He has been in the business of making wonderful music for over 15 years now, first as part of Instant Karma, and then as part of the legendary Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, even earning a national award for best composer in the process. We proudly present to you our interview of guitarist-composer Ehsaan Noorani, where he speaks of his musical journey.

Let us start at the beginning. So when did you pick up the guitar for the first time? I remember hearing once about rapper Ravi “Rags” Khote being your school senior, you jamming with him in school et al.

I got interested in guitar while at school towards the 8th or 9th grade Rags was in the school band and the guitar was a common meeting ground for us . we sit and discuss guitar and music in general
Your first step to a collaborative effort was the formation of Instant Karma with Loy. Could you tell a bit about that? About how you hit upon the idea of coming out with remixes, a concept pretty much unheard of at that time?

Well Bally Sagoo had done the first Bollywood flashback or whatever it was called, Farhad Wadia thought that re-recording these songs and making new versions of them would be interesting, sort of bringing the songs to the 90′s . The Dance Masti albums were not re mixes so to say but were new contemporary versions of the songs.
Would it be right to say that Instant Karma sort of led to the formation of SEL, considering among the singers you employed in your Dance Masti album the most popular was Shankar Mahadevan with his classic Saamne Yeh Kaun Aaya?

Well Mukul Anand’s Dus was already recorded before the 1st Dance Masti album released so it has nothing to do with SEL. But yes we were all working together and Shankar was the first choice.

How do you go about composing a song? Curious to know, given that there are three minds from diverse backgrounds at work, trying to converge upon a tune. And do you have a regular percussionist on-board? Given Shankar Mahadevan is an established percussionist as well, does he do percussions too, at least once a while?

We sit and jam and come up with ideas it is an interesting exchange of musical ideas and a learning experience for the 3 of us everytime we sit to compose a song . We use percussionists as and when required and do not have any fixed percussionist so to say. Shankar’s sense of rhythm makes him adept on percussion but he is not a professional percussionist so to say.

Your music for Rock On primarily followed a riff-based classic rock template. Have heard that you were part of a rock band while in the US. Did Magik’s music in any manner echo your rock band days?

Well the story of Rock On would reflect on any musician’s life especially if you played rock n roll or in a band, some are lucky to make it a career others have to give up on it due to external pressures.
The Indian rock scene is currently burgeoning, with a lot of new singers coming out with bands of their own, some even going on to make it really big. A process that I would say was helped on its way by Rock On too. Your thoughts? Have you noticed any promising bands?

The Indian rock scene is developing in a big way irrespective of Rock On. But yes, the film did encourage a lot of kids to take up an instrument and that is a good sign. There are some good bands like Avial , Taksha , Motherjane , Them Clones etc.
Continuing on the above note, I remember reading on Milliblog some time back about your plans to start something called “SEL Sounds” to promote new talent in the country. Is the plan still on?

Well SEL Songs does exist we need to get it rolling soon.

Shankar Mahadevan is pretty active on the fusion scene, with Remember Shakti, Mynta etc. Even Loy was part of the fusion ensemble called Shraddha alongside Shankar, Mandolin Srinivas and Sivamani. Are you engaged in any such group outside of SEL? And have you considered revisiting the private album scene as SEL?

We have a band called Faces in The Dark which is a bluesy funk band and have recently formed a band called ” Fuzzy Duck ” which is a blues rock band . Well the non-film album with SEL will happen when it is fated to
What kind of music did you grow up listening to? Who were your child hood idols? Did they endure the test of times?

I grew up listening to primarily Hindi Music on the radio . My father listened to a lot of Latin music like Los Parguayos and instrumental stuff like Mantovani and Paul Mauriat . I later heard the Ventures and The Shadows . Then I was exposed to lot of music my sister would listen to like Santana , The Beatles , Carpenters , Abba etc Then of course Deep Purple got me into rock and then I progressed in music listening choices from rock to blues to fusion etc.
How much of the guitar portion of SEL’s music do you handle? The playing part I mean.

