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Thread: Indian Classical Music, anyone?

  1. #1
    Member wideopenears's Avatar
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    Indian Classical Music, anyone?

    I know Walt's gonna hit this thread, but wonder if anyone else out there is into Indian Classical music, either North (Hindustani) or South (Carnatic) or both.

    I spent a few years literally listening to only Indian classical stuff, back in the mid 1990's. I have a bunch of recordings from the Nimbus and Raga labels, as well as a bunch of Ravi Shankar stuff. My favorite musicians are Nikhil Banerjee and Zia M. Dagar, on Sitar and rudra vina, respectively. I like the South Indian stuff, too, but have woefully little of it in my collection.

    I also studied it for a bit, though with no real comprehension of the whole thing...it's a completely different system, for sure. I own a sitar, and fiddle around a bit....had one quick lesson with a teacher, so I know roughly how to strike the strings and finger stuff, but.....

    Anyone else out there into rags, Dhrupad, and the like?

  2. #2
    Member helicase's Avatar
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    I do listen to it occasionally when I stumble on something on the web, but I don't have anything in my collection. I wouldn't know where to start to be honest. I'm having trouble enough finding my way in western classical music

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    Progga mogrooves's Avatar
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    I'm partial to the improvisatory North....
    Hell, they ain't even old-timey ! - Homer Stokes

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    Boo! walt's Avatar
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    Indian classical music has been a revelation to me.Indian music is,(to oversimplify for purposes of brevity),melody over a drone.Melody and rhythm are in the foreground, harmony, counterpoint and modulation take a back seat(unlike Western classical music).

    Like many people who start to delve into Indian music, i started with the most recognizable figure, Ravi Shankar.After listening to a few of Ravi's cds, i wanted to hear another sitar player;a cursory amount of research lead me to Nikhil Banerjee, now,probably my favorite sitar player.After Banerjee, i wanted to hear other sitar players, and so on etc.
    Same deal with sarod,sarangi,bansuri(bamboo flute),violin and other instruments(shenai,tabla tarang,vichitra veena,rudra veena...) etc. associated with Hindustani(Northern Indian) music.

    It's only over the last couple of years that i've started to more or less seriously dip my toe into Carnatic music,as more cds of Carnatic music become available.Players such as violinists Lalgudi Jayaraman, Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan and T.N. Krishnan;Bansuri players T.R.Mahalingam and T.Viswanathan,and others.

    So much can be said about this music,there's no shortage of online analysis and insight into the music and the culture that gave it birth and nourished it over more than a thousand years.

    So much remains to be heard(by me). I've barely scratched the surface.
    Last edited by walt; 02-28-2013 at 07:51 AM.
    "please do not understand me too quickly"-andre gide

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    Boo! walt's Avatar
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    Too bad Rama(Son of Nothing) isn't around to contribute to this thread.He lives in India(Bangalore ,i believe), and has hipped me to a few Carnatic musicians.Nice guy, too.
    "please do not understand me too quickly"-andre gide

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    ItalProgRules's Avatar
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    There used to be a local act doing sort of Indian Prog-classical-fusion, called Purnima.

    I know the guys own a recording studio and work on all kinds of cool projects that I should be checking out and never do, but I don't think they record under that name anymore.

    I bought a CD by them (probably their only one) for one dollar in a bargain bin, years ago. Great purchase, I really like it.

    This is a genre I need to look into more thoroughly...
    High Vibration Go On - R.I.P. Chris Squire

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    KrimsonCat MissKittysMom's Avatar
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    I can't say that I know much of anything about the genre, but after watching an interview with her on the net, I picked up "Traveller" by Anoushka Shankar (Ravi's daughter). It's a fusion of traditional Indian with flamenco, and works amazingly well. Highly recommended.
    I think the subtext is rapidly becoming text.

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by walt View Post
    Too bad Rama(Son of Nothing) isn't around to contribute to this thread.He lives in India(Bangalore ,i believe), and has hipped me to a few Carnatic musicians.Nice guy, too.
    Now come to think of it we used to have also an Indian lady on PE2, forgot her name, that used to be fairly active contributor particuarly to the generic topic threads. Whatever hapen to her?

