folk songs from India and around the world

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 04 Aug 2008, 19:05

Nostalgia is contagious; once somebody starts writing about 'old times' every body starts travelling down the memory lane.
I also remember how we were so interested in the 'Deepavali malars' than in the 'Deepavaali bakshanams and pattasus(crackers). Am reminded of the 'nei omappodi(made in gheee) from the Tiruvaarur temple madappalli, pEraLam vadaai , the cashewnut from AdanakkOTTai, a bath in the kamalAlayam , the list is endless.
As Arasi said,nostalgia does drive out phobia.

gobilalitha · Post by **gobilalitha** » 05 Aug 2008, 06:49

Coming back to my wish, can anybody post ;ON THE EVER GREEN TREE' by Cliff Richard, if not objectionable? gobilalitha

knandago2001 · Post by **knandago2001** » 10 Aug 2008, 00:07

Hariâ€™s son â€“ Harrison - George Harrison
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=X7eFQMakhDE

thakur ji rasiya â€“ â€œkitno meetho ji? main bataaoon? aji bataao ji.. it..t..nOâ€¦!!â€

ragam-talam · Post by **ragam-talam** » 10 Aug 2008, 02:17

gobilalitha wrote:Coming back to my wish, can anybody post ;ON THE EVER GREEN TREE' by Cliff Richard, if not objectionable? gobilalitha

Here you go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L57fZcIfQn0
Artiste: Cliff Richards
Ragam: Mohanam
Talam: Adi

gobilalitha · Post by **gobilalitha** » 12 Aug 2008, 16:00

Thanks , raagam talam,I was always wondering why I have fallen in love with this song. Probably, because it is in raag mohanam. Now , why not a thread for foreign songs in our raagas, Once again mohanam will be the number one,AS ALMOST ALL JAPANESE AND CHINESE MELODIES ARE EITHER IN MOHANAM OR BILAHARI Gobilalitha

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 12 Aug 2008, 20:55

Country music is mainly mOhanam, and the intro and conclusion on the violin in the song is just that. I cannot say Cliff Richard does any justice to the rAgA! Well, pop music had to wait until the Beatles came along. Paul' Mc Cartney's Mull of Kintyre has a pretty mOhanam imprint...

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 12 Aug 2008, 23:17

I'm no Beatles expert, even though I did grow up during that period (always a late developer, I did not realise the brilliance of their melodies until much later) --- but does raga appear in music? Given their time in India, and their involvement with Ravi Shankar, I'd be surprised if it didn't, but I wouldn't know where to start looking.

ragam-talam · Post by **ragam-talam** » 13 Aug 2008, 00:29

Nick, your mention of the Fab Four brought a flood of memories...
George Harrison's 'Within you without you' was the one song that was most influenced by Indian classical music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbPj3d90qME

Is the ragam Valaji?

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 13 Aug 2008, 00:50

it sounds more like misra telang,; some traces of bahudari too.

ragam-talam · Post by **ragam-talam** » 13 Aug 2008, 00:50

Punarvasu wrote:As Arasi said,nostalgia does drive out phobia.

And the classic quip: Nostalgia ain't what it used to be.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 13 Aug 2008, 02:50

Nick,
You know enough about indian ways of thinking--sometimes, you think it too

. Just as dwelling on the subject of the resemblance of a child to various members of the family, this-- 'doesn't this song sound like a particular rAgA or an indian song?' is another hobby of ours, I suppose! I am not establishing the mOhanam in Mull of Kintyre, but I can't help hearing it. Even before Ravi Shankar (not our own buddy here), my guess is that their fascination with american music--along with Elvis, jazz, country too (?) could have exposed The Beatles to mOhanam--sounding tunes.
As Gobilalitha says, most of oriental music sounds like mOhanam, just as middle eastern music is redolent with sindhu bhairavi!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 13 Aug 2008, 03:03

ragam-talam,
I hear more of tilang and bahudhAri as Punarvasu does, and a fleeting glimpse of valaji. Nick understands this now, a true indian that he is!

