The Chilla Experience

A couple of months back, I had undertaken what is called the “Chilla”, which involves a 40 day commitment under specific contexts and circumstance. It was one of the most momentous experiences for both, my musical journey, and the larger journey of life in general. I've been wanting to pen down my experiences of and around this, but it was very challenging to find words to describe such an experience. But after postponing it for 2 months, I'm now writing down whatever I can to share the essence of the 40-day journey. The written language is just too limited to do justice to the entire experience, but we try to make the best of what we have available.

A brief introduction to the idea of “Chilla” - It is an esoteric concept to say the least, and most of the people I've spoken to hadn't even heard of such a concept. The fundamental idea is for the practitioner to take 40 days away from all interactions with society, and immerse himself/ herself into a chosen practice with all their physical, mental and spiritual energy through a disciplined framework. It is difficult to say where this concept came from, but some believe that it originated in the Sufi spiritual tradition, where the saints would spend this time in deep meditation and contemplation, whilst abstaining from all human interaction. The idea captured the imagination of some serious practitioners of Indian Classical Music too, and I was introduced to the concept after reading of a senior musician who had undertaken this endeavour. The choice of duration to be 40 days makes physiological sense, as there are studies that indicate that neural patterns take that long to form, and constant focussed mental association for this duration enables very effective internal development. The idea of isolating oneself from all societal interactions makes sense, as it facilitates deeper levels of focus free from communication & societal responsibilities, enables at least a transient awareness of the futility of individual identity, and in turn, a complete involvement in the chosen practice.

The idea of not even making eye contact with another person for 40 days, let alone remaining in total silence, was daunting to say the least. But I had been wanting to take this up for quite some time. On the more pragmatic end, my motivation to take this up was to engage in an intense practice routine and challenge myself to maintain self-discipline without any external motivation/ incentives. Maintaining discipline is easier within a community, as there is peer based motivation as well as awareness through training. Living in a Gurukul, where I have a class with my respected Gurus almost everyday and my fellow students are practicing regularly and intensely, it is not too difficult to push myself to be disciplined in my own practice. The motivation to be disciplined isn't too hard to find. However, being in an active community setup also brings a lot of distractions through non-practice related responsibilities, contrasting communication models and various logistical constraints. Life in the Gurukul is extremely rewarding and highly conducive to growth, not just Musical; and one cannot progress by living in isolation or running away from the “distractions” throughout. Taking up such an endeavour on occassion however, can potentially add great value to the individual, and also enable him/ her to better engage with regular life and maximise value-adding exchanges.

I was also strongly motivated to take up this endeavour for certain intangible, and rather inexprissible intents. Dhrupad Music, especially the framework in which my Gurus are training us, is an extensively spiritual pursuit. The brilliance of my Gurus' music shines forth through the state of mind, and the almost yogic coordination between their varoius internal and external faculties that they access. The training for this lies not in the activities themselves that one performs, but in the awareness & experiential knowledge that one develops, as one moves ahead in life. I wanted to take this opportunity to remain only with myself and my Riyaz throughout this period, and without getting ambitious, engage with myself in as undistracted and honest a setting as possible.