I do all the guitar parts for SEL except like in an upcoming film some Spanish and Bossa style guitar was required which is not really my style so we hired some guitarists to play that .
We have heard that you are into collecting guitars. Can you tell us more about this hobby?

Well it is a hobby that enhances my profession I have a bunch of guitars and am the brand ambassador for Fender guitars for India. My signature model Fender will be launching soon.
And finally, what music would we find in your ipod?

Ah am currently listening to Kings of Leon , Robben Ford , Michael Landau , John Mayer and then there is tons of stuff which is on the ipod but will fill up an entire page !!!!

Oscar-winning composer A R Rahman launched the official Commonwealth 2010 Theme Song Swagatham yesterday at a ceremony in Gurgaon. The song has been sung by ARR himself, and at the launch ceremony too ARR sung it to the audience. Sure the song is marked by signature innovative orchestral elements from ARR, starting with the harmonic a cappella-esque start suddenly graduating into the rock song punctuated with Punjabi elements. But when taken as an anthem, Swagatham is missing something somewhere. For an event being hosted by India for the first time, the song doesn’t sound as special as it should. Plus the lyrics don’t seem that appealing either. The arrangement would of course delight any fan, yours truly included, and this song shall form a part of my playlist for days to come, but if I were to make a list of the best anthem/theme songs of ARR, this might not feature in it. And for an event as big as CWG I was sort of expecting to hear a classic from the maestro.
You can listen to the song online here or here. No credits for singers or lyricist are out yet, and I could make out just Rahman and Blaaze on vocals.

Seems like there is lot of legal downloadable free music around. Thermal and a Quarter, the Bangalore based rock outfit is offering one of it’s singles, “Grab me” for free for fans. All you got to do is go to their site and follow the instructions. So grab it, before they take it off.
The song is slightly reminiscent of Pink Floyd, but that isn’t a bad thing at all
Between if you didn’t know, Thermal and a Quarter’s name is derived from the fact that the initial line-up consisted of 3 Malayalis and one quarter Malayali.
Here is the video of the song.
Grab Me by TAAQ

Ajay Parasuraman

The last post introduced you to the quite fascinating Katapayadi Sankhya of classification of Carnatic Melakartha Raagas. I had mentioned that in Hindustani, the equivalent of Melakarthas are Thaats.

One of the most influential musicologists in the Hindustani field of music was a person called Vishnu Bhatkhande. According to him, each one of the numerous traditional raagas in Hindustani are based on or are variants of ten ‘basic’ thaats. That is, if any raaga is chosen at random, it is surely based on one of these ten thaats. The ten thaats are Bilawal, Kalyan, Khamaj, Bhairav, Poorvi, Marwa, Kafi, Asavari, Bhairavi and Todi. However, Bhatkhande’s classification isn’t an error-free, infallible method of classification. It, although, helps in understanding a huge reservoir of raagas better. Please note that the ten thaats are also raagas.

There are certain rules for these Thaats.

1. A Thaat must have seven notes out of the twelve notes [Seven Shuddha, Four komal (Re, Ga, Dha , Ni), one teevra (Ma) ], placed in an ascending order. Both the forms of the notes can be used.
2. Thaat has only an Aarohan.
3. Thaats are not sung but the raags produced from the Thaats are sung.
4. Thaats are named after the popular raag of that Thaat.

The 10 basic thaats acording to the Bhatkhande System are as follows:

1. Bilawal :Bilawal is the most basic of all the ten thaats. All the swars in the thaat are shuddha or all swars in the natural scale. Bilawal as a raag is not rendered these days however a small variation of the raag called Alahaiya Bilawal is very common. This is a morning raag and its pictorial descriptions create a rich, sensuous ambience in consonance with its performance.

Raags in Bilawal Thaat : Deskar, Haunsdhwani etc.

