Indian Classical is a style of music that has evolved over the
centuries from many different influences on the South Asian
subcontinent. It's origins can be traced to the recitation of
ancient hindu vedic hymms, chants, and prayers but has also
drawn influence from traditional folk music from various cultures
living on the subcontinent as well as from the middle east (particularly
Persia) and elsewhere (such as the greek invasion of North India under
Alexander the Great). The music has evolved into two main forms - Hindustani
(north indian) and Karnataka (south indian). Traditional instruments include
familiar pieces such as the sitar, tabla, sarod, veena, mridangam - however
the music has always been open to outside influences. Today, the range on
indian classical instruments include violin, saxaphone, and modified jazz
guitars. Although Indian classical may seem to be in a different realm as
acid-jazz or even jazz, it shares a lot of the same philosophy in the
creative processof making music. Like jazz and hip-hop there's a huge element
of sponteneity and improvisation in Indian classical with a blueprint for
melody (raag) and rhythm (taal) provided by ancient (and complex) protocol
which takes into account such factors as the time of day, the position of the
moon as well as the mood or spiritual vibe of the performance. As such,
rarely do two performances of the same composition ever sound the same - a
real exciting element when you see a live performance.
For a more musical description - most compositions have a constant drone in
the background usually tuned to D. The raag is a set pattern of notes which
forms a template for an improvised melody. The taal is a prescribed rhythmic
patternthat accompanies a specific raag - in many compositions this can
change throughout the raag and often does not fall into 4/4 time (eg. 7 and
1/2 beatcycles). Together they form the basis of the intro, climaxes, and
theme of the composition. While such music can be expressed through a diverse
array of instruments, the aim of this ancienct form of music is the
imitation of the dynamic range of the human voice which is why there is an
incredible
amount of note bending and pitch changes in the music (which is considered
one of God's most wonderous creations). Despite its technical aspects,
there's a very intense spiritual element in this ancient form of music (kinda
like John Coltrane).
In recent decades, the vibe of Indian Classical music has spread globally
through permormances, recordings, and music schools. As such there has also
been a lot of crossover with other forms of music ("fusion" for lack of a
better word) by artists such as Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan, Zakhir Hussein,
and Talvin Singh. There are some recordings though that are pure cheese but
there's quite a bit of mind blowing isht. My favourite one at the moment is
Talvin Singh's tabla solos and accompaniment which he performed as part of
Sun Ra's Solar Arkestra. The koolest element of crossover to me was ten years
ago - I had the opportunity to meet well known shenai player Bismilla Khan
who told me that "music is the song of heaven", which was the koolest thing
to hear because I was getting into House music at that time.
Sorry if this is a long email - the question was kinda heavy. Hope this is
an OK intro description. I'm not an expert on Indian Classical music, just an
enthusiast so please let me know if I'm off point about something.
shanti,
ashwin
ashwin@visgen.com