Help in identifying Alapanai Ragams of Todi-RTP Ragamalika

[Sundar Krishnan]

[Dt : 10th May, 2010]

http://www.sendspace.com/file/jue3rh is the link to the uploaded Audio of a Ragamalikai during Alapanai part of a Todi-RTP during a recent live Kutcheri.

I need help to identify EACH Ragam of this Alapanai-Ragamalika, in it’s proper chronological order.

I give below my initial guess with the approx time ranges of each Ragam in the Audio Clip.
[I request you NOT to be swayed by my guess since I have doubts in my guess, and they may not be right.]

It seems to me that there are 5 other Ragams, other than Todi in this Alapanai-Ragamalika. They seem to be :

Ragam X = Shuddha Dhanyasi (SD) ?
Ragam Y ??
Mohanam
Ragam Z ??
Saramati ?

Before taking Todi Alapanai again at the end, he seems to have played All the Ragams in the Reverse way too.

Detailed Guess with Time Ranges for the Alapanai-Ragamalika of Todi-RTP :

a) ~ 0:00 m to 0:19 m : Ragam X = Shuddha Dhanyasi (SD) ?

b) ~ 0:20 m to 0:36 m : Seemed like he played a Sahityam line from one of the popular SD songs ?? Which SD Song’s line is this ?

c) ~ 0:37 m to 1:16 m : Came back to Todi ?

d) ~ 1:20 m to 1:37 m : Ragam Y ??

e) ~ 1:38 m to 1:44 m : Back to Todi again ?

f) ~ 1:45 m to 1:48 m : Again very briefly, oscillate back to Ragam Y above ??

g) ~ 1:50 m to 1:58 m : Mohanam

h) ~ 2:00 m to 2:34 m : Back to Todi again ?

i) ~ 2:35 m to 3:04 m : Instead of oscillating back to Mohanam, has he again gone back to Ragam Y above ??

j) ~ 3:05 m to 3:14 m : Then, from Ragam Y, he appears to make a slight tilt – to say, Ragam Z ? – which does NOT seem to be Madhyamavati, or even Shri Ragam ??
What is Ragam Z ?

k) ~ 3:15 m to 3:20 m : But, then, he follows it up with one line of Bhagyada Lakshmi Baramma – in Madhyamavati ??

l) ~ 3:21 m to 3:23 m : Transiently Back to Ragam Y again ?

m) ~ 3:24 m to 3:53 m : Back to Todi again

n) ~ 3:54 m to 4:11 m : Appears partly like Saramati ? ; Or, does he again oscillate to Ragam Y (or Ragam Z ?) briefly ?

o) ~ 4:12 m to 4:37 m : Appears like he is going in the Reverse way ? through all the above Ragams of the Ragamalika ?

p) ~ 4:38 m to 6:21 m (End) : Back to Todi again

I request singing musician experts to help me in identifying EACH Ragam of this Alapanai-Ragamalika, in it’s proper chronological order. Thanks.

...

[Sundar Krishnan]

PS to above posting : The Violinist is an expert Violinist with many years of playing the Violin as an accompanist to many great singers.

****************

Is there a special name ? given to this pattern of coming back to the Base Ragam (Todi in this case) each time, and then singing / playing all the ragams in the Reverse way ?

For eg, my understanding is (pl correct it if I am wrong) :

In MD’s Navavarna Krithis - each of the first 8 Krithis uses one Vibhakti of the word Kamalamba. The 9th Krithi supposedly uses all 8, plus a final “revert” to the Prathama Vibhakti.

Many of MD's songs are in some pattern - like Navavarana Kritis (11 = 1 + 9 +1 - using 8 Vibhaktis), Navagriha Krithis, Pancha Bootha Sthalam Krithis, 8 Thyagaraja Vibhaktis, 9 Abhayamba Vibhaktis, etc.

…

[mohan]

The violinist is playing thodi but is using the technique of graha bedham to bring out another melakartha raga and also a corresponding janya raga. There have been detailed discussions about greha bedham in this forum before and you can also refer to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graha_bedham

Thodi is played throughout but various notes are emphasised to bring out shades of other ragas. Since the clip starts abruptly we do not get the first raga where the violinist would have rested on the Thodi Ni and brought out Khaharapriya. This is followed by Suddha Dhanyasi. A little of Narayana and Himigiri taneye is illustrated.

The same exercise is followed for other notes
Thodi Ri - Kalyani and Mohanam
Thodi Ga - Harikambhoji and Madhyamavati
Thodi Ma - Natabhairavi and Hindolam

There may have also been a shift of Thodi Dha to Sankarabharanam and Suddha Saveri at the beginning.

PS. There is no relation to Dikshitar's Navavarnas

[Sundar Krishnan]

Mohan, [Dt 13th May, 2010]

Thanks for both yr good qualitative replies - to THIS thread
as well as : http://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=13130

I learnt the principles of Gruha Bhedam (GB) about 2 yrs ago, but yr above good replies have given me a chance to learn it more concretely now (possibly with even more sketches, calculations etc, which I may pursue).

1) I get yr point of shift wrt Todi's D1 for Shankarabhranam & Sh Saveri.
But from what I recall, I had started the recording as soon as I had realised that the Violinist had started a Ragamalika in the Alapanai part (the time lost would only be the time to fetch the Camera and press the Record and proper Zoom buttons).
I am not sure if he sang Shankarabharanam - 29 & Sh Saveri (janya of 29) in the beginning – mostly NO.

