Tani of the Season

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 04 Jan 2007, 17:04

Another post-season staple....my list based completely on a layman's perspective:

KV Prasad for his delightful sound - heard him twice at the Academy and at Bharath Kalachar - he played a haunting Khandam at the former venue.

Thuruvarur Vaidyanathan in his accompaniments for Sudha and Gayatri Girish at Mudra and the Academy respecitvely. The tani itself was a short affair in both renditions but Vaidyanathan's contributions to the krithis, neravals and swaras were palpable even to a layman like me.

Guruvayoor Dorai's accompaniment for Sanjay at the Academy - I was not sure whether his knotty approach would work as well for Sanjay as for TNS but I was pleasantly surprised. The concert's success was in no small measure due to Guruvayoor Dorai who had also conceived the Pallavi for the evening.

Did not hear much from UKS save for the one tani for OST-Ravikiran at Parthasarathy Sabha probably made up - dizzying speed that one could simply not correlate with his age...

Karaikkudi Mani's tani for Sanjay at Kartik Fine Arts' festival was another breath-taking affair with probably the best Korvai I have witnessed this season. Alas that was the only time in the season that I heard the stalwart...

Palanivel's dicey tani for Kadri at the Academy - constantly playing with Nadais in each avaratha

Invite experts like our award-winner Balaji-sir, Ram, SAnkirnam, BHarath etc. to contribute more....

ignoramus · Post by **ignoramus** » 04 Jan 2007, 17:23

were you able to hear anything from Raghu Sir?

mahesh_narayan · Post by **mahesh_narayan** » 04 Jan 2007, 21:41

For some reason, Raghu Sir has been sidelined by reviewers/attendees. Also T K Murthy Sir. It would be exciting to read something about Raghu Sir from the season for sure. Did he accompany TMK/Vijay Siva/Malladi Brothers/Abhishek or any veterans this season?

I am looking for LGJ/Raghu solo concerts from the 70s or 80s. If anyone has 'em, please let me know.

Thanks.
Mahesh.

ignoramus · Post by **ignoramus** » 04 Jan 2007, 21:57

yes, did not hear anything on TKM. Did he play this season? I am sure Raghu played for Abhishek and also Ravikiran somewhere.

spushpak · Post by **spushpak** » 04 Jan 2007, 22:13

Any comments on Trichy Sankaran sir's tani? I found his tani for the TMK concert at KGS excellent. I also read the an interesting review on his performance for VijayaSiva concert.

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 04 Jan 2007, 23:49

Ignoramus, Raghu and TKM have been quite inactive this season although I did hear Raghu once for the Hyd Brothers at the Academy - I was struggling too much with my taalam to make much note of the details! Koraippu, I think was, in Khandam and a 2 avartha korvai in Tisram which was relatively tame...Accompaniment for the krithis/neraval/swara kalapanas were excellent as usual.

As for TKM, did not feature in any of the concerts I attended...I think he really needs to look after his health now as there have been a few scares in his concerts over the last few years. I believe that once Sanjay had to cancel his Academy concert because TKM collapsed while playing and rush him to the hospital.

Pushpak I am sorry I also omitted Sankaran's tani for Malladis at the Academy which was top class as we have come to expect - I think the details have been provided by BHarath or Ram...there was some thrilling playing with the idams during the koraippu with beats landing on +/-1/4 and so on. Nadham was as always really beautiful. It was a simple Korvai to sum it up.

ignoramus · Post by **ignoramus** » 05 Jan 2007, 08:39

thank you vijay. I rue the fact that even being in chennai does not help me listen to raghu sir playing, due to the odd hours i do at work . Hope TKM retains his current health. I did hear of the sanjay concert issue.

sankirnam · Post by **sankirnam** » 05 Jan 2007, 08:51

Since I was invited by Vijay, I will share my thoughts on the season

Sankaran played two great thanis that I got to hear, one for TMK @ PS High School (Kapali Fine Arts). Featured a great misra nadai. The other thani for Vijay Siva at Sastri Hall (also Kapali) featured tisram, including his famous tisram mohara korvai that we all know and love.

UKS sir played a great kandam for Rudrapatnam brothers at the academy, Sundarkumar on kanjira did a great job keeping pace with him.

From my perspective, it seems that tisram was the most popular nadai this year, probably due to the overabundance of 1.5 eduppu songs that i heard for the main piece this time (incl. Chakkani Raja, Kaligiyunte, and others).

My personal favorite thani tho, was Neyveli Narayanan's for Vedavalli's Music Academy concert... what a tisram he played, reminiscent of Upendransir. I still remember I could feel the air crackle during the thani. Also Sukanya Ramgopal is not easy to play with... like Sundarkumar, she will tear you apart if you are not prepared.

I regret not being able to hear Sankaran's thani for Khanda Jathi Ata thalam (I think for Vijay Siva @ Kalarasna)... I am starved to hear thanis in thalams other than the usual big 5 (adi, rupakam, misra chapu, khanda chapu (or misra jampa), and khanda triputa).