2. Khamaj : The next thaat is Khamaj which can be obtained by replacing the Shuddha Nishad of Bilawal by Komal Nishad. The raags of this thaat are full of Shringar Ras (romantic) hence this raag is mostly rendered in the form of light classical thumris, tappas, horis, kajris etc. Its pictorial descriptions in the existing texts are sensuous and even today, the raag Khamaj is considered to be a ‘flirtatious’ raag. There is another theory which assumes that in the past, Khamaj scale found its way into Ch’in music of the late medieval China.

Raags in Khamaj Thaat : Rageshree, Jhinjhoti, Des, Tilak Kamod, Jaijaiwanti, Khambavati etc

3. Kaafi : Kafi thaat makes use of the Komal Gandhar and Komal Nishad. So basically it adds Komal Gandhar to the Khamaj Thaat. raag Kafi is one of the oldest raags and its intervals are described as basic scale of the Natyashastra. Thus in ancient and medieval times, Kafi was considered as natural scale. Kafi is a late evening raag and said to convey the mood of spring time.

Raags in Kafi Thaat : Dhanashree, Dhani, Bhimpalasi, Pilu, Megh Malhar, Bageshree etc.

4. Asavari : Add Komal Dhaivat to Kafi thaat and you get Asavari Thaat. Raag Asaveri is full of tyag, the mood of renunciation and sacrifice as well as pathos. It is best suited for late morning. However important evening/night raags like Darbari and Adana also use notes of asavari thaat with different styles, stress points and ornamentations.

Raags in Asavari Thaat : Asavari, Desi, Darbari, Adana, Jaunpuri etc.

5. Bharavi : Bhairavi makes use of all the komal swars, Rishabh, Gandhar, Dhaivat, Nishad. When singing compositions in Bhairavi raag, the singers however take liberty to use all the 12 swars. Bhairavi raag is names after the shakti or feminine aspect of the cosmic life force, which is personified as a consort to Lord Shiva. Bhairavi is a powerful raag filled with devotion and compassion. Bhairavi is actually performed early in the morning in a peaceful, serious and ocassionally sad mood. Traditionally it is rendered as the last item of a program, for its unique fullness of sentiments as well as its wide scope of the tonal combinations. Pictorially, Bhairavi is represented in female form, as the wife of Bhairav.

Raags in Bhairavi Thaat : Malkauns, Bilaskhani Todi, Bhupali Todi, Kaunsi Kanada etc.

6. Bhairav : Bhairav thaat raags make use of Komal Rishabh and Komal Dhaivat. Bhairav is one of the names of Lord Shiva especially in his powerful form as a naked ascetic with matted locks and body smeared with ashes. The raag too has some of these masculine and scetic attributes in its form and compositions. The raag itself is extremely vast and allows a huge number of note combinations and a great range of emotional qualities from valor to peace. You can see a lot of variations on raag Bhairav including (but not restricted to) Ahir Bhairav, Alam Bhairav, Anand Bhairav, Bairagi Bhairav, Beehad Bhairav, Bhavmat Bhairav, Devata Bhairav, Gauri Bhairav, Nat Bhairav, Shivmat Bhairav. This raag is usually performed in a devotional mood in the early morning hours. The vibrations of the notes in Bhairav is said to clear one’s whole mind. The pictorial depictions of raag Bhairav in the ancient texts are austere as well as awe-inspiring.

Raags in Bhairav Thaat : Ramkali, Gunkari, Meghranjani, Jogiya, Bhairav and its variations, etc.

7. Kalyan : Kalyan thaat consists of a important group of evening raags. Characterized by the teevra Madhyam, this thaat literally means good luck. It is considered to be a blessing-seeking and soothing raag. As a result, it is performed in the evening at the beginning of a concert. This raag creates a feeling of the unfolding of an evening. This thaat is huge and consists of many variations on the basic kalyan thaat including raags (but not restricted to) like Shuddha Kalyan, Shyam Kalyan, Yaman Kalyan, Anandi Kalyan, Khem Kalyan (Haunsdhwani + Yaman), Savani Kalyan etc.

