Brighas in Vocals

ganesh_mourthy · Post by **ganesh_mourthy** » 19 May 2013, 21:14

I am not a vocalist. I am play instrument. My vocal abilities are very limited just only to memorize the krithis. But, always wondered how you practice quick Brighas through voice. Of course, most people do the pattern. In violin or flute it is the deft finger that does the job. It is not easy to demonstrate it in voice illustratively like in instruments. However, very curious to know what are the impediments you would face in voices. I know for some schools it comes rather naturally , however let us discount the effort put forth. It is awesome to see S.Kalyanaraman doing it. But, I have observed that even film singers effortlessly do it in perfect pitch. I have heard Lata in a Bhajan , and Janaki in some songs ( And these are people who claim that they have never learnt music formally). Could someone throw some light. Now , I am being asked about this by my next generation music connoisseurs

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 19 May 2013, 22:23

Very good topic ganesh-mourthy. Hope we get some good answers and discussions. In the mean time, can you or others post some links that are representative of some different levels of difficulty, like say, basic, medium, high and super-high levels. If it is a portion of a bigger piece, please provide the start and end times in the piece.

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 20 May 2013, 09:05

In a panel discussion session, Smt Meera Kedarnathan mentioned she once asked Sudha Ragunathan how MLV taught brigha singing. Sudha replied saying MLV would just sing the brigha sangati and the student had to listen and reproduce it. There was no special training. I guess for some people/voices brugha singing comes naturally.

The newer versions of AS Panchapakesa Iyer's Ganamrutha Bodhini book have some brigha exercises included at the end. They are to be sung in akAram and in increasing tempos. An example is
S,RSS, RSS, RSS, R,GRR, GRR, GRR, G,MGG, MGG, MGG, etc.

ganesh_mourthy · Post by **ganesh_mourthy** » 20 May 2013, 17:33

Hello Vasanthakokilam,

I am completely don't get what you are saying. Are you suggesting the levels in Brighas Practices?

Besides, I think I have not got replies yet. Did look into some Hindustani sites too and there is no thorough explanation on it. Research continues though..

Rsachi · Post by **Rsachi** » 20 May 2013, 22:09

Just applying common sense :
Some voices are pliable and amenable to brigas.

Those who discover in themselves this ability can develop it by constant practice.

It is one of the prominent features of some schools.
those with briga abilities will gravitate to that school.

Students of briga exponents will learn by copying their teachers.

I have heard that excessive briga (and such other) singing causes vocal wear and tear and even impairs health.

Does this make sense?

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 21 May 2013, 07:36

What you say makes a lot of sense.
Music can be taught, from basic lessons to krutis, of course.
I do not know if rAgam singing, svaram singing, pallavi singing and bhrugA singing can all be taught in the same sense.

I am sure I'm going to be corrected about this.

Can manOdharmam (imaginative singing) be taught? I don't know. With guidance from a guru, can it be developed? Definitely yes.

kELvi gnAnam (listening, listening) and developing on one's own, dependent on one's own abilities and plenty of regular practice is what matters, in my view.

Old time gurus barely sat down to teach their students. The best of their students blossomed into notable musicians because of doing all the above.
Sometimes, helping with household chores and running errands, they could barely hear their guru's singing at home. They mostly listened and learned by being on stage with their guru. Of course, they practiced in their spare time (even tried singing bhrugAs!).

Rsachi · Post by **Rsachi** » 21 May 2013, 09:09

Well and good, all that remains to be settled is the correct spelling. Please indicate preferences:
Briga
Bhriga
Bruga
Bhruga
Brigha
Brugha
Bhrigha
Bhrugha
Briha
Bruha
Birka
Birga
Birgha

By any chance does it come from bhRgu the sage?
I am a Bhargava, Jaimini Samavedin.

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 21 May 2013, 09:10

arasi - the framework for manodharma can be taught but it is up to the student to listen, take ideas and create their own (otherwise it really isn't manodharma!). I think this has been discussed before in other threads.

For brigha singing, if it does not come naturally I think the student can work on it through repeated singing of brigha phrases in different ragas. Exercises (like the ones I mentioned above) may help.

