(Hope this belongs in the composer's forum. If not, srkris, please move it to an appropriate place ).
I have been trying to understand the significance of the sub-divisions ( angA ) of a thala. In many of the materials I have read, they present the structure of the thala with the various jAtis and the kriya associated with them and they do not go into the significance of the angAs. Obviously, there are many thalas with the same beat count per avarthanam but with different angA internal structure and songs in those thalas have a definite and unique rhythmic feel and I so I get it that the angAs matter a lot, but I want to understand a bit more clearly. I figured the Mridangamists might have a good use for it, so I started paying attention to what they do for the various angAs. I got something out of it but only partially. In Pallavis, for example, the mridangist plays along with stressing the aridhi ( mid-point ) of the avarthanam. But in other songs, stressing the samam and aridhi does not seem to be a mandatory thing.
That brings me to thinking about the source: The composers. Obviously, they compose keeping the angA structure of the thala in mind. Since we have an eminent composer in our midst, Dr. Shreekanth, I thought I will ask this here. So, Dr. Shreekanth, please provide some education on this. Do the words of the composition fall along anGa lines? Are the beginnings of each anGa stressed differently? If you can point out the significance of the two dhruthams of Adi, that will be illustrative. These are just some preliminary questions in my mind, but if you can share your thoughts and practical experience in this topic, I will appreciate that very much.
If you can also comment on how the composers view eduppu and what they do differently for different eduppus, that will be a great bonus.
Lastly, there are many songs in Adi that have a 1.5 eduppu. And there are songs with 1.5 eduppu that are categorized under desAdi thala. Since desAdi thalas are kept using the same kriya as Adi, what is the difference between these two categores of songs with 1.5 eduppus?
Thanks very much.