Taanam singing at Navaratri mandapam

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 25 Sep 2006, 15:02

The mridangam is played for taanam singing at the Navatri mandapam (Trivandrum). I understand that this is done mostly in Adi talam. Does anyone here know of taanam being sung in any other talam?

I would be interested in learning more about this practice (of playing mridangam for taanam), i.e. how it came about. Is it done anywhere else?

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 25 Sep 2006, 18:14

I understand very little about taanum, but it seems to me that the rhythm is completely irregular.

One can take fragments and say they are tisra, misra, whatever, but an over-all talam doesn't seem to be there. If it was, I would have thought that the tradition would be for the mridangam to play, rather than not play.

I've seen TVG call the mridangist to play for his taanum. It was obvious that it was a very tough job, due to the lack of overall pattern.

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 25 Sep 2006, 18:16

What fascinates me about taanam is its uniqueness, and the fact that it is so different to all the rest of the music...

Ashwin · Post by **Ashwin** » 25 Sep 2006, 19:57

I think it was Prof. Sambamoorthy in his book series that described tAnam as having only a "perceived rhythm," bu no actual regular rhythmic structure, as Nick says - as such it cannot (should not?) be tied to any particular tALam or naDai.

Ashwin

clueless · Post by **clueless** » 27 Sep 2006, 19:01

My experience has been that a minimalist approach from the Mridangist seems to significantly enhance the Taanam experience - basically only about one tap per phrase.

In another concert I attended, the main artist asked the two percussionsists to accompany during the Taanam, and they basically played Sarvalaghu. The Taanam sounded almost no different from a long Swara passage at second speed, and I felt cheated and clueless.

Clueless.