice-cut track! However, it can never equal a properly made karaoke in quality, and that in turn has a bearing on the effects we use for the voices as well, so as to make them blend with the track. Vivek and me have tried our best in making this sound reasonably good. Let us know what you thought!

Song: innum ennai enna seyya pogiraai
Film: Singaravelan
Music: Ilaiyaraja
Lyrics: Vali
Singers: SPB, S. Janaki

Download here.