Yes! your nostalgia quote makes me laugh. By the way, what IS sogreat about nostalgia these days? In our days, blah blah blah...

gobilalitha · Post by **gobilalitha** » 13 Aug 2008, 08:40

The song of Harrison mentioned by ragam-talam in post 33 reminds me of 'TANDI TANDI' byAshaBhosle in filmJagteRaho , music by SalilChoudry said to have been set in theraag, Tilak khamod. any takers? Another song picturised on Raj Kapoor in an inebriated mode in this film,sung by Mukesh; Zindagi khwab hai ' was a great hit. occupying top position in BinacaGeet Mala for many weeks.. Oh! my nostalgia, don't trouble me againand again gobilalitha

knandago2001 · Post by **knandago2001** » 25 Aug 2008, 20:07

John Denver â€“ from the land of the free and the home of the brave

Sunshine
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=eivZd4j5M ... re=related

Poems Prayers & Promises
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=O3faCnqJs ... re=related

Edelweiss
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=Fp5X4MBIbLs

Rhymes & Reasons
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=rPpRyjTP0 ... re=related

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 29 Aug 2008, 20:11

A discussion of folk tunes would be incomplete without these gems from Salil Choudhury.....

Many years ago, I saw an interview with him on DD where he said how he'd been captivated by the folk-music from Assam, and when he scored the music for madhumati, he could not resist using the tunes and instruments:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbt1cPe- ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKrM4lj8 ... re=related
Does anyone know the name of the instrument featured at approximately 4:05 or so into this song for a few seconds? Another thing that occured to me is the universal appeal of dancing with sticks - from kOlaTTam in TN, to the DaNDiyA in Gujrat, and now this from Assam.

Of course, the breathtaking beauty of Vyjayantimala and her grace, or the dulcet tones of Lata did not exactly hinder the popularity of these tunes!

A great advertisement for folk melodies.

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 29 Aug 2008, 22:46

Does anyone know the name of the instrument featured at approximately 4:05 or so into this song for a few seconds?

Good catch there Ravi. I do not know what it is either and I am also curious. I searched in google images for Indian folk musical instruments and did not find anything that matches what was in the video.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 30 Aug 2008, 00:06

Dr. Kulkarni, an expert on world folk instruments from Bangalore--
might help out there. Months ago, we had a review of her concert with rare instruments.

knandago2001 · Post by **knandago2001** » 30 Aug 2008, 16:00

Ravi: The meter long flute-like instrument, held vertically while playing it, is the filili (also known as fifli) from assam and popular among the Sema and Lhota tribes
http://www.4to40.com/music/print.asp?id=35

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 30 Aug 2008, 20:04

Thanks, Nandagopal!

What an interesting site. Salil da has used the fifli very appropriately here in this song about bichuas and piyAs!

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 30 Aug 2008, 20:38

Thanks Nandagopal for identifying it.

Somtimes flute is just a flute

knandago2001 · Post by **knandago2001** » 07 Sep 2008, 17:27

Madhya Pradesh
â€œAalha is a ballad very popular in the Bundelkhand region but its singers are spread beyond the region too. It narrates the tales of two warrior brothers- Aalha and Udal who were in the service of Raja Piramal of Mahoba. Its singing style is very dynamic and full of the flavour of war. Beginning with a prayer to 'devi' or goddess, renditions include various incidents from this very lengthy ballad. Styles of singing differ from region to region but it is usually sung in the monsoon months - the time villagers get after sowing grain in fields after the first monsoon showers. Villagers gather around the village chaupal and Aalha singers, always men, take centre stage.â€

gobilalitha · Post by **gobilalitha** » 07 Sep 2008, 20:01

I am reminded of our own folk songs by kuppuswami and ANITA KUPPUSWAMY. . he swears our carnatic music is only anoffshoot of tamil foljksongs which he popularises..gobilalitha