From: pjn+@cs.cmu.edu (P J Narayanan)
Subject: Re: RTP
Followup-To: rec.music.indian.classical
Organization: School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 21:35:33 GMT

Is there any evidence to say that the "sankeerNa" jAthi/gathi was
introduced later? If the "shUlAdi" thalams were 35 in number, 5
jAthis are required. Anyone with more info?


>     After a detailed elaboration(aalaapana)of a raagaa,the artist would
>render the `thaanam'using the words like `thaanam,nam and thom/thoem'.In this 
>section,the vocalist would comfortably `stand'on the `nyaaasa swaras'and 
>goes back and forth over the notes of the raagaa with a rythm.Like aalaapana,
>this also doesn't include the `thaaLaa'.But in Swathi ThiryunaaL tradition,
>during the Dasara Concerts,the `thaanam'is sung with the `thaaLa'of the song.
>Infact,the Mridhangam is played for support.Here the pallavi is replaced by a
>regular song.

One thing I have heard mentioned about the thAnam portion is that it
should sound like a veena. Of course, that is a subjective opinion,
but thAnam sounds very nice on the veena, sort of like jor/jhala of on
Hindustani instruments.  There are several styles of thAnam singing,
like thuragagathi (I am sure of the thuraga part, what is the second
half of the name?) which means "like a galloping horse."

It is/used to be a custom in Kerala to sing thanam with the mridangam
to accentuate the rythm. The navarAthri concerts in Thiruvananthapuram
have an entirely different history. SwAti ThirunAl has composed nine
songs, one for each night of NavarAthri. That song is traditionally
sang as the main piece of the day, with elaborate rAgam and thAnam
preceding it. Regular concerts in SwAti ThirunAl tradition (other than
these) are quite like any other and have Ragam Thanam Pallavi, I
think.

>song is not considered great.The `thaaLaa'parameters are more important to 
>colorify this piece.Rendering an RTP alone doesn't carry much weightage if the
>`thaaLaa' is not something unusual.

One finds that a large number of the RTPs are sung in Adi thALam,
randu kalai, though.

Another important aspect of the pallavi is the "padagarbham" or the
"aruthi". The pallavi sAhitayam and rhythm will be structured to have
a major yathi or break at a major kriya of the thAlam. In xxx-jAthi
thriputa thAlam, this break occurs at the first drutham of the thAlam
(the first "0" of the 100 of thriputa). The pallavi is composed of a
poorvangam (first half) and an uttarangam (second half) which are
separated by the padagarbham.

>    Now let us see the way of singing.After an elaborate `niraval' of the 
>pallavi(covering the various aspects of the raagaa)is done.After the `niraval'
>the artist comes back to the  `pallavi'as it started.The FUN starts.

The `fun' really is the anulOma/prathilOma that is done on the pallavi.

>1.The artist goes to the lower tempo(viLambitha kaalaa)completes one cycle of 
>the pallavi(which requires two cycles of the base tempo) .

This is the anulOmam (or is it prathilOmam ?). The classic anulomam is
the act of singing the sahityam at the same speed, but keeping the
thAlam at twice the speed. Musicians today do what is described above.

>3.(Without coming back to the `madhyama kaalaa)He/she speeds/jumps up to the 
>`dhuritha kaalaa'and completes four cycles of the pallavi(which require two 
>cycles of the base tempo).

This is the prathilOmam. The thisram step comes in between.

Classically (i.e., according to Sambamoorthy), anuloma/prathilomams are
performed keeping the padagarbham constant. That is, the speeding up or
slowing down will start at the padagarbham. This seems to be violated by
most musicians today. Personally, I think keeping padagarbham fixed is
more rhythmically appealing.

>   
>MOHAN

A satisfying RTP is one which contains most of what is described
above. A large number of RTPs performed today, however, is merely
ragam-thanam-niraval plus (this is the most *populist* part)
ragamalika swarams, sadly.

PJN

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Robotics Institute, CMU			pjn@cs.cmu.edu
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Newsgroups: rec.music.indian.classical