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 05 Jan 2007, 09:15

I heard the Sankaran tani for Vijay Siva at Kalarasana and it was outstanding. Also agree with Sankirnam that the Neyveli Narayanan / Sukanya Ramgopal tani was great. She is quite an outstanding ghatam artiste!

rajumds · Post by **rajumds** » 05 Jan 2007, 10:24

TKM played for TNS at Anjaneyar temple in Nanaganallur on 30/12/06. The concert lasted 3 hrs & he played w/o any discomfort .

mridhangam · Post by **mridhangam** » 05 Jan 2007, 10:53

Unfortunately this is the first year i have not attended any concerts due to my busy schedule. All days concerts coupled with Office work. Hence i couldnt listen to any Thani as such by masters like UKS, Tcy Sankaran, Raghu Sir, Mani Sir, Murthy Mama, Dorai, Bhaktavatsalam or Rajarao etc etc. Hence, Vijay sir please forgive me for not being able to be of any help in this thread.

MANNARGUDIYAAN · Post by **MANNARGUDIYAAN** » 05 Jan 2007, 11:09

any reviews of ganapathi raman,manoj siva,erode nagarajan,tvm.balaji,patri satish, b.sivaraman, poonulam,b.s.purushotham .... like artistes ?

MANNARGUDIYAAN · Post by **MANNARGUDIYAAN** » 05 Jan 2007, 11:12

any reviews of ganapathi raman,manoj siva,erode nagarajan,tvm.balaji,patri satish, b.sivaraman, poonulam,b.s.purushotham .... like artistes ?

mridhangam · Post by **mridhangam** » 05 Jan 2007, 11:59

MANNARGUDIYAAN wrote:any reviews of ganapathi raman,manoj siva,erode nagarajan,tvm.balaji,patri satish, b.sivaraman, poonulam,b.s.purushotham .... like artistes ?

I heard Erode Nagarajan on 10th December 2006 at Vani Mahal for Padmini Ravi before the concert of Gayatri Venkatraghavan for whom i accompanied. As usual i was early at the venue and Erode Nagarajan was sparkling with beautiful UKS patterns in Misra Chaapu tala. He is really a torch bearer of UKS and he has a rich repertoire of UKS korvais too.

Of course BSP played with me at Bharat Kalachar for Sosalai Kasturirangan. He is marked for his brilliance and anticipation. We played Misra Koraippu on that day. I personally like his tone and gumukki effects from his Kanjira.

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 05 Jan 2007, 12:10

BSP matched Sankaran Sir beat for beat during the Malladi Brothers concert at the Academy. Also must mention Sreesundarkumar who gave the giant UKS Sir a run for his money in the TMK concert. His playing was supportive yet challenging to the maestro.

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 05 Jan 2007, 12:13

Thanks for your inputs guys. Sankirnam, I like Neyeli Narayanan's playing too although I heard him only once for Rama Ravi this year - he used to accompany TMK and other young srtistes quite often in previous seasons.

Balaji sir, I know top instrumentalists like you are in great demand during the season so I can perfectly understand your inability to contribute. Maybe, instead, you can tell us which tani of yours you felt was the best with an explanation (maybe with an upload if there are no copyright issues)

Mannargudiyaan - strangely I did not hear Ganapathy Raman this year. Manoj Siva and Patri Satish Kumar, I did hear a few times but do not remember many details except what I may have posted on some of their concerts (I think Manoj Siva had played for a concert of Sangeetha Sivakuamr I had written about.

Poongulam played for TMK at the Academy and did exceptionally well - in fact it would also feature among the best I've heard this season. BSP was of course a constant feature for top artistes and was at his best as always...

mridhangam · Post by **mridhangam** » 05 Jan 2007, 14:03

As member vijay has requested i am posting my tani with BSP. Hope it is nice.

http://rapidshare.com/files/10298422/Ma ... i_Tani.mp3

Enjoy
JB

ramarama · Post by **ramarama** » 05 Jan 2007, 15:51

As a late and relatively-impoverished-by-lack-of-knowledge-but-not-of-opinions member of this august forum, I would like to ask you folks what you are looking for in a tani? If that has been discussed before, please point me out to a previous thread.

Otherwise, could you tell me what counts for a mind-blowing tani? For most lay listeners of Carnatic music, the best tanis are those that are long enough for one to unhurriedly enjoy a couple of plates of bajji and halwa and a couple of cups of kaapi before sauntering back for "enna tavam."

Is it clarity of sound? Is it innovative combinations of beats that lead up to the sam improbably but impeccably? Is it the musicality of the playing - (UKS once said that post-pallavi, a tani should first replay the pallavi line in mridangam bol format a few times before carrying on into the "compositions" And I am guessing that most tanis are indeed made of composed and practiced pieces - or are most of them a combination of composed pieces and spontaneous sections - not unlike a swara prasthara? Is it the variety of sound modulations that makes it exciting - or the demonstration of various nadais and tempos (especially higher ones) without losing the clarity of each sollu? The intricacy and cleverness of the teermanams?

Also, are tanis in non-aadi talas particularly difficult to play or sustain interest in?

I guess all of these are likely important - but what is the hallmark of a fabulous tani - which are absolutely necessary to even make the cutoff for consideration, and which are sufficient enough to make for a fabulous tani?

And on those dimensions, how good are Zakirbhai's tabla tanis (surely some of you must have heard his solo recitals or solo contributions to his accompanying recitals) relative to the average tani of the A grade mridangist in Chennai? Or are there other Hindustani artistes whose tanis are vastly superior to the very popular Zakirbhai?

