Ola People
Been listening to a few Indian/hindu related
tunes recently…though I wouldnt call them traditional…and was wondering if anyone has dabbled in this field at all as I personally find this Hindu/Indian melodies(?) really nice to listen to.
Anyone know of any good relative sites or places to download a bit of music from?
Appreciate any feedback
All the Best
C
[ This Message was edited by: Coleman on 2002-02-02 18:48 ]
Coleman, there are quite a few newsgroups with Indian music. alt.binaries.sounds.mp3 has a lot of Indian sub categories.
Interesting that we went to a south Indian restaurant in Houston on the way to the Chieftains concert (how’s that for multi-cultural?) One the wall are a number of Indian instruments, inlcuding a case with 6 - hole whistles! I have no idea what they are called or what music is played on them, but may be able to find out.
By the way, there is a (female) Indian singer Bill Jones that does very interesting and credible Irish music that is worth checking out.
Bill is a female??
Interesting name.
I wish I could tell you some sites,
but I did want to say that I wandered
around India for two years, from
72-74, usually playing whistle and
flute. I never took lessons–wish I
had–but I often sat in with Indians
who were playing music on the street
or in temples. Cane whistles and flutes
are best, I guess, but celtic whistles
are fine, too. The fingering on Indian
whistles–lots of these–is exactly
like that on a penny whistle. Pop
Indian music goes OK on the whistle.
Also religious chants.
I play Israeli dances, too, and they’re
just great–sound very middle eastern.
In Paris conservative Moslems gave
me money for playing Israeli dances
on the street. Also Israeli tourists.
I wish I knew more Asian/middle eastern
stuff. Also I play some of the liturgical
music I heard in synagogue as a boy.
Yes, Bill is female. Check out her website at http://www.brickwallmusic.com. Point at the flowers for the menu options. - N
Checked out ol’ Bill there Nancy…excellent voice I thought.
Been trying to locate some music on the web
but not much luck yet…nothing flutey or whistley
MP3.com doesnt seem to have much to offer …I’ll keep looking though!!
Do you have any names of these news groups your on about…would be handy to give them a go if
you do!!!
I too was lucky enough to travel planet India Jim and loved every minute of it. Well most of them anyway, as they say you have to have the downs to have the ups…fantastic country but I was not into whistles then so Im afraid I missed out on properly exploring them then.
By the way while I was out there I was told that the three most excellent and exciting countrys to visit in the world were the three “I’s”…Isreal, India and Ireland.
I can vouch for two of these but I’m still waiting for my chance to visit Isreal…got as far as Jordan once though…but thats another story!!!
Great that you were in India. It’s as
though I had another lifetime sandwiched
into my American life. Two years there
pack the experiences of 20 here.
Yes, India can drive you quite mad!
Been to Ireland but never been to
Israel–wonder if there any sites
with middle eastern flute music,
dances, etc. Dances are usually
a good place to start.
Coleman, I sent you a private message. If anyone else is interested holler here and I’ll post the info.
On 2002-02-03 15:02, Coleman wrote:
Been trying to locate some music on the web
but not much luck yet…nothing flutey or whistley
The transverse flute played in Indian “classical” music is the bansuri, which is made of bamboo.
Probably its most renowned exponent is Hariprasad Chaurasia (sometimes written Hari Prasad Chaurasia). You might have to go out and pay for a CD, but they are not hard to find.
A very nice introduction to this type of music is the record “Call of the Valley”, originally put out in 1968 and recently re-released on CD. It features Hariprasad Chaurasia and three other master musicians on acoustic guitar, tabla and santoor (a hammered dulcimer played like you’ve never heard).
I’m not sure if “Hindu” is the right label - but I have heard this type of music referred to as “Hindustani classical”.
Some interesting links I found today:
http://www.beatofindia.com
http://www.southindianmusic.com
http://www.themusicmagazine.com
[ This Message was edited by: NancyF on 2002-02-03 22:21 ]
Thanks, Nancy F. Great websites.
In India and Nepal flutes and whistles
are sold on the street
by men with a flute
tree–a long pole with lots of short
sticks sticking out horizontally,
with a flute or whistle on each one.
The fellow stands with the butt of the
pole on the street, one hand on the pole,
under an umbrella of whistles,
and he plays a whistle with his left
hand. (If I manage to get to
heaven I anticipate meeting Michael
Copeland with one of these poles.)
These are often quite good whistles,
and there are better ones sold in
music stores, which are plentiful.
Many people play these instruments,
few have the embarassed shyness
typical of many westerners–just hasn’t
occurred to people there’s an issue
here.
Sometimes
I dream of going back and playing celtic
whistle for Indians, now that I know
how to–they would be
the best audience on earth.