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    Member wideopenears's Avatar
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    Anoushka Shanker is the bomb. In many ways.

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    Member Zeuhlmate's Avatar
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    Member Gizmotron's Avatar
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    Absolutely!
    I was exposed to traditional Thai music as a lad and so I enjoy most Asian and Indonesian music forms.
    I have seen Ravi, Anoushka, and many, many less-known Indian players.

    (I enjoy fusions too...Shakti is one of my favorites)

  12. #12
    Member Zeuhlmate's Avatar
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    I like it a lot, went to see Debashish Bhattacharya (slideguitar) a few years ago !


  13. #13
    Ali Akbar Khan's Connoisseur recordings re-issued on Ammp Records. It's called the Signature Series. That's the ticket!

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    Member Gizmotron's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Zeuhlmate View Post
    I like it a lot, went to see Debashish Bhattacharya (slideguitar) a few years ago !

    I bet it was a great show. I look forward to watching this.

    I did see Vishwa Mohan Bhatt about 9 years ago. Stunningly good.

  15. #15
    Member Zeuhlmate's Avatar
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    One of the best concerts I have attended EVER was with (late) Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Not indian, but close enough.
    Mesmerizing and with the Intensity as Magma !

  16. #16
    Boo! walt's Avatar
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    A master of Hindustani(and Carnatic) violin.Dr.N. Rajam.

    "please do not understand me too quickly"-andre gide

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    I have about 15 or 20 albums. I've owned a lot more, but I gradually found great albums that outshone good albums, that outshone fair albums, just like any genre that I like enough to have a good representation.

  18. #18
    Boo! walt's Avatar
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    A few weeks ago i read about a musician/instrument maker in England who developed and built what he calls a "Fluid Piano".This piano can be tuned to microtonal scales and can adjust the tones on individual notes as the player wishes.Many kinds of music, especially Indian classical music, have almost no works on the Western, equal tempered piano.This new Fluid Piano,apparently, can bend and smear notes almost like a string instrument.The bending and smearing(meend) of notes is a fixture of Indian classical vocal and instrumental music.

    A couple of years ago i bought a cd by a young Indian pianist named Utsav Lal, who recorded a raga on a standard tuned Western piano.At the same time i read about this Fluid Piano, i read that Utsav Lal would be recording on this new instrument for the first time.I bought the cd.I recommend it to any/all fans of Indian music.

    I post a clip of Utsav Lal playing a raga on the Fluid Piano, and a clip about the piano itself.



    "please do not understand me too quickly"-andre gide

  19. #19
    Member Zeuhlmate's Avatar
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    ^^^ Interesting !
    The sound though is a bit strange to these ears

  20. #20
    Member Gizmotron's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by walt View Post
    A few weeks ago i read about a musician/instrument maker in England who developed and built what he calls a "Fluid Piano".This piano can be tuned to microtonal scales and can adjust the tones on individual notes as the player wishes.Many kinds of music, especially Indian classical music, have almost no works on the Western, equal tempered piano.This new Fluid Piano,apparently, can bend and smear notes almost like a string instrument.The bending and smearing(meend) of notes is a fixture of Indian classical vocal and instrumental music.

    A couple of years ago i bought a cd by a young Indian pianist named Utsav Lal, who recorded a raga on a standard tuned Western piano.At the same time i read about this Fluid Piano, i read that Utsav Lal would be recording on this new instrument for the first time.I bought the cd.I recommend it to any/all fans of Indian music.

    I post a clip of Utsav Lal playing a raga on the Fluid Piano, and a clip about the piano itself.



    Brilliant!
    It is about time!

  21. #21
    Member wideopenears's Avatar
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    That is really freakin' cool.


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  22. #22
    Progga mogrooves's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gizmotron View Post
    traditional Thai music ..... most Asian and Indonesian music forms.
    Yes, Thai piphat, Japanese gagaku, Balinese gamelan (particularly kebyar, the bebop of gamelan), Burmese hsaing waing, and Cambodian pinn peat. All good stuff
    Hell, they ain't even old-timey ! - Homer Stokes

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