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 05 Jan 2007, 18:15

Ramarama

here is a bouquet that will give you the answers for questions raised in the last para.

Starting with a small passage , in a concert of Omkarnath Thakur at academy in the company of MSG and SAMTHA RASAD.
http://rapidshare.com/files/10317542/om ... d.mp3.html
Next is a small solo by SAMTHA PRASAD.
http://rapidshare.com/files/10316421/Pt ... d.mp3.html
Next by AHMEDJAN THIRAKWA - considered as the biggest name in Tabla , by most.

http://rapidshare.com/files/10316845/Ah ... -.mp3.html

Next a clip of Nizamuddin Khan
One cannot miss noticing that most commercial Lps released in the 60s and 70s had this artist playing the tabla
http://rapidshare.com/files/10314691/Ni ... l.mp3.html

then one by Amir Husain Khan
http://rapidshare.com/files/10312368/Us ... n.mp3.html

And if you feel these are only big names from the past , try this clip of Bale Khan - a sitar artist from Dharwar- tabla is by Raghunath nakod
http://rapidshare.com/files/10321019/ba ... d.mp3.html

BTw all those big names from the past used to give full length Tabla recitals for 2 hours plus.
One of my close friends YG Sundar (from the YG Doreswami family) fondly recollects , how one one night Thirkawa started playing at their Home at 8 pm.And as the hour approached 9.30 pm , he was nudged into stopping so that he could start for the railway station, to catch his train back to Bombay.
But , looking at the audience response in that home , he promptly moved onto playing a sequence -they term as Raila - one that mimicks the movement of a Railway carriage and the party extended late into the night....

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 05 Jan 2007, 18:27

And if chennaites are game , we can make a group trip to dharwar for next years Rehamath khan memorial Concerts spread over a week- and that is just before the season commences here in chennai- Lots and lots of sitar....

ramarama · Post by **ramarama** » 05 Jan 2007, 20:35

Coolkarniji, thanks for the pointes - I guess I wasn't looking as much for audio examples of non-Zakir greatness, as an assessment of whether the tanis of the top Hindustani tabla players compare well with the tanis of the everyday mridangists of Carnatic music - or are these non comparable because one looks for different things in the tanis of north and south indian music.

mri_fan · Post by **mri_fan** » 05 Jan 2007, 21:00

Does anyone have a tani with Sundarkumar or Sreesundarkumar playing?

sankirnam · Post by **sankirnam** » 05 Jan 2007, 22:28

There is a thani of UKS and Sundarkumar in the album "Laya-Dhara", released by Charsur recently.

That album is worth every penny!

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 06 Jan 2007, 00:34

RamabhiRama, I am chipping in since our laya experts have not yet responded. I look for the following -

Overall, how pleasant in the sound - left/right hand, chapu, gumki etc. These can vary dramatically depending on the audio quality and settings.

During kriti accompaniment, how appropriate their playing is (highly subjective) - are they able to contribute to the mood and flavour of the song or do they detract from it (usually with overly aggressive/intrusive playing)? Is it a monotonour takadhimi or do they follow the song and chip in with interesting but appropriate sequences? How do they fill up the gaps? Completion of the song for instance can be done in some interesting ways...

For swaras how effectively do they anticipate and complement the vocalist's combinations - it is thrilling for instance to watch mrudangists guess the vocalists koraippus and korvais and play accordingly...

In the tani itself, the nadais they play (e.g playing patters of 4 for tisram) and as you mention, the intricacy of the korvais, playing with idams, the koraippu, the fast pharans phrases and, of course, the final korvai...

Well, these are some of the things I would look for - generally, the harder it is to keep the beat, the better the tani but this could also be becuase the main artist is an inept timekeeper, forcing the mrudangist to adjust (may I requst Balaji to give us an idea of how serious a problem this is without mentioning names!)

As for rehearsed versus spontaneous, it would take a very agile mind to work out korvais and koraippus on the spot - I believe TNS does it at times but most mrudangists would probably have a set of korvais for each taalam and improvise based on the idam etc. which is why a non-standard tala (other than Adi/Rupakam/Misra Chapu etc.) is a challenge for the percussionists. Odd idams can also create a problem although the math would be relatively simpler

As for table versus mridangam, the former is certainly more thrilling but in my limited concert experience, they are not particularly difficult to follow in terms of time-keeping - maybe a tihai here or there thrown in but these are also quite standard. Have not heart "solo tablas" thoug and it is quite possible that the stalwarts save the tricky bits for such performances.

I am sure others have more to add.

mahesh3 · Post by **mahesh3** » 06 Jan 2007, 06:53

besides TMK & Sanjay, who else did Guru Karaikudi Mani accompany this season? Is he as prolific as some of the other veteran mridangists ...like ULK, Trichy Sankaran etc

also, Bhakthavatsalam sir seems to have had a relatiely quite season...havent read much abt his performances...

I think Neyveli Narayanan is one of the best mridangists out there....his thani as an accomapnist for Sowmya earlier this year in Cleveland was fantastic.....

ramarama · Post by **ramarama** » 06 Jan 2007, 08:24

Hey, thanks, V. Yes, the accompanying part is certainly very challenging, or at least looked on as a challenge by some mridangists who actively engage the main artiste in their accompaniment by nicely embellishing the kriti, the swaras, neraval, the gaps - giving interesting pick-up cues to different lines, etc. Though I guess it would take a very fine artiste to be able to cope with all that "intereference" - heh! - some (lesser?) artistes I am guessing would rather just be left to sing their heart out with the mridangist following dutifully as a time keeper.