Raags in Kalyan Thaat : Yaman, Bhupali, Hindol, Kedar, Kamod etc.

8.  Marwa : Marwa thaat is obtained by adding a komal Rishabh to Kalyan thaat. The mood of the Marwa family raags is strongly and easily recognizable. The Shadja remains in the form of a shadow till the very end, where it almost comes as a surprise. komal Rishabh and shuddha Dhaivat are ver important. The overall mood of this raag is of sunset where the night approaches much faster than in northern latitudes. The onrushing darkness awakens in many observers, a feeling of anxiety and solemn expectation.

Raags in Marwa Thaat : Marwa, Puriya, Bhatiyaar, Bibhas, Sohoni etc.

9. Poorvi : Poorvi thaat adds a komal Dhaivat to Marwa thaat. These thaat raags usually feature komal Rishabh, shuddha Gandhar and Shuddha Nishad along with teevra Madhyam, the note which distinguishes evening from the morning raags (dawn and sunset). The thaat raag Poorvi is deeply serious quite and mysterious in character and is performed at the time of sunset. Pictorial depictions in early texts, often mention the poise, grace and charm of Poorvi.

Raags in Poorvi Thaat : Puriya Dhanashree, Gauri, Shree, Paraj, Basant etc.

10. Todi : Todi is the king of all thaats. Todi pictures nearly always show a petite, beautiful woman, holding veena, with a deer around her, standing in a lovely, lush green forest. Todi represents the mood of delighted adoration with a gentle, loving sentiment and its traditionally performed in the late morning.

Raags in Todi Thaat : Miyan Ki Todi, Gujari Todi, Madhuvanti, Multani

A thaat is a musical scale with the seven notes presented in their order of ascent (arohan). For instance, Asaveri is presented, and notated, as Sa Re Ga (flat or komal) Ma Pa Dha (flat) Ni (flat) in ascent, or arohan. This is, however, only the skeletal musical structure of the raga Asaveri ; the raga Asaveri, in reality, and in exposition, is a very different thing. It goes straight from Re to Ma, and comes down to touch Ga, as it ascends; having touched Ni later, it returns to Pa, and, touching the upper Sa, returns to Dha and Pa again and again. Arohan and avarohan are, thus, inextricably and inseparably intermingled in the structure of this raga. The raga, then, is not a musical scale in the Western sense; it is a characteristic arrangement or progression of notes whose full potential and complexity can  be realized only in exposition, and not upon the printed page. A condensed version of this characteristic arrangement of notes, peculiar to each raga, may be called the pakad, by which a listener hears the phrase Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Ga, none of these notes being flat or sharp.  Repeated in a recital, they will know that they are listening to the raga Gaud Sarang. Two ragas may have identical notes and yet be very different ragas; for example, two ragas mentioned earlier, Shree and Puriya Dhanashri, have exactly the same notes, but are unmistakably different in structure and temperament. The first can be identified by its continual exploration of the relationship of the note Re to the note Paa; while the repetition of the phrase Ma Re Ga Re Ma Ga, a phrase that would be inadmissible in the first raga, is an enduring feature of the latter. Certain arrangements of notes, then, are opposite to particular ragas and taboo to all others. A simple and abstract knowledge, thus of the notes of a raga or the thaat on which it is based, is hardly enough to ensure a true familiarity or engagement with the raga, although it may serve as a convenient starting point. Thaat familiarity can only come from a constant exposure to, and critical engagement, with raga’s exposition.

I haven’t, as of yet, decided on the topic for next post. So, suggestions are welcome! But, I assure you, it won’t bore you!