2) Since we have the two Sh Dhanyasi song lines, I tend to agree with you that he may have touched KharaharaPriya - 22, which I have missed to record.
Yes, I can recognise Narayana and Himagiri Tanaye lines.

3) With clues from yr good Macro-Picture-Qualitative reply and the Wiki article, I feel that the original “Aimed Pattern” in the Alapanai-Ragamalika may have been as follows (but I don't think it has been followed strictly ?? - pl confirm) :

[
Start initially with Todi Alapanai

Gruha Bhedam shift to Mela Ragam 1
Come back to Todi
Again Mela Ragam 1
Alapanai of the Janya Ragam
A Song line or two of the above Janya Ragam
Come back to Todi

Repeat the above Pattern Set for other Gruha Bhedam Shifts.

At the Last Gruha Bhedam Shift, immly after the “A Song line of the Janya Ragam”, go in the Reverse way to sing / play all the above Gruha Bhedam Mela Ragams (only Mela Ragams, not Janya Ragams in the Reverse Way ? – pl confirm) and then :
Come back to the Base Todi
]


4) However, here is the Nitty-Gritty - where I have all the doubts, and I need help to confirm my observations wrt the recorded Audio clip.
The actual path taken seems to be at odds with the possible ideal pattern described above.
I would like an expert’s opinion on what the Ragam Y and Ragam Z are – purely by listening to the Audio, not worrying about any knowledge of Gruha Bhedam etc while actually listening to the Audio. Thanks in advance.

Listening to the actual recorded Audio / Video, I can observe the foll :
(essentially, nothing has changed wrt the Time Ranges I gave in my earlier Posting : “#1 10 May 2010 04:32”) :

Start initially with Todi Alapanai - This I did hear, but did not record.

Gruha Bhedam shift to a Mela Ragam 1 = KP (22) Alapanai, which I may have missed to record
Come back to Todi, which I may have missed to record
Again Mela Ragam 1 = KP (22) Alapanai, which I may have missed to record

Alapanai of the Janya Ragam = SD Alapanai : a) ~ 0:00 m to 0:19 m [Recording started here.]
A Song line or two of the above Janya Ragam = SD Songs Lines of Narayana and Himagiri Tanaye : b) ~ 0:20 m to 0:36 m
Come back to Todi : c) ~ 0:37 m to 1:16 m

Gruha Bhedam shift to a Mela Ragam 2 Alapanai : d) ~ 1:20 m to 1:37 m : Ragam Y ?? : Does it sound like Kalyani here ?
Come back to Todi
Again Mela Ragam 2 : f) ~ 1:45 m to 1:48 m : Surely, it appears to be the same Ragam Y. But is Ragam Y = Kalyani ?
Alapanai of the Janya Ragam = Mohanam : g) ~ 1:50 m to 1:58 m
NO Song line for Mohanam Ragam ??
Come back to Todi : h) ~ 2:00 m to 2:34 m

In this Pattern, we “expect” : Gruha Bhedam shift to a Mela Ragam 3 Alapanai : i) ~ 2:35 m to 3:04 m :
But, instead of Hari Kambhoji (28), it still sounds (to me ?) like the above Ragam Y only ?? - pl confirm.

j) ~ 3:05 m to 3:14 m : This Ragam Z - does it sound like HK - 28 ?
OR atleast like the Janya Ragam : Madhyamavati ??
No Alapanai for Janya Ragam Madhyamavati ??
k) ~ 3:15 m to 3:20 m : Direct to Song ?? : Bhagyada Lakshmi Baramma – in Madhyamavati
l) ~ 3:21 m to 3:23 m : Transiently Back to Ragam Y again ? - Can't explain the Pattern here ?? As per the ideal pattern above, we should directly go back to Todi ??
Come back to Todi : m) ~ 3:24 m to 3:53 m

In this Pattern, we “expect” : Gruha Bhedam shift to a Mela Ragam 4 Alapanai : n) ~ 3:54 m to 4:11 m :
It sounded to me like Saramati, but I can accept that it may have been the Parent Mela Natabhairavi here.
No Alapanai for Janya Ragam Hindolam ??
No Song Line from Hindolam ??


One way to quickly go about (in a fuzzy qualitative way), is to identify Ragam Y and Ragam Z in the diff time ranges that I have indicated – it may be noted that in my Table, Ragam Y appears in more than one time range. If I am wrong, then, we may have different Ragams in the multiple time ranges where I have indicated Ragam Y.
Thanks in advance.

...

[Sundar Krishnan]

Continuing with the above msg ...

5) Mohan, Thanks for the url link to the wiki article. I am curious to know if you have contributed in the writing of the wiki article ? (referred to in Message #3)

The wiki article states :
“… 16 of the 72 Melakartas do not yield any valid Melakarta scale.”
I would like to know, which these 16 Melas are, with reasons if possible.

6) In http://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=13112, I had sent the sendspace link url : http://www.sendspace.com/file/ua4ucn for a similarly recorded song : "Idu Bhagya Vidhu Bhagya".
I have got the Lyrics part, but I have not yet got the Ragam identification of the Audio clip.
When time permits, pl look into it also. Thanks.

PS : Is there a way to send a Private email from this rasikas forum – similar to what some other Forums have ?

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