An excerpt from the hindu:
http://www.hindu.com/ms/2008/12/26/stor ... 040300.htm
Aroor Ananthakrishna Sarma did abundant justice at this stage by providing first a coating of fine tonal quality to the notes from the instrument. This was facilitated as much by the light touch that he applied with his hands as by the left side membrane being tuned to the lower shadja rather than the panchama. The bassy sound of the mrdangam in misrachapu rhythm complemented the melodious singing admirably. Kalpanaswaras here were a little exciting as the takeoff point of the sahityam was in veechu.
The tani avartanam took off with the mridangam playing about 80 avartanams, with khandam and misram thrown in, Adambakkam Sankar’s ghatam taking over for the next half as many rounds. After a number of exchanges between Sarma and Sankar the exercise came to an end in a further exciting quarter hour.
a couple of questions:
doesn't mridangam left (thoppi )not have any sruthi at all...i dont understand what that meant...
also, i know from my basic knowledge that khandam and misram are NOT things that can be played in misra chapu...as I understand it playing, kandam and misram means switching (in adi) from playing in 4 aksharam beats to 5, or 7 aksharam beats..in misra chapu (3.5 beats, or 14 aksharams), this is not possible. playing some 5 and 7 beats doesn't equate to playing misram (ie, misra corrapu is NOT misram, because the underlying beat pattern remains 4)
and on a lighter note, did the review really sit there counting how many avertanams the thani was? i hope this doesn't become a trend in hindu reviews....
hindu's review excerpt
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From the very minimal knowledge I have of mridangam, this is what I can tell you -
The left (thoppi) side, though doesn't have a set "sruti" like the right side, it is very important to get the depth sound of the mridangam to come out. As you know, it is very important to apply the rava onto the thoppi side, and the experts who can apply the rava perfectly on (with just enough water) can get the very deep "thom" sound while still getting enough reverberation to play gumiki's. If you listen to a mridangam piece with rava applied and one without, you can clearly tell the difference in the tonal quality because of how well the bass sound compliments the sruti/ melodius sounds.
As for the playing kanda and mishra nadai (I assume your speaking of nadai?) in mishra chapu, it actually can be done, but it is MUCH more difficult than playing it for one of the seven saptha thala's. Lets say you want to play Kanda nadai for Mishara chapu. First you must realize, when you play chathusra nadai for mishara chapu, all you have to do is play "Thaka Dhina" (a cound of 4) seven times, and it will fall perfectly on thalam correct? This would be chathusra, however for kanda, you would have to play a 5 beat note, such as "Thadhikitaku" Tha - Dhi- Ki-Ta-Ku, 7 times and make it fit into thalam. I hope I'm saying this alright, if I am confusing or made an error, please notify me.
So pretty much, instead of saying a phrase with 4 akshara's 7 times to make it fit on thalam, make a 5 akshara phrase 7 times.
The problem is, is just getting the sarva laghu down is challenging, then you'd have to make actual lessons in that, and then an elaborate korvai, and in order to do all that and keep it perfectly on thalam is a very tough thing to do. There would be VERY little room for error.
Am I correct on this? Can someone help me out here
The left (thoppi) side, though doesn't have a set "sruti" like the right side, it is very important to get the depth sound of the mridangam to come out. As you know, it is very important to apply the rava onto the thoppi side, and the experts who can apply the rava perfectly on (with just enough water) can get the very deep "thom" sound while still getting enough reverberation to play gumiki's. If you listen to a mridangam piece with rava applied and one without, you can clearly tell the difference in the tonal quality because of how well the bass sound compliments the sruti/ melodius sounds.
As for the playing kanda and mishra nadai (I assume your speaking of nadai?) in mishra chapu, it actually can be done, but it is MUCH more difficult than playing it for one of the seven saptha thala's. Lets say you want to play Kanda nadai for Mishara chapu. First you must realize, when you play chathusra nadai for mishara chapu, all you have to do is play "Thaka Dhina" (a cound of 4) seven times, and it will fall perfectly on thalam correct? This would be chathusra, however for kanda, you would have to play a 5 beat note, such as "Thadhikitaku" Tha - Dhi- Ki-Ta-Ku, 7 times and make it fit into thalam. I hope I'm saying this alright, if I am confusing or made an error, please notify me.
