Tanpura / Tambura / Tambora - Call it what u want, its an amazing acoustic filler!

Heres something to fiddle with. Its a little article on the use of electronic tanpuras vs. real live ones, and also why its absolutely essential for every classical musician / trainee to know it perfectly by ear...

To sum it up, the primary points dealt with, in support of real live ones and against the use of electronics substitutes which are gaining good popularity, are the science behind the construction, minor tweaks to achieve tonal quality and the effect with which a real live tanpura can make or break any classical performance.

Whoever thought there was so much acoustic engineering put into the age old tanpura!

www.medieval.org/music/world/martin_est.html

Music vs. Lyrics

Through and through, with very few exceptions, i'm a MUSIC kinda guy... Not paying too much attention to the lyrics, hidden meanings and emotions they convey! I might pay attention to lyrics in very few cases like Pink Floyd or Pearl Jam etc. In my case the lyricist / songwriter is almost redundant.

I guess music touches u directly. Whilst lyrics have a barrier of language and comprehensibility, music is universal...

I tag all my readers to put in their opinion of music vs. lyrics!

(What do u pay attention to and why?)

Always listen to elders...

And yet again, I learn something the hard way...

My Guruji told me, dont bend the strings on your sitar as yet... neither you, nor the sitar is ready for it...

I was feeling low... so took my favourite thing to cheer me up... Me music and me sitar... and in a fit of musical enthusiasm... I tried playing a very fast jhala and then giving a meend from Re to Pa...

The string snapped... have to wait till Saturday to get the strings replaced !

NOW I'm really depressed...

Janfest - It was for real !!!

Amazing performances on both Sunday and Monday...

Loved it... Didnt realise how quickly time flew from 5.30 to 9.30 on sunday evening... Santoor by Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma was Surreal...

Next day went for my FIRST Sitar class... at the end of it felt my finers wud SNAP into two pieces... Hurts like Hell... And NOT AT ALL used to sitting cross legged for 2 hrs... Legs went numb every 10 mins... Wondered how I was gonna continue...

Then in the evening attended Sitar by Ustaad Nishaat Khan... I'm NOW looking forward to my next Sitar practice and next lessons... Really really waiting for it...

And Kishoritai Amonkar... If sound could be velvet... its her voice... And ABSOLUTE COMMAND on the recital...

These performances weer BEYOND entertainment... They were Divine... And probably thats how these artists approach it as well...

On another note, I realised Kishoritai Amonkar and Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma were beyond 70 yrs of age... Forget complex Santoor hand movements or Vocal control over 3 octaves...

At that age, it wud even be a miracle if I cud tie my own shoelaces or speak clearly !!!

Hats Off to them... They've kept this great art and legacy alive... The applause at the end of their performances isn't just for the great music they've given us.. its ALSO an acknowledgement of their tremendous sacrifice and dedication to their own arts !!!

Janfest - The Anticipation

Have been looking forward to this since almost 2 weeks now...Waited over a year for another classical concert...

But learnt so many things and found so many more brilliant little masterpieces on the way here... That probably makes the 2 weeks of anticipation, feel like 2 months now !!!

Kept running around here and there trying to find what was missing...Think this is it...

I hope I have ARRIVED at the starting point of the journey to my ultimate goal!!!

No woman no cry..........

Once again i listen to a song..... and i like its rhythm n tune.... n go hunting the net for guitar chords.....Once again its a classic...... a phenomenal piece by an Inspirational Movement called Bob Marley.......Listening to it..... and reading the lyrics........ Im simply speechless..... And highly inspired.....

I got the chords and wanted to sing along..... hence went searching for lyrics........ And did i GET them or what.....

I really believe that the ones with real problems are the ones who never cry..... they know that crying isn't gonna take them anywhere.......... they gotta get up...stand up and FIGHT........ cos thats their only chance.... The ones who do crib......... simply don't have anything better to do.... they have NO REAL PROBLEMS......

The paragraph where Marley says " In this great future, you can't forget your past , So dry your tears, I seh. " and the entire song is an inspiration to those who've suffered and suffered BAD... that c'mon.... don't let circumstances take the best of you.... they might stop u in between..... but the best n only thing u can do is stop crying n keep going....

my fav lines out of this song being the second para.....

Then we would cook cornmeal porridge,
Of which I'll share with you;
My feet is my only carriage,
So I've got to push on through.
But while I'm gone, I mean:
Everything's gonna be all right!
Everything's gonna be all right!

First two lines say a lot in a few words.......

They have very little with them..... even a basic necessity like good food is scarce........ but for goodwill and friendship.... they're willing to share whatever little they have..........