(You can listen to songs online here)

In true Bickram Ghosh style, the item number Tanha Raatein is replete with World Music elements, exotic percussion playing away to a predominantly Latino lounge-ish template. And being bread and butter stuff for her, Sunidhi Chauhan does a wonderful job at vocals. A “premium” item number for a change, if I may call it that! Dhundo stands out mainly for Sonu Nigam‘s vocal dependability, and for some interesting orchestral elements from the composer. The base tune per se is a plain affair. The remix is middling. More Spanish follows with the June Bannerjee-sung track called Kisne Pehchaana, and is engaging despite another commonplace base tune. The acoustic Spanish loop that plays on throughout the song is addictive!
If the previous two songs were lacking on the base tunes front, Chup Tha Paani sees Bickram Ghosh make amends for that. Wonderfully composed and equally well-rendered by Ronita De, Chup Tha Paani is indeed the pick of the album. In this too the composer’s work on the percussive elements is worth noting. But what follows next is a shocker, a composition too pedestrian for Bickram Ghosh standards. Except for the fact that Rupankar sounds similar to Suraj Jagan, there is nothing much interesting about the rock song Is Mein Hai Chamak. But the composer ends on a high note with a short and sweet folk song sung by Dohar. Though I could not recognize the language of the lyrics, the North-Eastern flavour is evident in the orchestration. And even if you do not understand the song you will be hooked to Khasi Tingya due to the rustic appeal the tune carries and the simple arrangement to match.
While Bickram Ghosh has tried to make the score for Gumshuda Bollywood-friendly, it still contains the definitive Ghosh touch in its World music infusion. For that reason and the seemingly parallel line the movie seems to be made on, chances of this soundtrack getting listened to and appreciated by a lot of Bollywood followers seem less. It would be sad to see some good songs get wasted.
Music Aloud Rating: 7.5/10
Recommended Tracks: Chup Tha Paani, Tanha Raatein, Khasi Tingya

A trained classical singer from Kolkata, she made her Bollywood debut with Rajesh Roshan’s Moksha. But her song that really got heads turning was Kabhi Neem Neem from Yuva, and she subsequently went on to become a regular feature in ARR scores, recording some memorable songs with him like Pal Pal Hai Bhaari (Swades), Tu Bin Bataye (RDB), Hum Hai Is Pal (Kisna) and also scores of other Tamil and Hindi songs. We present to you Music Aloud’s interview with playback singer Madhushree.

You were born Sujata Bhattacharya. Why the name change?

I wanted to be different and not get mixed up with other Sujata’s of the industry, and therefore took on this name.

Tell us about your musical upbringing.

From childhood i have been thought to be a singer. I come from a musical family and so started learning music from my parents. Only my father wanted me to be a classical singer and was not happy for me being a playback singer until he heard my song “Hum Hain Is Pal Yahan”

Though you debuted with Rajesh Roshan, the person who really made you a regular affair was A R Rahman. Tell us how you landed a chance to work with him.

When i came in Bollywood, there were not so many platforms for newcomers as today. So you had to get good connections to be heard by the right person. I made an album and sent to most of the industry music connections. And Javed Akhtar Saheb heard the album and directed me to Rajesh Roshan. But my doors really opened when A R Rahman and Mani Ratnam gave the chance to sing for Rani Mukherjee in 3 versions Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, Kabhi Neem Neem from Yuva. I met him through voice-over maestro Brij Bhushanji, who took me to ARR when he was recording for Lagaan in 4D/Worli. I waited till 2 o clock in the morning and then i met him, after which we recorded classical bandishein and from then he started calling me for recordings, continuing till today.

How has the experience of working with ARR been?

Recording with ARR is more than a recording experience. He is such a humble and good human being, that you easily feel home. and because of this you as an artist can deliver more than ever.

With ARR you also debuted down South. How difficult was it to get hold of Tamil? Do you speak Tamil now?

Yes he gave me the chance in Tamil too, but other music directors picked it up. I haven’t reached so far as to speak Tamil, but I’m learning Tamil form a good teacher, Prema

Though in Tamil you now work with an array of music directors, your Bollywood lineup is still majorly comprised of songs from ARR. Is it like you have been selective in your projects? Is there going to be a change in the trend soon?

In Bollywood I have in fact sung for other music directors too, like Rajesh Roshan, Shankar Ehsaan Loy etc…The trend will definitely change. I have an item number in Rajnikant’s Robot and Champak Jain of Venus told me that this would change my image in Bollywood.