Pratyaksham Bala · Post by **Pratyaksham Bala** » 21 May 2013, 10:49

Derived from Sanskrit 'brih' ??
बृह् = to make big or fat or strong, increase, expand, further, promote.

We may assume that as per the common style of writing in Tamil, 'ப்ருஹா' (brihA) is written as 'பிருகா' (birugA) and pronounced as 'brigA'.

Rsachi · Post by **Rsachi** » 21 May 2013, 12:04

Comes perhaps from Sanskrit bRh meaning the roar of elephants!

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 21 May 2013, 12:05

Legend has it that the temple musicians in the Big Brihadeeswara Temple in Tanjavur used to sing with a lot of fast oscillations. Over time Brihadeeswara became 'brigha swaras'.

ganesh_mourthy · Post by **ganesh_mourthy** » 21 May 2013, 13:06

Hello Arasi

Of course there is nothing like 100 % manodharma as such. Honestly it is permutation of combination of what you have practiced at home and several cut and paste and the portion where you daringly try to add some frills here and there is Manodharma. So , there is nothing like absolute Manodharma on stage at least. There can be more Manodharma ( much beautiful phrases naturally coming out) when you alone, and that is unfortunate. In violin and other exercises you are taught several phrases like SRSS , RGRR, etc which is what Brighas. To get that clarity in voice is a bit difficult as often the notes seem to blend .

girish_a · Post by **girish_a** » 21 May 2013, 17:05

Check this out:
http://rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=7983

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 21 May 2013, 19:29

Mohan,
I did register what you had posted, and now the new (old!) discussion of it.
It might work (as guidance) to develop one's brighA-making ability, I don't deny that.

Ganesh_mourthy,
I see what you mean, but the 'cut-and -paste' bit is for me a bit far-fetched. I wonder--how can it go with manOdharmA? 'Cut and paste' is more a conscious effort?

What comes out of you when you are singing is based on all that you know, feel and have practiced over the years. It's spontaneous--not that much of a conscious exercise, even on stage, as I see it.

Musicians on the forum are the best to address this...

Ramasubramanian M.K · Post by **Ramasubramanian M.K** » 22 May 2013, 01:35

My take on this.
One should have a basic voice capable of modulation--then you build on it with practice--some have natural voice with tremendous capacity for executing fast phrases--ofcourse the same persons also get apaswarams in the process--once it is launched one is at the mercy of the vocal chords and in my opinion if you resort to Brigas you better be prepared for the voice to let you down occasionally.GNB imbibed TNR;s bani in the breathtaking brigas and like TNR himself admitted he would not be deterred by an occasional lapse which TNR would say he would assiduously practice and master.

MLV,Sudha essentially followed the technique and I am sure they would have encountered lapses at times----the mere attempt of the innovative phrase would eclipse the lapse in execution!!

SKalyanaraman imbibed the tradition and executed it with weight in his voice.

Personally I have found the Brinda=Muktha Bani(diametrically opposite of the fast-paced brigas) although difficult at first can be learned thro focussed practice(but one must "eschew" the temptation to execute a brig because it is utterly incompatible with the Bani)--whereas the Briga execution no matter how gifted a voice you have lending itself to "quick flights" can have apaswarams.

This is no scientific explanation but something I have gathered thro my own singing experience(bathroom!!)

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 22 May 2013, 02:16

MKR,
By your bringing in the B&M style, this gets to be more interesting.

First, the brig (I like that--unless Sachi has already zeroed in on the proper word from his long list!) is not an easy thing to wing every time. Agreed. Yet, it has its rewards. Voice control and placement of notes exactly at that speed of delivery is very difficult for many.

Relaxed and slow as the B&M style sounds, that's an equally difficult style in which to sing! No, even harder to achieve, I think. I don't mean by that mere slow singing. That's easy, perhaps. But to bring in the hallmark quality of such singing as theirs is almost impossible for others to achieve.

Ramasubramanian M.K · Post by **Ramasubramanian M.K** » 22 May 2013, 05:06

Apropo your comments--re: execution of Brigas--in my humble opinion AS's brigas were crisp,sweet,and appropriate !!
Most of the time we example--in Sankara srihari--one of the sangathis in Nada Prabhunge,she executes a melodious fast and crisp brig--I must say her clarity consistently exceeded other contemporary artistes.