But those pointers on the tani were what I was looking for - very useful, bhai! How about longer tanis - what are they trying to do there - show off more nadais, more variations? And the ghatam and kanjira players? Are they similar to the violin, in that they try to repeat what the mridangist is doing with some small variation of their own here and there? Or do they march to their own beat? At least in the first and second long solo pieces in the tani, I mean.

And the final korvai - is that not a standard or practically standard composition for all tanis - I used to be very puzzled about how exactly the singer and violinist knew when to jump in and accompany the end of the tani, and then a veena playing friend of mine pointed out in a couple of tanis - that this one particular korvai was a standard finishing touch.

Also, a little unrelatedly, why do most upa-pakkavadyas not accompany the first piece, or at least the first few lines of the first piece - are they trying to give the senior percussionist some breathing space to establish their rapport with the main artiste, or are they warming up, or are they trying to figure out the style of the mridangist so they can accompany appropriately?

raja · Post by **raja** » 06 Jan 2007, 09:28

Ramarama, Vijay,
let me offer my Rs0.02 as an amateur mridangist. Vijay has nicely captured many of the aspects I also look for in percussion, so I will not repeat.

On the final korvai- this is very far from standard. There is an immense variety of korvais that can be played even for plain old Adhi tAlam. Rather than memorizing entire korvais, artistes typically develop a grab bag of building blocks, which they then put together "on the fly" to suit the tAlam, eduppu, mood of the song, and upapakkavAdyam. Fundamentally a korvai comprises 2 components - a pUrvAngam and utrAngam. E.g. if you have 4 pUrvAngams and 6 utrAngams under your belt, you have 24 korvais to choose from. Furthermore, the pUrvangam and utrAngam themselves can be parsed into more fundamental phrases (e.g. thadinginathom) spaced by silent gaps (kArvais). Having these fundamental phrases at your fingertips, and introducing the right kArvais to get the arithmetic right for the tAlam and eduppu allows the artiste to assemble an enormous number of korvais from a relatively small number of primitives. Of course, selecting and combining the right phrases in real time to suit the occasion is obviously non-trivial, and serves as a good yardstick for the quality and experience of the artiste.

The number and type of upapakkavAdyam instruments are also a factor. Obviously having 2 vs. 3 percussion instruments will affect the type of koraippu to be played. And certain phrases are much better suited for one instrument than another (e.g. "thAkitathom" is a particularly apt phrase for kanjira) - so the mridangam artiste will likely choose phrases in his korvais that best bring out the beauty of the other percussion instruments in the ensemble.

In general, the first few sessions of the thani are left for each percussion artiste to exhibit their individual virtuoso. When transitioning to the next phase (koraippu), the upapakkavAdyam artistes demonstrate their ability to mimic the patterns played on the mridangam. If the final korvai is complex, it is sometimes discussed beforehand, in order to ensure the climax presentation is at its best.

raja · Post by **raja** » 06 Jan 2007, 09:50

I forgot to mention that one universal aspect of the final korvai (or any korvai for that matter) is that it is played as a triplet of patterns. In the simpler korvais, the same pattern will be repeated 3 times, with minor embellishments added progressively in the 2nd and 3rd instances. More complex korvais will comprise a logical sequence of 3 patterns, rather than ++straight repetitions. The seasoned main artiste has no trouble identifying each unit in the triplet or sequence, thus can pick up at the right spot. But it does call for a good understanding of layam and percussion on the part of the main artiste. In fact, putting correct thalam during the thani (especially as the nadai changes) is itself non-trivial. The mridangam artiste will quickly gauge the lead artiste's capacity in this regard, and choose the appropriate level of complexity during the thani.

Let me also add that for the real pro who has mastered the fundamental phrases, there is a certain transparency with respect to tAlam. That is, the real pro greets Adhi tAlam with the same confidence and verve as misra-ata. He may never have played a tani or korvai in misra-ata in his life....But he is not stymied....a quick mental calculation maps him to a set of candidate phrases, utrAngams and pUrvangams, punctuated with the right kArvais... and he assembles and executes - with apparent ease.
So yes - to the layman (and amateurs such as moi), not all tAlams are created equal. Attaining equanimity w.r.t. tAlam is indeed one sign of mastery.

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 06 Jan 2007, 23:21

Raja, thanks - that was very helpful indeed. Touching on a point you have mentioned which I had also raised in my post: How would you rate the ability of today's artists to keep pace with the rhythmic variation esp. during the tani.

I have heard about mrudangists having to make adjustments for tardy time-keeping and have also perceived the same myself at times although I can't tell for sure since my sense of laya is also quite poor! Is this really a problem at all at the top levels or only at the junior level?

