India has a rich wealth of music, and in the few decades or so, Indian music is appreciated in the West too (part of the credit also goes to Sitar Maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar for that).
Indian music (and of the entire Indian subcontinent) can be divided into two major styles of classical music (music is known as sangeet): Hindustani music of Northern India (known to the western world) and Carnatic (Karnatik) music of Southern India.
Popular Indian musical instruments include Sitar, Sarod, Veena, Tanpura, Tabla, Harmonium, Mandolin, Flute, Violin, (violin used in Indian classical music is similar to the one used in Western classical music)
Pandit Ravi Shankar at Birmingham UK, As Part of Independence Day Celebrations
Watch Pandit Ravi Shankar performing at Birmingham UK, alongside his daughter, Anoushka, as part of India’s Independence Day Celebrations in the UK.
Things to watch out for:
- Of course, Panditji’s energy, which is in full flow even at the age of 90, which is nothing sort of amazing.
- Father & Daughter’s love for music and the sitar
Ravi Shankar & Daughter Anoushka on the Sitar
Watch sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar & his daughter Anoushka shankar on the sitar. This is not a debate as to who’s better.
Just enjoy the video. Ravi Shankar is approximately 90 years old when this video was made.
I’m sure if a DVD were to be made of this beautifully filmed and narrated lesson, many would just flock to buy it. Pandit Ravi shankar’s music will definitely inspire several generations to come, and he demonstrated that music truly has no boundaries.
Watch Anoushka Shankar & Norah Jones in ‘Traces Of You’
Watch Anoushka Shankar & Norah Jones in ‘Traces Of You’, one of the most beautiful melodies that you may have heard.
Anoushka & Norah rock in this video, and I guess this is what to expect when Western music is blended with music from another culture.
Apart from his work, Pandit Ravi shankar, left other musical gems as his two daughters, Norah and Anoushka, both are talented daughters of this renowned musician.
Also Read: Harmonium keyboard instrument guide
Young Carnatic musicians embrace technology, use ipad, keytar, seaboard for music
Young Carnatic musicians are embracing technology like never before. Many are now using gadgets like ipad, keytar, seaboard to help give better/unique touch to Carnatic music.
Young Carnatic musicians are composing instrumental versions of hymns – but are using sounds that are, quite literally, unheard of in Carnatic music *usually dominated by vocals, violin and mridangam- percussion instrument).
Carnatic music (or Karnaṭak music) is a style of music, commonly associated with South India. Classical music in other parts of India is called Hindustani classical). Chennai, one of the major cities in South India is where Oscar winning composer A.R. Rahman lives.
Musician Sathya
“It has a very good feel, and although it looks like a keyboard, it is not like one. It is as difficult as learning a new instrument. Just by changing the degree of pressure on a single key, the tone of the sound changes. You have to really feel the instrument and get immersed in it. It’s all about microtonals,” says Musician Sathya who used the ROLI’s Seaboard for many of his songs.
Sathya now regularly uses the Seaboard at a public concert. Ever since he was six, Sathya had been playing Carnatic concerts on the keyboard. “Back then, many of the very orthodox sabhas did not even know what a keyboard was. We had to describe it as a harmonium that ran on electricity.”
Introduction of controls like the Pitch Bend made life easier for Sathya as he could incorporate the demands of Carnatic music, with all its variation.
If you are able to produce 90-95% of all the gamakas (embellishing tones) in Carnatic music using an electronic instrument, it stands a good chance of being applicable to carnatic music. If it can only produce 50-60%, then it may not last long.
AS Ram
AS Ram was the first to perform Carnatic concerts with the Keytar – a keyboard instrument that looks like a guitar.
The musician says that the Keytar’s touch controller was more effective in rendering Carnatic improvisations than the keyboard’s pitch-bender.
With one hand on the keys and the other sliding over the controller, the Keytar produces a distinct, mandolin-like tone. Unlike the keyboard, it can bring a mild vibrato-like sound while holding a single, straight note.
Navneeth Sundar
Keyboardist Navneeth Sundar introduced the iPad into the Carnatic music scene. He likes the ‘Animoog; music app by Moog Music the best.
“When I tried playing on it, the sound reminded me of Carnatic sangathis (improvisations), so I decided to use this device”.
Sundar’s renditions of various kritis (song format) and ragas on the iPad is garnering lot of attention on the internet. Celebrity music composer AR Rahman even shared one of his videos, where Sundar is using the iPad for Carnatic music.
If an instrument can bring out the Carnatic essence – the raga, rasa and anubhava, then we can experiment with it to explore new dimensions.
Watch: Sundar plays Desh Thillana, composed by legendary violinist Lalgudi Jayaram, on the iPad.
However, these are only a few instances where musicians have used electronic gadgets to the Carnatic music world. Some feel it will take some time for gadgets like Seaboard or the iPad to be accepted in mainstream Carnatic music, as purists need to be convinced. Seaboard and the iPad are in experimentation phases and haven’t been accepted yet as performance instruments.
However, the fact is that the change has begun and eventually these gadgets will see widespread usein Carnatic music.
History of Indian Classical Music
The first great musician to come to light in the West was Rabindranath Tagore from Bengal. His poems were championed by such luminaries as Ezra Pound and W.B Yeats, and earned him the Nobel Prize in 1913. Over two thousand of these poems were put to music, and their haunting melodies remain sung to this day by both the educated and illiterate classes all over India. Kazi Nazrul Islam was another great singer to come out of Bengal; and wrote many songs expressing his appreciation for bot the Hindu and Muslim religions. The singer Dilip Kumar Roy was known as ‘the golden voice’ and legend has it that wherever he went, people would stop the trains he was travelling on to hear him sing. He travelled all over India collecting music from all the great teachers. In recent times, the composer Sri Chinmoy has written over thirteen thousand songs in his native Bengali, and regularly holds concerts all over the west playing his compositions on a variety of instruments.
The instrumental music of India has been more widely received in the West than its vocal music. In the early part of the 20th century, the Sufi master Hazrat Inayat Khan came to the West as an exponent of spiritual music. Nowadays, the most famous name in Indian music is of course that of legendary sitar player Ravi Shankar. His association with George Harrison in the 1960’s brought Indian music to a whole new audience. Many other Indian instrumentalists have come to prominence since the 1960’s, including Ali Ustad Khan on sarangi, Zakir Hussain on tabla and Nikhil Bannerjee on sitar.
The author enjoys recreationally singing the songs of Rabindranath Tagore and Sri Chinmoy
KeytarHQ editorial team includes musicians who write and review products for pianists, keyboardists, guitarists & other musicians. KeytarHQ is the best online resource for information on keyboards, pianos, synths, keytars, guitars and music gear for musicians of all abilities, ages and interests.
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