Most of the time when an artiste executes a briga our immediate reaction is amazement/applause but later on when we play it back and listen carefully,--the slight mismatch between the voice and the placement of the notes would be evident as Arasi points out.--some notes would be faint--analogous to a kind of "slurring" of speech!!

MLV's baro Krishnayya towards the end of the song -- Dasa Ninapara dada--the Baraiyya sangathi at the tail end ---the execution is flawless.

Today the female vocalists like Sowmya,Nithyashree or Bombay Jayashri, Gayathri of Rand G duo(ofcourse Sudha as
well) execute brigas with gay abandon and nonchalance because their voices lend themselves to the exercise!!

DKJ was known for his flashes of brigas although DKP's style was slow-paced(e.g. in the Sivan krithi in Bilahari--Ma madura meedile nee baa--the last sangati in the pallavi--ennai rakshikka --a fast phrase tightly packed within a tight rhythmic interval.

Perhaps to illustrate this further--it may be a good idea for one of our technically savvy forumites to string together some examples--such as the ones suggested above from Video clips or You tube postings . I can cite specific examples that I have noted in some you tube clippings.

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 22 May 2013, 12:47

I am taken aback here: a brig is a kind of sailing vessel, so it is going to take an effort to get back to making the right associations

.

But if the brig is too fast and too intense, I do feel that some of the singers with bad physical technique will, over the years, find themselves brought up all standing; something will carry away.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 22 May 2013, 18:40

Nick,
It's more like soar away than sail away with those 'brih's?

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 22 May 2013, 21:04

One hopes not to hear it saw away

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 22 May 2013, 23:16

Anatomically it is the Uvula that helps you produce the fast vibratory sounds. See
http://tinyurl.com/oykvh8r
This organ is involved in snoring where you make the raucous (musical

) sounds unconsciously.
Consciously it is possile to train Uvula to make Briga sounds; however the frequency will
depend on the anatomical structure wich has limitations.
Warning!
If you stimulate it too much you will throw up!

Ramasubramanian M.K · Post by **Ramasubramanian M.K** » 23 May 2013, 07:45

CMLover: Good point!! An additional factor besides the Uvula is the control over the gusts of air that are pumped thro the Uvula and the " weight" you give it. GNB was excellent in this aspect--TRMahalingam the actor could execute brigas fluently but although he had a high pitch and volume the "ganam" in the Sareeram(Voice) ws lacking. My point is that it is not enough if you are able to belt out a high speed briga but there should be weight in the rendering!!!

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 23 May 2013, 11:46

Ramasubramanian M.K wrote:My point is that it is not enough if you are able to belt out a high speed briga but there should be weight in the rendering!!!

As with all things "musical," it has to be musical --- and when it is, it is like the drops in a waterfall: quite captivating

ganesh_mourthy · Post by **ganesh_mourthy** » 23 May 2013, 14:00

It is different how these vocal gimmicks are handles in different music genres. Though tangential from the topic, I have heard these more subtle and well phrased out in recording theatres with proper rehearsals. The one that I listen to in the concerts are more blurred and the same singer does it better in the discs. This mainly applies to the carnatic singers. In like music , it is very well balanced and unlike in concert format the volume does not go suddenly high and cracks when brighas are executed for the sake of doing it. In cine music , it is used to imply a joyous or exhilarating mood mostly with exceptions, whereas in classical concerts it can be done while singing Subhapanthuvarali and it is beautiful when well done. But it is important that the mood is well portrayed well while singing. To me the best in cine singing is the way SJ does it like in Pon vaanam. It is not too fast but careful in between Gamakas and Brighas, and the essential mood is not lost. ( Please watch out not to watch it if you dont want to watch an Adults only Song

- not for the very senior forumites. My idea is not to titiallate anyone. But, the Gowri Manohari there is indeed fantastic.

In Hindustani I like the way Parveen Sultana executes it and it is extraordinary.

Sudha in the south is good and I like MLV more and it is subtle. I somehow don't like the male giants doing it. It is sudden burst of volume and cracks .

I will try to post more of classical, non-adults only next time.