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 07 Jan 2007, 00:28

If any of you get to attend Manakkal's concert tomorrow (Sunday), just watch the way he keeps talam. It's almost like he is waving in the air! And he does amazing gati changes without missing a beat (pun kinda intended!). I think layam is part of the bloodstream for some of these maestros.

raja · Post by **raja** » 07 Jan 2007, 09:28

Vijay,
since it would be inappropriate for me to mention names, I would say that IMHO, time-keeping on the part of main artistes generally correlates well with experience and name-brand. The more the artiste actually understands the patterns being rendered, the less trouble he/she will have putting thalam at the right kAlapramAnam (this being the main hurdle). And this naturally comes with the experience & practice. If the pattern is beyond the artiste's comprehension, the trick is to then turn deaf to the pattern, and become a pure metronome! I have seen even big artistes switch into this mode (mainly from their facial expressions).

Of course I have TNS as my yardstick. The other day, I was in a concert of his and during the thani, the kanjira player took on a rather complex korvai, mixing nadais etc. Within a couple of aksharams, TNS's face grimaced, indicating (to me) that the eduppu of the korvai was not correct. A moment later, the kanjira player (who obviously cannot see TNS's face) broke into sarvalaghu, and made a second attempt at the right eduppu. TNS gave an approving smile and nod, and the korvai proceeded successfully. This is how deeply TNS understood the pattern within an instant! He would be able to recite the exact sollu in his head as the korvai progresses! With this type of deep comprehension, putting thalam is trivial. IMHO it would be of great benefit for every lead artiste to undertake a year or two of formal percussion study (at least sollu, if not actual playing). I'm not sure this is the case always.

On the topic of tempo - it is very customary for the tempo to gradually increase as a thani progresses. If you notice the pace at which the song resumes after the thani, it is often considerably greater than when it commenced. I believe this is accepted and expected as a de-facto standard. In fact, senior mridangam artistes will sometimes force a marked increase in kAlapramAnam near the end. I have heard on occasion UKS suddenly crank up the tempo just prior to the mohra of the thani, since he feels the pattern he has chosen needs to be presented at a certain minimal pace. I guess it is the mridangist's prerogative to do this during the thani. Besides, it's UKS!

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 07 Jan 2007, 13:22

Thanks Raja - once again, very educational!

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 07 Jan 2007, 13:30

Adding further based on my own experience I can vouch for how much identifying the pattern helps. For example I would be OK with a nadai change (probably without even realizing it) but completely lose track of the rhtyhm when patterns were changed within the nadai - for example while playing takadhimi but in khandam you tend to keep beat to the "takadhimi" rather than to khanda nadai! In korvais expecially those which have different nadais it becomes even more tricky.

Another Q - is grasping of the nadai something instinctive to the seasoned performer (I mean the singer not the mridangist) or something that you work out based on the sollus or an actual count. I can usually pick out tisram fairly easily but khandam, mishram require a little more concentration, counting the beats etc. It gets particularly difficult when passages with long karvais are played.

sankirnam · Post by **sankirnam** » 07 Jan 2007, 20:28

When I started off, I would have to count the matras in my head in order to determine when the nadai changes... after a while, it will become instinctual, just like identifying a ragam. Once you can identify the nadai, it becomes easier to put thalam, as you can count and calculate where various things will fall. The mrudangist will be doing that as well. Part of the mrudangist's training is saying the konnakol with thalam, this helps to learn where everything falls in the thalam, so that it is possible to correct if something falls elsewhere, or if the main artist drags or speeds up the thalam.
Almost all the mrudangam vidvans turn up the tempo at the end, merely for effect, becuase it is more thrilling to hear the mohara and preceding farens played fast rather than slow. Of course, that does not mean that they lack control over the kalapramanam; I have heard UKS play a slow thani for KVN's Maa Ramanan once, and his control over the kalapramanam is amazing, he maintains the same constant slow speed throughout the thani. This is the same kind of control that is required when one plays with a talameter or metronome... it is not easy at all!
And yes, being able to approach all thalams equally is not a trivial thing. All mrudangists will plan the thani quickly once they know the thalam for the thani (indeed, it would be foolish not to). The degree of planning varies from person to person, however. I have seen Karaikudi Mani writing his items down for the thani beforehand on a piece of paper and then referring to that paper during the thani.

MANNARGUDIYAAN · Post by **MANNARGUDIYAAN** » 07 Jan 2007, 22:40

Thank you... mridangam...... please upload your thanis with various artistes..... once again thank you

MANNARGUDIYAAN · Post by **MANNARGUDIYAAN** » 07 Jan 2007, 22:44

one of my friend phoned from thiruvaiyaru, that patri sathish is doing a great job there(he talked over phone while the concert was happening today)

before i could ask about the singer the line cut off... but, i was feeling great that still lot of people recognize string and percussion instruments along with the main musicians....

raja · Post by **raja** » 08 Jan 2007, 08:13

Someone on this thread mentioned the paucity of concerts with Karaikkudi Mani accompaniment. In case anyone is interested, TMK is performing today (Monday 8/1) with Ramanujacharlu on violin, Mani on mridangam, and Suresh on Ghatam.
Venue: Asthikha SamAj, Venus Colony. Time: 6:30pm.
Should be a dynamite combo - I am definitely there!
Raja..

