Madyama kalam and erandam kalam....

chitrathiagarajan · Post by **chitrathiagarajan** » 22 Jul 2008, 11:45

Are these two pace of singing the same?
CT

saranya · Post by **saranya** » 22 Jul 2008, 12:14

The views may differ from person to person. Madhyama kalam is a type of layam. There are three types of layam (vilambitha layam, madhya layam and dhrutha layam) which are also called as chowka kalam, madhyama kalam and dhuritha kalam. The tempo will be slow, medium and fast in the ratio, 1:2:4 respectively.

Erandam kalam - There are first speed, second speed, third speed, fourth speed and it moves on till our ability to sing swaras swiftly.

The answer to ur question is a relative one. There is no fixed speed. First speed to one person may be second speed to some one and so on.

chitrathiagarajan · Post by **chitrathiagarajan** » 22 Jul 2008, 17:25

saranya wrote:The views may differ from person to person. Madhyama kalam is a type of layam. There are three types of layam (vilambitha layam, madhya layam and dhrutha layam) which are also called as chowka kalam, madhyama kalam and dhuritha kalam. The tempo will be slow, medium and fast in the ratio, 1:2:4 respectively.

Erandam kalam - There are first speed, second speed, third speed, fourth speed and it moves on till our ability to sing swaras swiftly.

The answer to ur question is a relative one. There is no fixed speed. First speed to one person may be second speed to some one and so on.

You mentioned chowka:madhayama: dhruta is 1:2:4.
SAme is true for onnam kalam:erandam kalam 1:2
Please clarify.
CT

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 22 Jul 2008, 20:48

I think saranya is right. Vilambita, madhya and duritha refers to number of beats per second. If you want to sing the same composition slower, you sing at a lower beats per minute. BPM( Vilambita) is less than BPM( Madhya ) is less than BPM ( duritha ). Let us call this tempo of the song.

onnam kalam, rendam kalam etc. refers numbers of sub-beats per beat. In chathusra nadai, there are normally 4 sub-beats per beat. While keeping it in chathusra nadai, you can use 1, 2, 4, 8 ( and more if you ar capable ) sub-beats per beat. You will be packing more swaras in to the beat. Then it gives the perception that you are singing at a faster speed. But the BPM remains the same as you go from onnAm kAlam, rendAm kAlam etc.

chitrathiagarajan · Post by **chitrathiagarajan** » 23 Jul 2008, 07:57

In a kriti,you have madyama kalam usually after the charanam or the charanam itself will be sung in madyama kalam,as in a varnam.
In such a case, will the the mdyama kalam will be sung in erandam kalam of pallavi/anupallavi?
lease clarify.
CT

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 23 Jul 2008, 10:23

CT, I do not know about the krithi case but the faster pace with which the charanam of the varnam is sung is an increase in tempo where the BPM is changed. So that is not a kAlam change.

In the purvanga of a varnam, when they sing at a faster pace repeating the entire purvanga, that is a change in kAlam since they are packing more swaras into the same BPM.

I am not sure now what is done in the krithi case you mention. I think you are referring to cases like the madhyama kala swaras in MD's compositions. My guess is that it is an increase in kAlam ( pack more swaras into the same BPM ). Can someone please clarify?

saranya · Post by **saranya** » 23 Jul 2008, 10:43

Chitra,
For your question "Are these two pace of singing the same?" , the answer I can give is Yes, but not at all time or in all cases.

Consider chatusra jathi triputa talam (adi talam). If we have onnam kAlam with 1 swara for a beat, rendam kalam with 2 for a beat, moonam kalam 4 swaras per beat, naalam kaalam 8 swaras per beat and so on. Now consider a kriti for example swaminatha paripalayasumam by dikshithar. The pallavi (swaminatha.... swaprakasa) will be slow and in the same pace anupallavi lines would be. Madhyama kala sahityam (kamidartha vitharana...) will be at a greater pace than the former lines. If we keep one swara per beat as 1st kalam, then the madhyama kalam may be having 2 or 4 swaras per beat.. so is that 2nd kalam or 3rd kalam. Its all relative to how a singer sets the speed.