Janaki in the prelude of this Katrukkenna veil
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD3TnMk1nV8

Janaki again in the prelude of pon vaanan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvWRgvygygc

Chithra in this following songs at 2.30
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYLvSHH7WdU

Lata at this Man MOhana at 3:15
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXGMxTTB_Dg

Sudha at several phrases in enai enna seidhai

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tqVKnufP3k

parveen sultana in this video and or in any of Sultana video you can watch the sweetness with which it is done.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hu0Wn8QpIaA

Ganesh_mourthy

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 23 May 2013, 21:26

ganesh_mourthy wrote:Hello Vasanthakokilam,I am completely don't get what you are saying. Are you suggesting the levels in Brighas Practices?

Along the lines of your examples above. My thinking is there is probably not one thing called Briga but there are many variations and degree of difficulties and we can take baby steps in learning how to do it well from the mechanistic point of view for learning purposes that you inquired about.

I am completely with you on the aesthetics of Brigas that you express above. With many male singers and some female singers, I wonder sometimes 'What is the point?' It all seems to be an exercise in vocal techniques with raga and melodic aesthetics set aside. But as all of you opined, there are exceptions. That is what led me to hypothesize that what we call in general as brigas are many things. Some traversals like the S.Varali example you cite or the Hamsanani traversals in the famous film songs that we had discussed elsewehre in one category which are immensely enjoyable in both male and female voices. There are others which are just dry up and down traversals of the scale. But for some reason, in that category, the higher pitched female voice sounds more aesthetic than a male voice. It is all subjective, so these are just how I receive them.

ganesh_mourthy · Post by **ganesh_mourthy** » 23 May 2013, 21:57

Vasanthakokilam,

Where is Hamsanandi brighas?

By the by , if I were given JUST a fast Brigha piece to listen ( I mean JUST) , most of the times I cannot find the exact raga and can only come close, even when sung by exceptionally good carnatic musicians. It leaves me to ambiguity.

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 24 May 2013, 00:11

I meant "Kuhu kuhu bole koyaliya" as discussed in this thread in a different context: http://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=21303

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 24 May 2013, 02:53

Are hamsAnandi and sOhni identical? The first rAga in kuhu kuhu is sOhni.

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 24 May 2013, 03:14

Ravi, yes, at the level I was thinking of. They are typically talked about in the same breath ( like Hamsanandi aka sOhini or Hamsanandi-Sohini ) though there may be some differences in Aro/Ava and in some aesthetics: http://rambkannan.blogspot.com/2010/03/ ... ohini.html

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 24 May 2013, 06:57

Basically Brigas were introduced in CM by GNB in imitation of the Nadaswaram as MKR has alluded.
It was not accepted in the 30's as violating the CM grammar as was his original introduction of
Graha Bhedam!
Even now it is not widely popular among the performers since these innovations are not readily accepted by the classicists
though the Rasikas love them!
Yet another innovation of that era was the Kadir swaram introduced by Chembai which appears to have
disappeared!
No wonder the movie folks loved it.
The all time best was the late TRM the Actor.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 24 May 2013, 07:31

CML,
The expression 'Kadir svaram' is new to me. Any examples?

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 24 May 2013, 08:51

I think CML meant kathri (scissored) swaram. Perhaps others can provide examples of this.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 24 May 2013, 09:02

That I have heard.
Still, it will be nice to hear a few from different singers.

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 24 May 2013, 09:06

I am sure there are numerous examples of Chembai's kathri swaras. Here is one.
http://www.sangeethapriya.org/tributes/ ... vb-tnk-pmi

Item 5: Todi RTP, he launches into kalapanaswaras after the thani and starting at 28:40 he sings swaras in this kathri manner. TNK joins in the fun too and so does PMI

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 24 May 2013, 09:13

Thanks mohan for the correction and thanks VK for the example.
Even Yesudas never attempts that!
It was a novelty in those days...