mridhangam · Post by **mridhangam** » 08 Jan 2007, 12:34

Sorry to plunge into this very late as I was out of station on concerts also weekend music season concerts kept me away from the NET. Member Vijay, member Raja have lucidly captured the mridangam aspects about tani avartanam. As a performer for over 20years i shall try to explain the aspects of Tani. A Solo performance by a mridangist is an integral part of any carnatic concert and whether the concert is of 3 hours duration or 30 mts duration, there are proportionate tanis in every concert. A tani generally starts of with Meettu sollu (that is a combination of Nam, dhin and thom and gumukki) and slowly progresses to an idea or a method in which the artiste playes a korvai three times. The idea we call "AAS" (it is like the basic pattern in which a long korvai may be developed based on imagination). The "AAS" will generally be shown along with Meettu sollus and then the korvai will be taken at the appropriate starting point (samam or idam). This starting Korvai sometimes are also played in three speeds with thisram also by some mridangists to create effect. As soon as the first korvai is over there are again some more meettu sollus the difference being the meettu sollus are more tightly packed with less kaarvai than in the beginning Meettu sollus. At this point generally the mridangist plunges into take on various Nadais Tisra, Khanda, Misra or sankeerna depending on the day's particular mood and also the speed of the tala. Generally Tisra and Khanda can be listened more often than Misra and Sankeerna. Tisra Nadai or Khanda Nadai also have various varieties. since an Adi Tala of 8 beats 32 counts becomes 8 beat 40 counts per cycle in Khanda Nadai offering much more scope for exploration and imagination. 1/2 avartha varieties of 20 (6+(1 gap)+6+(1gap)+6) are played with various mathematical varieties. what i said above was just a sample of a variety. There are innumerable varieties for all the Nadais. Mostly the mridangist explores, for example in Khanda nadai, he will play 5 chatusrams for Half Avarta or 10 Chatusrams ( I mean Thakadhimi) for one avartha and try to develop on that. 10 Chatursrams means 5 * 8 variety. So any of the 8 count variety can be played in succession with variations. In thisra also the same set of rules are followed. Instead of playing 3 per beat for 4 times in tisra nadai 4 is played three times for half avarta giving a very nice shift. Audience may feel the difference in the shift and the main artiste keeping the tala will also enjoy the sudden shift of laya. After a few varieties of chatusra and some mathematical combinations are rendered there will be a korvai in the same nadai to finish off the nadai. Post Nadai generally contains much faster meettu sollus combined with sollus from the Karanai Part also to give punch and create a platform for playing the end piece.
Before playing the endpiece some Misra or Khanda Koraippus are played if upa pakkavadyam is present. Generally where only mridangam is playing, Koraippus are not played. The end piece is called Mohara and followed by a Korvai also. Before the Mohara is launched there will be faster paces sollus called Farans which will actually lead to a mohara. Mohara is generally played for 4 avartanas of adi tala oru kalai. Though there are umpteen combinations of moharas possible more than 90% of the times the same mohara will be repeated by all the mridangists for familiarity sake. Korvais will vary from person to person. After the Korvai is played 3 times the main singer takes the song from where he left.
The duration of a tani without upapakkavadyam is about 10 to 12 minutes with upapakkavadyam it may be for 15-20 minutes. This is totally left to the discretion of the mridangist and also the over all concert requirement. Heard longer tanis also and shorter ones too. I have heard TNS personally say that one of the best Tanis he has ever heard was that of Ramanathapuram C.S.Murugaboopathy for his concert at Kerala when there was just about 3 minutes left for the AIR relay to end. He still recalls that "I hv never heard such an electrifying tani at such a short duration".
What makes a tani interesting may be listed below (though the list is not exhaustive) (Not in any order or preference. only points)
1) Clarity of sollus
2) Tonal variations Meetu, and gumukki
3) Imagination and delivery
4) Kalapramanam
5) Nadai variations
6) Kuraippus
7) Idam (that is the starting point either samam, atheetam or anaagatam)
8) Power and stamina
9) Naadam of the instrument (sruthi shuddam and Meetu chaapu shuddham)
and many more like main artiste's performance for the day; song selection; Tani Kalapramaanam; the level of understanding and appreciation from the main artiste which is a main factor for more interesting tanis; presence of veterans as also co-mridangists in the audience (it could create both positive and negative results-but an experienced percussionist will always try to impress the veterans thereby the listeners could get to listen an interesting tani);

Perceiving nadais apart from Tisra is a bit tricky job for general audience. But if you observe closely you will try to find an answer as to which nadai the mridangist is playing. Listen to more of tanis by maestros with various nadais.

A mridangist can make it difficult for the audience as well as the upapakkavadyam to understand which one he is rendering by a using prudent Kaarvais. It is difficult for the upapakkavadyam artiste to immediately grasp the gaps that are being given at the first or even the second instance thereby making it difficult for the co-accompanist. It is all the more difficult to perceive 5 or 7 karvais as compared to 4 or 6. Also longer the kaarvais more the difficulty of understanding.

One more moot point about the Tempo aspect which has been dealt with. What we try to do is to naturally reach the crescendo since farans and moharas require a certain tempo to be effectively rendered. so we try to increase the speed a little bit towards the farans and settle the kalapramaanam towards mohara and korvai (which is only done to create an effect though it might be wrong as the main artiste will be finding it difficult to take off the song at a faster pace left by the mridangist after the tani). Another aspect about maintenance of Tala by the main artiste, I also had the same difficulty of playing tani avartanas for different Main Artiste of different calibre of maintaining the rhythm. But i have come to the conclusion that the chief controller of the laya is the mridangist himself and not the main artiste (at least during the tani), since mridangists generally work on an aspect called "Break Points or Accent points", by which i mean that a mridangist knows where a particular part of the korvai will fall. This helps in many aspects: even if the main artiste misses the talam if the mridangist is very sure about the accent points he wont miss the korvai, this will also help in fixing the kaala pramaanam at a particular pace by accenting on the break points.