Thanks for the links Nancy…will have a good ol search through them shortly.Checked out them drum beats on one of them though; will try and see if it could substitue for a bodhran!!! By the way if you sent me a message i didnt get it.
Talking of the Indian flute seller reminded me of the indian Sunglasses seller which conjures up an extremely similar image except that the guy i saw was an Indian version Of James Dean whose cry of “sun-glasssssessss!!!”, was quite distinctive and got your attention but after seeing him you couldnt help but buy a pair of him…
All the best
C
Yes, “Call of the Valley” is good intro. The acoustic guitar on it is an indo adaption of the hawaian guitar. I first heard this in 69 when the Don of North Indian classical flute music, Pannalal Ghosh was still considered the most renown Hindustani classical flautist despite his untimely death c. 1960.
Here is a link to PannalalJi and other info that will interest:-
http://music.calarts.edu/~bansuri/pannalal.html
Pannalal was the pioneer who exalted the simple folk flute to classical concert status and who all the current indian flautists look up to
and are indebted to.
I believe, there is a huge international fan club for Pannalal.
The members maynot know each other
but they meet in instant bliss.
Thanks for the great site. These people probably have
the deepest understanding of the flute, and what
one can do with it, in human history. These are,
by the way, simple system instruments. But
the ‘simple folk flute’ in India is something
as special as Celtic flute, and folk tunes and
religious chants as extraordinary, to my ear
anyhow, as Indian classical music.
I was struck by this:
Panna Babu practiced daily meditation and observed maun by not speaking on Thursdays. He took the vows of Ramakrishna and put his faith in music. He took Mantra Diksha from Swami Birjanandji Maharaj who was a direct disciple of Swami Vivekananda. Because of his intense spiritual practice he started loosing interest in day to day life and decided to take Sanyasa. When he expressed his desire to Swamiji, his Guru, he was told that he would attain Moksha through music only. He should practice music as religiously as his spiritual practice. His music showed total spirituality, simplicity and purity.
That sounds interesting, doesn’t it. Spiritual liberation
through playing music? Music as religious practice.
One thing I learned in India was that music
can be prayer, virtually any music; one says
to oneself: I dedicate
what I’m playing to god. In India there are so many
different gods, that whatever you play, even hard rock,
some god or other is bound
to like it. Kali digs the blues.
Of course I think God in the West also likes
the blues, and doesn’t just want harps
and sopranos.
So far, though, no one in our local session has
become enlightened. But maybe this dimension of
flute playing is
something that can be learned from
Indian flautists. Best
I have been very taken with the middle eastern scales lately, namely the Hungarian minor, and have made a few whistles in the key of A. These instruments play the tonic with three holes closed so there are three notes below the tonic. This is a great scale for belly dancing or snake charming.
Anyone interested contact me thru my web site.
Ronaldo
I am glad you liked the site. It is a tricky thing referring one’s favourites to others for fear of rejection.
The Indian folk tradition, an unbroken living stream, nourishes the classical music.
The bansuri is a folk instrument which is how I like it best. This folk flute is, as you say, a simple system instrument. Pannalal pioneered and developed the 7th fingerhole for these flutes and the bass versions of them. Not all classical musicians use the 7hole flute. Mostly the simple system 6hole is used. In any case, the classical Indian music has no monopoly on the bansuri . It is still a rustic folk instrument.
Despite Pannalal’s great technical virtuosity and classical command
the folk flavour still throbs at the heart of his music and this is surely its depth. I do not like many of the current bansuri maestros because, IMO, they tend to revel in technical display at the expense of mood.
And what is the Hungarian Minor please?
What are the notes beginning from your tonic A?
I want to see if it accords with any Indian scale which is the topic here.
I wait with interest.
Oh man, yes! I’d say one of the great flute players in the world, period.
Indian music is probably the most complex in the world, though. And some of these guys are amazing players. Raga is, i think, the style that Hariprasad Chaurasia plays. These are meditations on traditional religious melodies, and they go 15-20 minutes long; starts slow, builds up to a frenzy, then camls down again. It’s very hypnothic, but very virtuosistic too. Pay attention to the tabla drums, they’re a melody instrument, not just rhythm backup.
www.bangra.com is a pretty good site. the trax there aren’t just bhangra, there are also movie trax and a few classical bits in there too.
Indian music is fascinating. I was particularly amused when I first got into Punjabi bhangra to note that the predominant rhythm is almost the same as a blues shuffle!
Mujhe hindustani music bahut pasand hai!
BTW my handle, buddhu, is Hindi for idiot!
Some Irish Trad. musicians also play,or have played Bansuri.I have recordings of Ronan Browne and ‘Hammy’ Hamilton playing this instrument.It sounds o.k. in an I. trad context- a bit different from your usual wooden flute,but an interesting variation all the same.