What I mean to say is, not always madhyama kalam will be equal to singing erandam kalam.

mridhangam · Post by **mridhangam** » 23 Jul 2008, 10:45

Hello
Actually Chitra is referring to some of the Dikshitar Kritis wherein we have madhyama kala rendition in charanam generally the 3rd and 4th line of the charanam or even more depending on the kriti. Most of the Dikshitar kritis have this Madyama Kala rendition in charanam. What chitra is asking may be about the doubling of the speed of the Pallavi / Anupallavi. Actually when you are speaking about kalam we have to see how many syllables are packed within one beat. If only one syllable or one letter is uttered per beat then it is First Speed or vilamba kaala. If two syllables or letters are uttered per beat then it is second speed (Madhyama kaala). If four syllables or letter are uttered per beat then it is in durita kaala. In our karnatic system even within a tala cycle or within a beat we have Madyama-Durita combination or Vilamba-madhyama or Vilamba-durita etc etc. The best example can be cited in Dikshitar's Kriti's First line of "Sri Naathaadi Guru Guho" Where in the first line itself you have all three speeds beautifully rendered within one tala cylce or one avarta. As saranya mentioned the speed is very relative and highly subjective. What is fourth kaalam to me may be first kaalam for someone.

And now for the doubt chitra posed whether it is only in relation to the pallavi starting the charanam madyama kaalam is being rendered. It is generally so since the Tala is not changing throughout the composition. The charana third and fourth line is generally a combination of madyama-durita kala and not exactly madhyama kaala. Take for example Vatapi Ganapathim in Hamsadhwani by Dikshitar. You can clearly understand the Kaala differences between Pallavi and anupallavi 3rd line and charana also there is doubling of speed.

There are various kritis to demonstrate this example. I shall dwell on this further if chitra's doubt is not cleared.
J.Balaji

chitrathiagarajan · Post by **chitrathiagarajan** » 24 Jul 2008, 00:14

Thanks Balaji,VK,Saranya.
The madyama kalam is a relatively rendered at a higher speed with respect to pallavi/anupallvi.This speed need not be erandam kalam where the swaras packed per beat doubles.Is my understanding correct?
Balaji, when you say "syllable or letter" are you refering to swaras?
CT

saranya · Post by **saranya** » 24 Jul 2008, 09:25

Correct Chitra! You are right!!

mridhangam · Post by **mridhangam** » 24 Jul 2008, 10:35

chitrathiagarajan wrote:Thanks Balaji,VK,Saranya.
The madyama kalam is a relatively rendered at a higher speed with respect to pallavi/anupallvi.This speed need not be erandam kalam where the swaras packed per beat doubles.Is my understanding correct?
Balaji, when you say "syllable or letter" are you refering to swaras?
CT

Madam

The madyama kaalam is called erandam kaalam in Tamil.that is all. The speed of the sahitya with which it is rendered in anupallavi or charanam has varied kaalapramanas. Tala is such a vast topic and also in carnatic music it is always an admixture of speeds within the tala. Within one beat you can have all three speeds so you cannot say that the tala is in madyamakaala or durita kaala. We have to interpret by splitting and sub-splitting the words, letters etc and try to arrive at the kaalas per beat. If you observe any kriti for that matter will have varying speeds within the tala cycle. "Sri Subramanyaya Namasthe" in kambhoji is one good example where "Manasija Koti Koti Laavanyaya Dheena Charanyaya" (which is part of Pallavi itself) is rendered in all three speeds by vidwans. (Hope you would have listened to such renditions).

When i mention syllable or letter what i mean is one swara, or one letter of the word (generally the sahitya of a kriti is split according to the tala) or one sollu in tala.

J.Balaji