Tell us about your debut album Lagan Lagi. The album didn’t quite get its due we felt, in spite of having some wonderful songs. Was it the marketing? Or the classical genre?

When making Lagi Lagan, we had a focus in mind and I got more than expected. Private albums in Bollywood generally don’t do well, but this album did get me some name in the industry.

Any more private albums in the pipeline?

Yes, I have more than 5 albums lined up…

What are your current/upcoming projects?

There are too many to speak about it and I would rather let it be a surprise ..

What kind of music do you generally follow?

I listen any good music.. From Classical to Hindi pop… From Western Classical to Hip Hop.

(You can listen to the songs online here)

Right from the point the rock elements set in, Hairat Hai has you caught on with its ultra-addictive arrangement. Lucky Ali has of late been doing a good job of moving away from the soft melodies that he once used to be once associated with, to a boring extent, and Hairat.. surely is one of his best songs in recent times. The title song, the Shilpa Rao-Vishal Dadlani version, strongly reminds one of Khuda Jaane in more places than one, but is thoroughly entertaining, especially with its alternating ambient melody-rock modes. Brilliant job by the vocalists, especially the ethereal-sounding Shilpa. Vishal-Shekhar have always excelled when it comes to tribute compositions to R D Burman, and here too in the second version of the title song (the one which accompanies the trailers), though largely evocative of their previous tributes like Tak Dhina Dhin from Aladin, makes for a good listen, primarily owing to the exuberant rendition by Nikhil D’Souza and Monali Thakur. Nevertheless, among the two, I pick version 1.
Things take a slight dip with Aas Paas Khuda, here the duo’s arrangement not proving enough to mitigate the deja vu-ishness. Rahat Fateh Ali handles the vocals, producing the usual results. The unplugged version is an improvement, Shruti Pathak along with Rahat provide some interesting segments with their vocal brilliance, but the base tune becomes this one’s undoing as well. The composers bounce back with Tumse Hi Tumse though, Shekhar and Caralisa Monteiro crooning to a breezy orchestration. The bounce-back continues in its upward direction with an even better Tujhe Bhula Diya, Shruti Pathak giving an excellent semi-classical start which is then carried forward by Mohit Chauhan to create another wonderfully packaged melody punctuated by occasional qawwali segments rendered by Shekhar. The remix, though decently done, is a pale shadow of the original. Vishal returns with Shilpa Rao to deliver the final track of the album, I Feel Good, which despite its SEL-esque youthfulness in arrangement, justifies its title with an overall feel good-ness.
A quintessential Vishal-Shekhar album – youthful, entertaining, and very Vishal-Shekhar-esque.. Five wonderful tunes out of the seven original tracks.. Anjaana Anjaani is an excellent follow-up to the duo’s work in I Hate Luv Storys.
Music Aloud Rating: 8.5/10
Recommended Tracks: Tujhe Bhula Diya, Hairat Hai, Anjana Anjani (Shilpa-Vishal version)

Ajay Parasuraman

Firstly, apologies to all. After an extremely grueling 3 weeks at work, my zest for writing just flickered back on. Let bygones be that. I have just gotten back from a K.S Gopalakrishnan flute-kutcheri at Rasikapriya, Cochin. The review of that can wait. Possibly, forever

I write this next post as I listen to a Saketh Raman concert very recently downloaded. If you remember right, the last post introduced you to the origins of the two forms, viz a viz, Carnatic and Hindustani. This one will involve the terms involved in both the forms.

You must all be familiar with the Saptaswaras, lit. Seven notes — Sa, Ri, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, and Ni. A raaga is a combination of all or some of the swaras. A raaga will have an aarohana or ascent, and an avarohana or descent. The various combinations of the swaras is what gives each raaga it’s distinct identity. Any song, be it in Carnatic or Hindustani, will have a tune. It is based on the raaga of the song that a tune is composed. Most or all of the terms in Carnatic have their similar sounding counterparts in Hindustani as well.