On top of all this i have found physiological changes in the body at faster beats than at slower beats. The task is to keep the changes at the minimum level to have fuller control of the layam.

About playing in other talas like Rupakam, Misra Chaapu and Khanda Chaapu it is all dependent on the artiste's imagination. One can do full justice to the talam given for tani avartanam keeping in view the above factors as constant. More so there are weighty kritis fit for tani avartanam mostly in Adi (1 and 2 kalais) and misra chaapu with sama and vishama eduppus. As thodi, khamboji, bhairavi, sankarabharanam, karahapriya, shanmukhapriya and kalyani and a few other ragas are only taken for major ragas out of more than 10s of thousands of ragas, mostly adi or misra chaapu is given to the mridangist for tani avartanam.

i think i have fairly elaborately covered the practical aspects of tani avarthanam and have found an answer for some of the queries too.
JB

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 08 Jan 2007, 13:57

raja/sankirnam/mannarkOil
I am a gnanasoonyam in layam .The second best tani for me this year is Trichy Sankaran in kalarasana(Vijayashiva's concert) and rAja rAo in Bharat kalachAr(suryaprakAsh)

I found the tani of rAja rAo most interesting and special in madurai GS mani's NCA concert (my favourite this season...) .The tani was only for 15 minutes or so with rAja rAo accompanied by sv ramani (ghatAm) and kannan (mOrsing).

I liked the tani more towards the beginning of the second half .Interestingly there were strokes in shortburst . It went like rAjarAO playing with very swift stroke , followed by sv ramani playing . When ramani was playing there was a very feeble upapakkavadyam at the end of every tAlam cycle given by rAja rAo. Then when kannan took the mOrsing ,there was a very feeble upapakkavAdyam support by ghAtam .Is there any term for what I described??It went on like that for 5 minutes,the timing was perfect and well synchronized.

One interesting parameter of tani appreciation(perhaps some of you may feel disjoint). When mridangam artist don't impress me in the first half before the tani,despite he/she playing the tani very well, I am unable to appreciate as much the tani(there is a psychological preconditioning...).This concert of rAja rAo was my favourite,not just for tani but also for his layam when accompanied prior, to songs like AbhOgi varnam, muddumOmu in sooryakantham.

Fewdays rAjarao overbangs(this season it was not that way) , but always great stroking and nAdham. I hope some day sooon ,rAja rAo will be talked as high as UKS or TS or raghu.

mridhangam · Post by **mridhangam** » 08 Jan 2007, 14:23

Rajeshnat you are absolutely right. First comes the accompaniment for the songs. even though i am a mridangam player, i have to accpet the plain practical truth that solo is only a miniscule portion in an entire concert. It is for the song accompaniment that a mridangist scores high marks. In a concert of about 2 1/2 hours a tani may be played for 15 mts or so which is very small percentage. What we do the other 2.15mts matter a lot in making the audience listen to the 15 mts of tani avartanam. All @org know abt the famous joke about Taniya thaane vaasikkare ? innume tani aavartanam edukku taniya ? so it is for the song embellishments and accompanying the songs, playing for niraval and swaraprastaras that a mridangist scores high. Playing for songs requires Paattu gnanam, pauses, anticipation, sangatis and a lot of other things. So it is where a mridangist can score really high.
JB

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 08 Jan 2007, 14:27

Balaji Sir, thank you for that excellent coverage of tani - it is very useful for many lay rasikas like me. With efforts like this on part of mrudanists, the day cannot be far off when the audience would appreciate the tani as much as, if not more than, the concert itself, instead of walking out...

Kulkarniji, there was some talk in a thread that I cannot recollect, of having laya appreciation programmes. Perhaps we could have sessions led by people like Sriram and Balaji to enable an appreciation of laya for rasikas in Chennai. It could be the structured listening kind of program that Kulkarniji mentioned in some other thread. I am sure many of us would be willing to chip in financially, to the extent we can, to enable the event.

Finally, Balaji sir, thanks for your tani which I really enjoyed - Tisram (I hope!) was extremely well done and BSP as usual played brilliantly too. Koraippu kept me on my toes...If you can spare the time, could you send us some brief "sleeve notes" on the same (for example pointing out where nadai changes, a korvai is played etc.)

apasruthi · Post by **apasruthi** » 08 Jan 2007, 14:29

MANNARGUDIYAAN wrote:any reviews of ganapathi raman,manoj siva,erode nagarajan,tvm.balaji,patri satish, b.sivaraman, poonulam,b.s.purushotham .... like artistes ?

Hi All:

It is equally important to review the tani of upcoming artistes...also the performance of other accompanists like violinists etc. During my very infrequent attendances of the concerts, I found the following youngsters' performances scintillating.

1. Abhishek Raghuram's kanjira performance at Music Academy, with Hyederabad Brothers. He was so captivating, that Seshachari has to literally, bend backwards to keep looking at him appreciatively, specially during tani. Incidentally, Vijay's comments on Shri Palghat Raghu Sir's mridhangam that day in the same thread has been a little surprising. In fact it was one of the best tanis that I had listened during the season, and it was a blessing for rasikas, given the maestro's age and present health conditions to still be so electrifying in the stage...