So pretty much, instead of saying a phrase with 4 akshara's 7 times to make it fit on thalam, make a 5 akshara phrase 7 times.
The problem is, is just getting the sarva laghu down is challenging, then you'd have to make actual lessons in that, and then an elaborate korvai, and in order to do all that and keep it perfectly on thalam is a very tough thing to do. There would be VERY little room for error.
Am I correct on this? Can someone help me out here
Last edited by mridangamkid on 29 Dec 2008, 02:15, edited 1 time in total.
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Glad this has come up... this is an interesting topic.
Misra and kanda gathis can be played in chapu thalams like misra and kanda chapu, however they would have to be approached from a mass calculation basis (ie 4*7 -> 5*7 for going from chatusram to kandam in misra chapu, like mridangamkid said). I have heard Tiruvarur Bhaktavatsalam play kandam in misra chapu once, it is a very tricky affair.
There are mrudangists who will not accept this however (that kandam and misram can be played in misra chapu/kanda chapu). The fact remains that both thalams have fractional kriyas (1.5 + 2 in the case of misra chapu and 1 + 1.5 in kanda chapu). It is therefore impossible to subdivide 5 counts or 7 counts or reconcile them into a 1.5 aksharam unit. Thavil vidwans may do it, but most mrudangists will not.
Misra and kanda gathis can be played in chapu thalams like misra and kanda chapu, however they would have to be approached from a mass calculation basis (ie 4*7 -> 5*7 for going from chatusram to kandam in misra chapu, like mridangamkid said). I have heard Tiruvarur Bhaktavatsalam play kandam in misra chapu once, it is a very tricky affair.
There are mrudangists who will not accept this however (that kandam and misram can be played in misra chapu/kanda chapu). The fact remains that both thalams have fractional kriyas (1.5 + 2 in the case of misra chapu and 1 + 1.5 in kanda chapu). It is therefore impossible to subdivide 5 counts or 7 counts or reconcile them into a 1.5 aksharam unit. Thavil vidwans may do it, but most mrudangists will not.
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Sankirnam, why would a mridangam player even want to reconcile in this case since that is not a requirement during thani? They usually do not go by beat boundary or anga boundary when playing adi thala korvais. It is all samam-samam kanakku over multiple avarthanams anyway, right?It is therefore impossible to subdivide 5 counts or 7 counts or reconcile them into a 1.5 aksharam unit.
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VK, what you have said is correct, but for the sake of the thalam you have to know where each part of the korvai lands in the thalam.
In the case of playing kandam in misra chapu, it is impossible to exactly delineate what falls where in the 1.5 unit of the thalam, introducing a degree of approximation... making it much more difficult to put thalam for, and making it much riskier on stage.
In the case of playing kandam in misra chapu, it is impossible to exactly delineate what falls where in the 1.5 unit of the thalam, introducing a degree of approximation... making it much more difficult to put thalam for, and making it much riskier on stage.
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A way to get around this would be to play kanDa gati in mEl kAlam (double the normal speed). You can fit 7 patterns of 5 akSarams each within one cycle of misra cApu this way. Whether it would sound clear/nice would again depend on factors like the kAlapramANam and the ability of the player himself/herself.sankirnam wrote:VK, what you have said is correct, but for the sake of the thalam you have to know where each part of the korvai lands in the thalam.
In the case of playing kandam in misra chapu, it is impossible to exactly delineate what falls where in the 1.5 unit of the thalam, introducing a degree of approximation... making it much more difficult to put thalam for, and making it much riskier on stage.
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thanks for your input sankiram,
i've been told that treating misra chapu as though it was 7 beats, and playing things like kandam and misram are not correct, as you mentioned.
one other laya possibility that i've heard is as follows:
1 misra chapu talam can be played as 2 7 aksharam patterns.
therefore, it is possible to play 3, 4, 5, 6 beats within that 7. I think i've heard a few mridangam players attempt this. This seems a little more reasonable than playing straight kandam, misram in misra chapu
i've been told that treating misra chapu as though it was 7 beats, and playing things like kandam and misram are not correct, as you mentioned.
one other laya possibility that i've heard is as follows:
1 misra chapu talam can be played as 2 7 aksharam patterns.
therefore, it is possible to play 3, 4, 5, 6 beats within that 7. I think i've heard a few mridangam players attempt this. This seems a little more reasonable than playing straight kandam, misram in misra chapu