The experience was quite challenging. The intense mental involvement led to a lot of body heat, resulting in acidity, ulcers, incomplete sleep and joint pains. There were a couple of times when my voice just stopped functioning and I was very scared of having caused permanent damage to my vocal cords. Thankfully, on both occassions, I recovered in a day or 2. I was constantly tempted, more so when I had lost my voice, to skip certain practice sessions and just relax/ sleep. It was quite interesting to see the various logical arguments my mind would generate to convince me to relax the discipline. Given that there was absolutely no kind of monitoring, I had no external reason to continue waking up at 4.30 AM everyday and practicing till the night. It was an important lesson to me on the nature of the ego and its role in maintaining discipline. The ego generally becomes relevant only in the context of external interactions. I realized it is possible to manifest even internally, and the ego is probably the strongest accessible motivator for humans. This internal manifestation of ego was quite fascinating, as it then gave an insight into the self, independent of human identity – which the ego provides. It certainly cannot be categorized as exemplary spiritual realization. However, for me, it was a very deep insight into the inner human mechanisms, and its application in frameworks of discipline, love, compassion, creativity, anger, joy, depression, gratitude, fear and all the other emotional experiences we go through. In between alterations from heavy internal dialogue to deep silence, I'm happy I was not swayed and managed to maintain full discipline throughout. Even on those occasions when I lost my voice, I sat through every practice session as per schedule, running the practice mentally and humming along where possible. I most certainly reaped strong benefits from this, a lot of which I can probably still not even perceive. I cannot claim to have made exceptional musical progress, or to have understood “Bhairav”, my chosen Raga for this practice. I can however say with certainity that I managed to overcome major mental blocks/ barriers that were blocking my direct technical growth as well as creative growth. I am sure as time passes, I will continue to see more and more of what I actually did gain through these 40 days. 

A musician is made by an incredibly large amount of factors, not all of which are under his/ her own control. I got to see this clearly in the Chilla itself. So many people contributed immensely in making this possible. My parents who have always encouraged and supported me in whatever I have wanted to do, even if they couldn't relate to it themselves, and still doing all they could to help me. My Gurus for their extremely patient, yet dynamic and particularly skillful training, that they impart with such precision – encompassing the best Dhrupad training, both musically and otherwise. My incredibly kind hosts who took care of all my needs through these 40 days, and managed to devise a set up where everything could be managed without needing to meet or communicate with anyone throughout. My friends and well wishers for all their assistance and moral support, encouragement which helped in no small measure to push spirits high when needed. Technically good music comes through the rigours of disciplined practice. But the artistic brilliance that separates the geniuses from the merely "technically brilliant", comes from all other aspects of how the individual chooses to live his/her life.

I am immensely fortunate to be training under respected Gundecha Brothers. In an age of fragmented families with siblings at each others' throats, fighting over mundane issues, here are 3 brothers all living together with their families and parents under the same roof in complete harmony. One can see what it means to “live” Dhrupad in their day to day lives. Through the Chilla, I got a deeper understanding of various things Gurujis have spoken on different occassions, in class or out. Everything seemed to make deeper sense in the context of the music practice; and interestingly, also in a broader sense of life itself. I am quite new to music, having had absolutely no association with any kind of music until 3 years ago. For me, every aspect of Dhrupad, be it the philosophy of Naad, Sur, Raga, Laya or anything else, relates to a philosophy of life itself. And I realized how rare it is to be with Gurus who impart the finest of musical training, and at the same time, facilitate realization of more subtle aspects of music & life.

This Chilla was definitely a major landmark along my artistic journey, and I look forward with all eagerness to go further along this path.

Skill vs Talent

"Skill is a hindrance. Looking good is a hindrance. Balance is a hindrance.
                                      You work hard to get skill so that you can efface it."

                                              -Kazuaki Tanahashi, "Brush Mind"

I never liked the concept of talent. Talent is usually associated with "gifts" from nature. The idea of people being "inherently good" at certain pursuits.
The reason I never liked it was because I always felt one's attention should not be on things beyond our control (if at all they exist. There are many contradicting studies about the existence of the concept of "inherent" talents), and only "skills" that have been earned through effort must be recognized and encouraged. There is a very obvious conundrum presented by such a stance. How does one differentiate between a "skill" and a "talent"?

That's not an easy question to answer. And in the context of categorization of external observations, probably not even one one worth pursuing. It however does have significant value in an introspective and/or educational context. Leading contemporary pedagogical studies strongly prescribe usage of praise as a motivational tool for "work put in/ efforts taken" vs "talent". As such advocates conclude, the former approach leads to proactive growth in the individual, while the latter leads to complacency. This does make sense, and is what led to my bias against the idea of "talent" in the first place.