In Carnatic, a raaga is divided into two — Janaka (or Parent) raaga and Janya (or Child) raaga. A Janaka raaga is also called a Melakartha raaga and will have all the seven notes, in order, in it’s ascent and descent. A Janya raaga is one that has evolved from a Melakartha raaga and, as you must have guessed, will not involve all the seven notes. In other words, a subset of a Melakartha raaga will give you a Janya raaga, and innumerable ‘children’ are possible from any given Melakartha raaga. In Hindustani, the thaat is the equivalent to the Melakartha in Carnatic. However the classifications in each of the forms differ from each other. In Carnatic, there are 72 Melakartha raagas, to Hindustani’s 10 thaats.

The 72 Melakartha raagas each have a number associated with them — this number against a raaga is assigned based on the katapayaadi sankhya. In this nomenclature, the digits corresponding to the first two syllables of the name of a raga, when reversed, give the index of the raga. Thus the scale of a melakarta raga can be easily derived from its name. The katapayadi sankhya is a simplification of Aryabhatta‘s Sanskrit numerals. The numbers associated with each of the syllables are given below:

कटपयादि संख्या

Note that the name katapayadi comes from the contents of the first row in either of the tables formulated by Aryabhatta. Let’s see if an example simplifies the use of the Table(s) – Take Natakapriya. The first two syllables in the name are Naa and Ta. Going by the table, we get 0 and 1 as the corresponding numbers. Now, taking the reverse, we get 10. Hence, Natakapriya has been given the number 10 in the Melakartha list based on this scheme of numbering. Now, that you’ve learnt how to assign numbers to melakartha raagas, next post will be about the classification of raagas within the list of 72 Melakarthas and also the categorization of different raagas in the Hindustani system.

Hope this has been worth your time. Until next time, cheerio!

Firstly, apologies to all. After an extremely grueling 3 weeks at work, my zest for writing just flickered back on. Let bygones be that. I have just gotten back from a K.S Gopalakrishnan flute-kutcheri at Rasikapriya, Cochin. The review of that can wait. Possibly, forever

I write this next post as I listen to a Saketh Raman concert very recently downloaded. If you remember right, the last post introduced you to the origins of the two forms, viz a viz, Carnatic and Hindustani. This one will involve the terms involved in both the forms.

You must all be familiar with the Saptaswaras, lit. Seven notes — Sa, Ri, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, and Ni. A raaga is a combination of all or some of the swaras. A raaga will have an aarohana or ascent, and an avarohana or descent. The various combinations of the swaras is what gives each raaga it’s distinct identity. Any song, be it in Carnatic or Hindustani, will have a tune. It is based on the raaga of the song that a tune is composed. Most or all of the terms in Carnatic have their similar sounding counterparts in Hindustani as well.

In Carnatic, a raaga is divided into two — Janaka (or Parent) raaga and Janya (or Child) raaga. A Janaka raaga is also called a Melakartha raaga and will have all the seven notes, in order, in it’s ascent and descent. A Janya raaga is one that has evolved from a Melakartha raaga and, as you must have guessed, will not involve all the seven notes. In other words, a subset of a Melakartha raaga will give you a Janya raaga, and innumerable ‘children’ are possible from any given Melakartha raaga. In Hindustani, the thaat is the equivalent to the Melakartha in Carnatic. However the classifications in each of the forms differ from each other. In Carnatic, there are 72 Melakartha raagas, to Hindustani’s 10 thaats.