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 24 May 2013, 09:40

Back to Brigas, as ganesh_mourthy also pointed out, the HM artists routinely launch into AkArams, right? I do not recall now what that is called but is that related to Brigas ( or the same )?
Like here by Kumara Gandarva in his unique style: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RzP97tlHRk
starting at say 4:15 for around 15 seconds. I am sure there are lot more elaborate examples of this in any HM rendition
but since we talked about Sohini, I thought I will quote one of my favorites ( also, the same composition by his daughter Kalapini Komkali, quite delightful http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU7G0uL3QGo )

Somehow Sohini lends itself to such briga type things while retaining the raga bhava.
( even I have some success doing that while listening to KG

)

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 24 May 2013, 11:31

vasanthakokilam wrote:I wonder sometimes 'What is the point?' It all seems to be an exercise in vocal techniques with raga and melodic aesthetics set aside.

Like very long, very low, or very notes. Unless they have a musical point, they are just show-off stuff.

SrinathK · Post by **SrinathK** » 24 May 2013, 21:48

Thanks for raising the topic. I've been intrigued by brighas ever since I've heard GNB and MSG and I've been researching them ever since. The foundation for brighas starts with all the scalar exercises and the key to voice (and instrumental) control is to practice SLOWLY and concentrate on accuracy and the micro nuances before gradually building up speed -- first with plain notes and then with the gamakas of whatever raga you sing in.

Later one can move out of scalar phrases and go on to singing patterns of notes in various rhythmic patterns like s,rs s,,, r,gr r... for e.g. (GNB used those often in neravals and that was how Chembai sang his trikala swaras). Thanjavur Kalyaraman specialized in singing brighas in rhythmic patterns and it's also seen in Hindustani musicians.

There are also some common brighas used in various ragas and you will hear them often. In fact if you listen to GNB's or MS's recordings, you'll see that in Thodi or Panthuvarali, Kalyani or Bhairavi or any raga sung frequently they had some "standard brighas" for use in shorter alapanas (the longer ones contained brighas that were truly spot improvised). By slowing down those recordings you can decompose them into their swaras and then play it back to see how they flow. Quoting GNB's case as an example you will find he could use plenty of gamakas in his brighas which is what gave them such tremendous weight. In fact Hindustani musicians prepare certain taans unique to their school to specifically stamp their school's identity on the raga they sing and it requires much practice to master those taans to perfection.

In complicated brighas, knowing the phrases is 3 quarters of the solution. The nadaswaram's flowing brighas are actually long strings of notes with plenty gamakas, only they are played at an incredible speed with the kind of agility that is possible with wind instruments. So to test my theory out, I once made my own long strings in Thodi and sang them at medium tempo with gamakas and just for fun I recorded the whole thing and then played it back at 2x. And there was the brigha effect and weight I was seeking (although I can't sing at that speed by a long shot). Brighas like that are essentially made up of long kalpanaswaras. Throw in some jantas and dhatus and jumps and you get even more complicated brighas. This can be done in a very wide range of ragas and it gives endless scope for one's imagination to run riot.

Brighas that sound a lot like "machine gun fire" (no offense meant, it refers to some short length brighas -- which btw can often be heard in tanam...) contain a lot of janta swaras in them and are more difficult to decipher. Both Sri Sanjay Subramaniam and Semmangudi are notable users of this kind of brigha and it's very hard to play back on the violin without properly understanding the swaras. It is important to know the brigha not just for ease and accuracy but also because knowing (or grasping) the phrase reduces muscle tension and avoids bad technique which can strain the voice (and fingers).

A common brigha device is to use gamakas like this -- GG MM DD NN GRNDMGR (Kalyani). Or MGPD SRGM MGGR RSSNND DPPM MGGRRS n2 pd,S... (Kambhoji). That gives tremendous weight to the brighas and it's very challenging to reproduce on the instrument.

Also it is not necessary to sing at brigha speeds to showcase the intricacies of raga phrases. A lot of Madurai Mani Iyer's raga phrases were in fact brigha phrases, but he sang them in small parts at a lower tempo.

In singing krithis, brighas have to be timed properly so that they land at the right points -- e.g. That Baro Krishnayya brigha or that huge instrument - only brigha in Lalgudi's Sindhubhairavi Thillana. However I have also seen brighas that accelerate and decelerate (going out of tala) and then coming back into rhythm by making minor speed adjustments near the eduppu. The most common effect is a brigha that starts slightly slower than 2x or 1.5x normal speed, accelerates in the middle and slightly decelerates near the end. Other brighas actually require a nadai change to fit the right number of notes into the tala. All this you can observe with the help of modern software that can slow down recordings to 0.5 or 0.3x normal speed. It gives some revealing insights into brigha mechanics. VLC & Windows Media Player. I thank you.

