James Nutter's List: Music, Theory, Ragas, videos

• Description

• It is not a tune, melody, scale, mode, or any concept for which an English word exists.
• combination of different characteristics
• There must be the notes of the rag.  They are called the swar.
• There must also be a modal structure. 
•   Jati is the number of notes used in the rag.
• There is also the jati.
• There must also be the ascending and descending structure.  This is called arohana /avarohana
• various notes do not have the same level of significance.
• characteristic movements to the rag.
• rags have traditionally been attributed to particular times of the day
• families of male and female rags

9 more annotations...

• boiling a small amount of mucilage
• until it becomes soft and gummy. It is then applied to the exposed surface of the maidan to form a circle
• The circle is then allowed to dry in the sun.
• reputed to be made of soot, iron dust, and other unidentified vegetable matter
• small quantity of water and white flour
• heated and mixed to make a glue
• mixing process is done in a rubber mat made from an old inner tube
• The glue is now mixed with the syahi masala
• The application of a layer involves three steps:
• Step 1. The syahi paste must be applied. This is done by using the first finger of the right hand to take up a small quantity of paste. The paste is quickly applied with a circular motion of the finger to the area previously covered by the mucilage. Support is given to the first finger by placing the second finger over the first.
• Step 2. Excess paste must be removed. This is done by scraping with a curved metallic strip. The tabla is rotated during this process so that the application is of uniform thickness.
• Immediately after the excess paste has been removed, a polished piece of basalt is used to rub the syahi
• The pressure is very important; it starts gently and builds up to a considerable level
• Periodically the stone is rubbed against the cheek to deposit a microscopic amount of sweat
• diameter of each layer remains full size until four or five layers have been applied
• Then the diameters are reduced until the layers are hardly more than half an inch
• full size layers are again applied, followed by decreasing sizes
• process continues until the desired thickness and shape is attained
• attach the membrane to a resonator
• conga players who take a heavy hide and sand the periphery of the skin so that the finished drumhead is thicker in the middle and thinner at the edge
• The shape of the syahi is very important. The syahi will always be thicker in the center than at the edge
• The sound will be dissonant with different strokes evoking different pitches
• If the geometry is not correct then many of the resonance modes will not converge in a proper way
• The cracks are the key to the syahi having flexibility, even though it is composed of such a rigid material

22 more annotations...

• lower quality skins are utilized by folding them in half several times to form a triangle. The tip is cut off, so that when it is unfolded, there will be a circle of about two to three inches in diameter that has been removed
• The chat is laid on top of an intact skin so that the outer surfaces of both skins face up
• Insertions are made parallel to the edge of the skins with a small chisel
• Care should be taken so that the chat is slightly bunched up, so that on the drum all of the tension will be exerted against the maidan
• A piece of cord is inserted with a large needle and threaded back and forth through the two skins as the insertions are made
• two ends of the cord are tied together.
• If the chat is very broad and extends inwards to a great extent, it will decrease the sustain of the instrument.

5 more annotations...