( How many times have we been taught this, that we gotta share,in good times and in bad..... and aren't we becoming more n more selfish by the day as we prosper ? )

In the next 2 lines.........More so...... hes down and out...... has got nuthin to carry him........ no material belongings.... no cars no luxuries........
just that his very feet will carry him through this phase............. and he simply cannot sit there cribbing...hes gotta push on thru.........
( Again the indomitable human spirit..... extremely resilient....... )

And once hes gone........ forever........ hes gotta encourage the women who've helped him survive.... to go on.......... Simply bcos... everything's gonna be alright.......... what else can u say to sum1 who's got nuthin goin right and life's fallin apart......


Its simply brilliant..... I dunno if anyone who hasn't really suffered that much pain in life could ever write a song like this.....

I wanna dedicate this song to all the women in my life............... who've helped me and inspired me in my bad times.......... and made me keep my feet on the ground in the gud ones............

Waah Ustaad Waah...!!!

Saturday the 8th of December..... Amazing Evening....
Been to a Hindustani Classical concert at Nehru Centre - Worli........

It was Ustaad Zaakir Hussain on Tabla, Ustad Shahid Parvez on Sitar and then U Srinivas on Mandolin........ And Boy...was it a Once in a lifetime experience or WHAT?????

We had 5th Row seats and I never wud've imagined it wud've been a visual treat as much as an audible one...... U actually have to be that near to see the stage and to actually not be able to see their hands move...they're that fast....

Srinivas was brilliant on the Mandolin and technically perfect and superb Jugalbandis with the other two maestros........but with all due respect to Srinivas and his mandolin somewhere I felt...(again i cud be wrong... i'm no expert on music, just writing what i felt) it got lost one the brilliance of the sitar and tabla came into the picture.....
there was just no FEEL in the sound of the mandolin that cud match the sitar's tremendous range

Id only seen a few of Ustad Zakir Hussain's performances on TV...but Live is altogether a different feeling.......... Cant explain it..........
When Srinivas played brilliant pieces on mandolin... Ustad Shahid Parvez matched them on his Sitar.... and created sumthin even more brilliant.........

The live sound of Sitar and the brilliance of Ustad was an unbeatable combination that literally created magic......... I dont remember the last time I was this excited or happy about anything in my life..... Hindustani Classical is Divine...thats all I can say for now....elevates you to a different level....

Im now really really looking forward to these concerts cos now I know what I really like.........I hardly go for any movies... But this is definitely not a waste of money...and definitely not a waste of time...... Its amazing..........

My conclusion - I dont know if id be able to play anything like it ever.... but at least I wanna try hard to learn to appreciate and keep this great music alive..............

Simple Kind of Man.....

Well..... Taking a cue from KC abt a song he liked..... I thot well... why not put in a few words of my own abt a song ive really come to love.....

Lots of my frnds went thru my orkut profile and seeing my status.. just maybe 1or 2 might have known what it really meant.... It wasnt me who's the simple kind of man.... Its a brilliant song by Lynyrd Skynyrd... Dunno how many might know the band... but its the same band that made Sweet Home Alabama and Freebird ( Again two of my very highly cherished songs... )

I'd heard abt the song frm another frnd and wanted to chk out the video on youtube and really really loved the tune..... So I hunted down the chords from the net (no big task actually) and started strumming it on my guitar... And it sounds phenomenal.....

Then what made me fall in love with it was the lyrics..... I had'nt really paid much attention to lyrics anyways since it was the rhythm that had me fascinated.........

But this song was different.....My fav stanza out of it wud be...

Ohh take your time... Don't live too fast,
Troubles will come, and they will pass.
Go find a woman and you'll find love,
And don't forget son,
There is someone up above.

(Chorus)
And be a simple kind of man.
And maybe some day you'll love and understand.
Baby be a simple kind of man.
Won't you do this for me son,
If you can?

Forget your lust for the rich man's gold
All that you need is in your soul,
And you can do this if you try.
All that I want for you my son,
Is to be satisfied.

Its basically a mother telling her son a few things about life..... And in this day and age of running aimlessly behind material pleasures.... The song gets you back to remind you that you need a grounding....That you may aim high but gotta keep ur feet firmly planted on the ground..... It kinda reminds me of the story between a rich man and a beggar on the street...where they finally come to a conclusion that all a man needs to be happy is a gud nights peaceful sleep..... What are we running so much for anyways????

I dunno how many would really agree with the lyrics...... But it did appeal a lot to me..... It gives a greater sense of dimension to your life than that is already visible..... And why lynyrd skynyrd are awesome is cos they put in such a powerful message thru such a simple yet beautiful song.....

I did refer the song to KC and he seems to have liked the tune atleast, if not the lyrics.....I thot.......... " Gud going then " atleast sum1 cud appreciate what I really felt was nice...... I wud suggest that you get a hold of its lyrics whilst ur already listening.....

And now im off strumming it again on my guitar.................. Adios..........