For example the brigha in Bhavayami Gopala Balam (underlined) goes like ND,N M,D, -- <G,M DNSNDPM GR S N,> | -- 15 notes. It would fit perfectly into the Khanda Chapu cycle when sung in Tisra Nadai, although in practice MS amma puts in a little acceleration at DNSNDPM and slows down at GRSN so that it still fits.

And this is the brigha in Paripalaya Sarasiruha (Panthuvarali) at <siruha> -- GMPDNRSNDPM -- there is a little acceleration in the middle to fit 11 notes into 2 counts and it can be sung as GMPDNRSNDPM, (12 notes) to fit in Tisra nadai. NRSN for one is quite difficult to get out of a violin with the gamaka at that speed.

Brighas can be taught and the concepts can be presented so that students can understand what they are singing and not just letting their voice fly around hoping it will stay controllable enough to hit the right notes. GNB was one teacher who had a gift of decomposing and analyzing even complex brighas into simple pieces that could be easily grasped by the students.

Finally the key to getting the weight and articulation correctly lies in practicing slowly and deliberately, which is far more effective than just repetitive practice. By far the biggest mistake is to practice brighas too fast. When the student practices too fast and does not observe it gives rise to several bad habits and incorrect techniques. On an instrument the desperation for speed can lead to negligent bowing and tonal loss, unclear articulation, improper finger technique and excessive muscle tension and in a vocalist it can lead to improper vocal usage (esp. at the extremes of one's range), which in turn causes shruti problems in the long run. It can also wreak damage on your talam keeping if you've forgotten to pay attention to it. One tip to get good articulation on the violin is to use more bow (velocity) in the faster phrases.

Ultimately brighas must have the raga swaroopa and must be balanced by the intuitive sense of aesthetics -- it's not just to show how fast one can run up and down the scales -- that's technically acrobatic but doesn't contain much of musicality as such. Again that's where GNB or MSG sir or Lalgudi and other greats excelled, with the added gift of being able to do all this analysis on stage and then faithfully toss them all back when their turn came. I can only wonder how much effort went into that and how keenly they would have observed to play like the way they did.

A few sound samples of brighas slowed down by software should demonstrate very revealing insights. I'll see if I can share some.

Srinath

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 24 May 2013, 22:44

Srinathk,

Thank you for your mini-thesis on brighAs. You explain your thoughts on experiencing them lucidly that even lay persons can understand what you are saying.

I see that one can learn to sing brighAs by practising hard (with a voice and a flair and the aesthetics for them).

One of the things that struck me was that, yes, by practicing a phrase slowly, increasing the speed as you learn along, works (personal experience, also when I learned to speak in new languages).

In teaching children: (after all, they are charmed by them easily, I'm sure)--BrighAs for brighAs sake--'to impress the listeners (or oneself) isn't it. As you point out, weight and the rAga, sAhitya bhAvam should remain intact.

Even seasoned artistes sometimes sing them emptily (laziness, to save the voice, a fondness for gimmicry, or their thinking that's fashionable?).

Anyhow, as with other aspects of a concert, the breezy 'sounding' brighAs also need to be anchored in the firm intent of giving a wholesome concert.

Are you a teacher too? If so, you sound like a good one!

Ramasubramanian M.K · Post by **Ramasubramanian M.K** » 24 May 2013, 23:36

Srinath: Brilliant!! One of the best elucidations I have read on Brighas-Re; your point about GNB's and MSAmma's brigs--you are absolutely right that they executed the brighas with Gamakam most of the times--sometimes when his(GNB) voice and hall acoustics(especially during summer) failed him he would indulge in pure high speed brighas --this would lead to some notes being slurred over --added to it would be noticeable sruthi infractions. At the end of one such concert a fan approaches him and tries to "pep" GnSir up by bemoaning the acoustics,fans(electric!!) inadequacy etc trying to deemphasise the sruthi infractions. GNSir- a true Vidwan that he was ,says in Tamil-"Nan ena pannaradu,sruthiyai avane vachhinduttan"(rTranslation: I asked him(disciple) to give the sruthi-- -- but he(disciple) kept it to himself!!.