The 72 Melakartha raagas each have a number associated with them — this number against a raaga is assigned based on the katapayaadi sankhya. In this nomenclature, the digits corresponding to the first two syllables of the name of a raga, when reversed, give the index of the raga. Thus the scale of a melakarta raga can be easily derived from its name. The katapayadi sankhya is a simplification of Aryabhatta‘s Sanskrit numerals. The numbers associated with each of the syllables are given below:

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Kadi nava

ka

kha

ga

gha

nga

ca

cha

ja

nya

Tadi nava

á¹­a

á¹­ha

ḍa

ḍha

ṇa

ta

tha

da

na

Padi pancha

pa

pha

ba

bha

ma

Yadi ashta

ya

ra

la

va

śha

sha

sa

ha

कटपयादि संख्या

	१	२	३	४	५	६	७	८	९	०
कादि नव	क	ख	ग	घ	ङ	च	छ	ज	झ	ञ
टादि नव	ट	à¤	ड	ढ	ण	त	थ	द	ध	न
पादि पंच	प	फ	ब	भ	म
यादि अष्ट	य	र	ल	व	श	ष	स	ह

Note that the name katapayadi comes from the contents of the first row in either of the tables formulated by Aryabhatta. Let’s see if an example simplifies the use of the Table(s) – Take Natakapriya. The first two syllables in the name are Naa and Ta. Going by the table, we get 0 and 1 as the corresponding numbers. Now, taking the reverse, we get 10. Hence, Natakapriya has been given the number 10 in the Melakartha list based on this scheme of numbering. Now, that you’ve learnt how to assign numbers to melakartha raagas, next post will be about the classification of raagas within the list of 72 Melakarthas.

Hope this has been worth your time. Until next time, cheerio!

The Germany-based music networking website will be taking an Indian delegation to POPKOMM Music Festival 2010, an integral part of the mostly Europe-dominated Berlin Music Week. This delegation will comprise of regional music labels and an Indian band, which will open the showcases at POPKOMM 2010. This band will be picked through ‘PLAYATPOPKOMM’ – an online contest organized by Music2Deal, India.

Says Dr. Ralf Kleinhenz, Managing Director of Popkomm, “We look forward to welcoming India at Popkomm this September in Berlin.

India’s participation in Popkomm will be its first in a European music trade fair. We are confident that Indian companies will establish important contacts in the European market.”

Music2deal.com Asia Pacific MD Sudhir Shreedharan said, “Popkomm 2010 is a big step for India. It is a golden opportunity to take Indian music to previously unexplored European Markets.” “PLAYATPOPKOMM” will invite registrations from bands/artistes all over India, as also artistes of Indian origin living abroad. A special page created on the website – www.music2deal.com/playatpopkomm will continuously update all the participants and also upload the music by bands that qualify for the final round. This will make sure that bands continue to get promoted even as the contest continues, so even the ones that don’t make it to Popkomm get their music showcased on Music2Deal.com’’ continued Shreedharan.

Explaining the basis on which the candidates will be chosen, Shreedharan said, “It’s not just about good music. It’s about stage presence and the ability to woo the western audience to make Indian music a memorable experience for them. Performing at an event of this magnitude is definitely no easy task and this requires an export-ready, versatile band.’’

This step will definitely strengthen Indo-German cultural relations as well. Says Deepika Unni, (Representative, Berlin Trade Fairs, Indo-German Chamber Of Commerce), “It is very good to hear that there is an Indian delegation visiting POPKOMM. Having a band at the show increases India’s visibility and impact. India has a rich and vibrant music heritage and POPKOMM would be the ideal launching pad.”

Indian recording labels can contact Music2Deal India by sending an e-mail to[email protected] and bands can send in their music to Music2deal India at [email protected].”

Another season of one of the best musical initiatives in the sub-continent in recent times aka Coke Studio, drew to a close last Sunday. The season saw some veterans like Abida Parveen and Arif Lohar make their debut for the show, and also some relative newbies like Sanam Marvi and Amanat Ali, while seasoned Coke Studio performers like Zeb & Haniya, Noori and Arieb Azhar continued their fantastic run at the show. Season 3′s biggest find was undoubtedly the Sufi singer Sanam Marvi, with her excellent choice of songs and brilliant execution in her rustic voice. The only quibble that remains is that the rock lineup didn’t quite display the quality that the rest of the artists did.

So while the wait is on for the next season, we present to you our list of the best performances from Season 3. Enjoy!