2. Tvm. Balaji, another upcoming youngster, and also Shri Raghu Sir's disciple, has been quite notable in his tani, especially in the concert of Shri OST at R.K.Swamy Hall for Shanmukhapiya on the 9th Dec and also while playing for Sikkil Gurucharan at Academy on the 19th Dec 2.30 pm slot. He cleverly mixes the sarvalaghus in his playing while holding the basic Palghat Raghu bhani in his playing..specially in following the kriti as well as swaras (both chitta and kalpanaswaras)

3. Shri K V Gopalakrishnan in kanjira has been quite versatile in his allround playing. This season, saw this youngster performing in almost all stages and with all senior as well as upcoming artistes..

Among violinists, Shri Nagai Shriram was a cut above the rest amongst youngsters. Among females, Kum. Charumathi Raghuraman holds good promise...

Apasruthi

mridhangam · Post by **mridhangam** » 08 Jan 2007, 14:33

Recently i found another trend. ppl no longer walk out during the Tanis. they now walk out during the start of Violin version of the main raga itself. It is the violinists who have to take care of their interests now a days.

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 08 Jan 2007, 14:40

Apasruthi, I think I may have communicated poorly regarding Sri Raghu's concert. I struggled to keep pace with the taalam because of the mind-boggling complexity of Raghu's tani - I did not mean that as a negative comment (who am I to sit in judgement on such a veteran anyway), quite the contrary. However after such a scintillating tani in which I repeatedly faltered on my taalam, I found the korvai quite easy to understand and hence, "tame"...

Abhishek also played very well and it is good to see him balance 2 very different roles on the concert stage. I don't remember the name of the ghatam player in that concert - a young man - he was pretty good too.

I also agree with your assessments on the other three - KVG, who along with Amrit and BSP, are doing a great service to the cause of the Kanjira (Harishankar's soul must really be resting in peace!). Sriram and Charumathi look well set to continue the fine example set by the likes of RK Shriramkumar and Varadarajan.

apasruthi · Post by **apasruthi** » 08 Jan 2007, 15:05

Vijay, thanks for your clarification on those comments...

The ghatam player that day was Shri Somayajulu.. You are right that given the context of the awesome performance by the deadly duo of grandfather-grandson in mridhangam / kanjira, Shri Somayajulu made his own mark in the concert, whenever he could..

ignoramus · Post by **ignoramus** » 08 Jan 2007, 15:10

vijay, i can understand your difficutly, when raghu sir is blazing away.. God help the person who is marking tala... :lol

apasruthi · Post by **apasruthi** » 08 Jan 2007, 16:29

Padma Subramanyam the great dancer told once during her interview that while she watches admiringly at the danceforms depicted in the silais (statues), sculpted in places like Periya koil, she would transpose herself into the silais to copy the form and to dance with them, while her body would remain watching it like a "silai"..."Antha silaigalin nadanathai rasithu naan silaiyayiduven"...

In the same vein, when Raghu Sir plays mridhangam, we remain unmoved, being caught in the dilemma of should I replay in my mind the one nadai or karvai that he just played, or should I enjoy what he is playing now... and in the process getting so absorbed and losing ourselves to the performance, let alone the thaalam....

So Vijay you are not alone in "that catching up with your thaalam..."

mahavishnu · Post by **mahavishnu** » 09 Jan 2007, 05:18

Balaji-sir, I have question about a more practical matter. In recent years I have noticed that the thoppi of the mridangam tends to be miked and amplified on a regular basis. This is a welcome addition because the bass sound of the majestic instrument comes through very clearly, especially in recordings. In the 70's and 80s there was only one mike for the head of the mridangam but nothing was heard from the other side except through reverberations and other secondary reflections. If we look at concert pictures from even the early '70s or before, we see no microphone whatsoever for the mridangam on several occasions (not even for star vidwans like PMI/PSP). Has this development affected the way vidwans structure their tanis and play for compositions (using more gumukki for e.g)? Can one's manodharma change depending on how clearly the audience can hear the "nadham" of the instrument?

sankirnam · Post by **sankirnam** » 09 Jan 2007, 06:37

The one kanjira player who is really doing justice to Harisankar's soul is Shreesundarkumar. He even acta like Harisankar, looking utterly bored during the concert, and coming alive during the thani. And what he plays during the thani is simply phenomenal. If he is paired with a mrudangam vidwan of anything less than UKS's caliber, he will tear the mrudangist apart.

gsn · Post by **gsn** » 09 Jan 2007, 07:26

Speaking of Harishankar, I was listening to an old TNS concert last night where he is accompanied by Sri CSM and Harishankar. The thani for "Kamalambam Bhajare" is simply monstrous; Hariji, at some places, is just unstoppable, even outdoing the great CSM!

sankirnam -- A request! Would you mind listing the strengths (and weaknesses if any!) of the great mridangists (UKS sir, Raghu sir, Palani, Upendran, Sankaran sir,CSM, KRM sir)? Thanks..For instance, by strengths, it might be playing for kritis, strength in certain nadais (Raghu sir's tisram comes to mind immediately but maybe someone else plays it even better? I don't know!), etc.

-g