Another new song I’m working on, over at soundclick:

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=6819693

Have a listen and tell me what you think!

-D

Two new songs of mine, available at:

http://www.myspace.com/swamidigital
Or
http://www.soundclick.com/swamidigital

They are Seer of Sound and The Piper’s Children. Neither is completely finished, but they are both getting there. Feel free to review the songs, any comments on how to improve would be appreciated. You can post your reviews in the comments here.

-D

Finally got my studio set up here in my new place.  Threw together this little musical sketch in five minutes just to demonstrate the instruments to a few visitors.

jamming63008.aif.ff.mp3

I recently acquired a novation x-station 61 and Ableton Live 6.  The first thing I did was rework the song I made a while back, Contemplation.  I basically recorded the vocals again because the original recording quality was low, and tuned the mix a bit.  The new version is available on my myspace music page.  I am also working on two new songs, Mritunjaya and Rock Bottom.  Mritunjaya is about halfway done through vocal recording, but I am going to go back and redo the drum and bass lines, so it has alot of work to do.  Rock Bottom is still mostly a collection of riffs and an idea, but after I finish Mritunjaya, I’ll start working on that again.

-D

It’s still under construction, but a remastered version of my song Contemplation is up on a new myspace.com music page I set up.  In the coming months the page should shape up, and more music should appear, I hope.

http://www.myspace.com/swamidigital 

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y200/swamidigital/flyer1.jpg

Attend a Hindustani classical music concert featuring Pandit Rattan Mohan Sharma, the disciple and nephew of Pandit Jasraj. The venue will be the Shands MSB auditorium (University of Florida), and the event will occur at 5:30pm, on Sunday, April 22nd. Don’t miss this great opportunity!

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The soul of Hindustani classical music lies in the expression of emotion. Understanding this simple objective is key to understanding all of the various complex and sometimes enigmatic features of this beautiful art form.

The subtle unfolding of the Raag through microtonal variations on notes, and the slow movements of the alaap create a rich aural environment designed to evoke a particular feeling in the audience.
In the later, faster movements, the environment becomes more populated with sound, and the subtle expression of emotion becomes more immediate, more forceful.

This is also why improvisation and audience reaction play such an important part in classical performances. The artist adjusts their performance for the particular atmosphere and the audience. In this case, fixed melodies do not suffice to communicate the full emotion that the artist seeks to evoke.

Hindustani classical music is not unique in seeking to express and communicate emotion, but it is the importance which the objective is given which has given rise to many of its unique features.

Music India Online is a nice resource, showcasing a wide variety of music, streaming. They require either real player or windows media player, and showcase a number of articles on music along with a large archive of songs. I particularly enjoy the selection of Hindustani Classical not available at many other online music websites.

http://www.musicindiaonline.com/

Classical music has many elements not present in pop music, but to me the most compelling element is the sheer joy and love in the process of making music. Commercial success is not considered in the crafting of a piece of music, but devotion to music itself. The music itself becomes the musician’s deity, their connection to an inner world of beauty and joy. The music becomes an end, in and of itself.

“Those who champion the two nation theory are not aware of the nature of Indian culture, which has been an amalgam of Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim and Christian cultures, the signs of which are evident in food habits, clothes, art, architecture and most so in music. Here you have Hindus singing Karim Rahim and Muslims beginning their dhrupad alaaps with Hari Om Anantanarayana. Khayals and thumris feature mostly the Radha Krishna theme. Hari dhamar and thumri would now be anathema to Muslims in our neighboring Islamic states but not to Indian musicians - whether Shias or Sunnis. The last Nawab of Lucknow, Wajid Ali Shah, used to perform Raasleela in the role of Krishna with the ladies of his harem, and composed bandishes in praise of him.”

- Kumar Prasad Mukherji in The Lost World of Hindustani Music