I am sorry the translation and the delivery may not have been the way GNSir said it but you get the "drift"!! His narration of joke would be terse and sharp--He epitomised the saying--Brevity is the Soul of Wit"

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 24 May 2013, 23:52

MKR,
GNB might have meant--as you say, that the sishyA playing the tamburA wasn't playing it well enough/loud enough for him to refer to the Sruti every now and then. Or, in a philosophical way, 'avan' (the one above) did not grant me Sruti Suddham always

SrinathK · Post by **SrinathK** » 25 May 2013, 00:26

Speaking of kathri swaras -- they are based on patterns that go like -- S,RS R,GR, S,RS N,SN D,ND N,SR S and the like. They are all plain notes and very difficult to sing with accuracy and spectacular effect aside, I don't remember anyone else even attempting it. For an instrumental version of this, behold the great MSG's trademark speed swaras. His ability to play that was unparalleled. The bow stroke for that is also not the regular stroke, but the sautille (fast spiccato), which combined with playing a little close to the bridge really gives the "scissors edge" to the sound.

mahavishnu · Post by **mahavishnu** » 25 May 2013, 00:27

Srinath, thanks for your excellent post.
Very informative.

I feel that Smt MSS used more brighas in the first half of her career, before the stronger SSI influence in her music. You can see this in her harikambhoji or bhairavi from recordings in the 1940s.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 25 May 2013, 01:53

Mahavishnu,
You took it out of my mouth.
Exactly!

Srinath,
Thanks for the 'scissors cut of brigAs' pattern.

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 25 May 2013, 03:56

Here is something for your amusement. I decided to follow the advice of Srinath and others and start slowly and then speed it up in steps. I am not sure what resulted can be called brigas but here it is anyway. I am sure at fast speeds I stepped on swaras I should not have.

https://soundcloud.com/dabbler126/sets/experimental-71

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 25 May 2013, 05:48

Nice try VK!
I could not figure out the raga.
But I could not accept it as a "briga" though the speed is there.
But then speed alone does not make a Briga.
When GNB introduced Briga SSI was belting out fast swara prastaaram which
however was not a "briga" !
I don't know what is missing !!!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 25 May 2013, 07:55

CML.
Is it 'ravai' that's missing? But it's only a mrudangam player who needs it--not a flautist!

It started off as bhUmiyil mAniDa janamam and sounded a bit AbhERi-ish and sindhubhairavi-like in places. Is it some rare rAgA or a new invention of spring cuckoo?

VK,
That was good. As CML says, Ravai was what the brigAs needed? A voice can do it better, of course. At the very end, I heard beginnings of a brigA in your upper notes (d n S R G R S?).

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 25 May 2013, 09:02

The raga is Dayavathi

SrinathK · Post by **SrinathK** » 25 May 2013, 09:28

Speed is not attained in one session. It's better to compose a brigha and practice it slowly then at medium tempo for a while, then take a break and come back to it later. Trying to force the speed is only effective up to a point, after that no matter how hard one tries one can't improve further. At that point a break is recommended. Come back after a few hours and you'll find it has become noticeably easier to play faster. The key is muscle memory. A movement once learned is much easier to play at speed.

Try this one in bhairavi : RGMPDPMGRS -- RGMPDNSRS,NDPMGRS - RGMPDP PMGRGMPDNSRS,NDPMGR GMPDNS RGR SRGR SNDP MP MPDP MGRS GGRS NNDP GGRS N,DP MDPMGR GMPDNS R,GM - RG SR NS PD MP MGR, R,S,

Very common brigha. I can't show the gamakas here or tell you exactly where to accelerate or decelerate , but this one is well known and some variation of it appears in virtually every other alapana of Bhairavi. The underlined parts are played at double speed and that creates the burst effect.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 25 May 2013, 19:22

Ah! That is it!
The burst effect!
Or the staccato effect !
VK
Try again..