We cannot deny differences in "inherent skills" of individuals. Such "talent" does certainly give a boost in the beginning. But eventually the playing ground evens itself out. Inherent talents are in themselves quite specific and limited, and need to be applied consistently to a relevant pursuit to grow into something meaningful. One could then quite justifiably argue that these "talents" are subsumed under the domain of "skill"; i.e. that which is cultivated through work and effort.

So is excellence all about cultivating "skills" then? Most certainly not. As a student of Music, I can say for sure that extensive practice alone is not what makes a brilliant musician. There is almost at least (oxymoron intentional :P ) just as much space for something very subjective and individual about those who have achieved brilliance in any field of Art. The line between distinctive practice methodologies and individual attitude/ subjective application is not very clear. Subjectivity is what elevates a technically correct piece of work to a work of brilliance. Is this "talent" then? Do we have no control over it?

Well, even if we concede that some of it is beyond our control and can only be attributed to Karma/ Luck (based on one's Theosophical bent of mind :P); there certainly is at least some portion of this "talent" that can be cultivated. Otherwise, a brilliant musician would not be a generally inspiring person to talk to. An exceptional painter would not be able to charm a lay person even without his paints & easel. A genius mathematician would not be able to trigger a quest for meaning through a general conversation. The very fact that pioneers of a specific domain move and inspire even in contexts unrelated to that domain shows that there is more than just skill in making them truly outstanding.

I'm extremely fortunate to be training in the Dhrupad form of Music under Gurus who are undoubtedly exceptionally "skilled" and also amazingly "talented" (Padma Shri Gundecha Brothers). In the 3 years I have spent with them, I have seen how their approach to living life in general itself is so inspiring, which certainly has some causal link to their music, that literally sparks of genius. They have undoubtedly toiled for thousands of hours to develop their skills. But that is only one part of what makes them so phenomenal. Explaining what this is, is almost impossible. One progresses along this elusive path through continuous exposure to the thoughts, philosophies and experiences of great artistes. Spending time in person with such people is ideal. My Gurus spent a large amount of time with their Ustads when they were learning (and a lot many other outstanding artists of all forms in their time), and are now passing on the same experience to their students. Their teaching is not solely focused on developing the skills of their students. Through life in the Gurukul, with its various tasks and challenges, living & learning amidst various contrasting individuals from very diverse backgrounds, they bring in a considered blend of focused music training, allied philosophies, experiential training in virtues like responsibility, commitment, discipline, empathy, compassion, leadership and facilitate a particularly holistic growth of each individual. Even though it may not seem so at the moment, every aspect of life in the Gurukul is actually a direct contribution to the growth of either the "skill" or the "talent" of the individual.

Skill certainly arises out of the rigors of discipline and intense practice. Cultivating Talent probably calls for a very high level of honesty & awareness that demands immense courage. It is quite elusive, misleading and possibly hence, fascinating!


Ending with another quote from the same book as the opening line -

"Profundity and uniqueness: undeniable qualities of outstanding art. Profundity comes largely from discipline - learning techniques, copying ancient works, repeating the same things over and over. Uniqueness comes from freedom, which means to keep on learning from ourselves. discarding things we have learned from others. Here, classical pieces are not the ultimate goal; they are guideposts, sources of inspiration."

                                              -Kazuaki Tanahashi, "Brush Mind"

The Purpose of Arts

I'd answered a question on Quora on this, and some people wanted me to post this on my blog too.. So here it is..

My Background:
I am currently a full time student of the Dhrupad form of Indian Classical Music (The oldest surviving form of Indian Music..). I live in a Gurukul run by the Gundecha Brothers, Padmashree Award winning artists (Padmashree is the 4th highest Civilian honor in India. It's quite a big deal!) learning from them in the traditional Guru-Shishya style of learning.

I also did my BTech from IIT Bombay (passed out in 2013). Yes, I have made a HUGE shift in life. And NO, I did not have any background or prior training in music. I started as a hobby while in IIT, and now here I am.


Okay. Before going into the purpose of art, lets see what the purpose of anything we do is. A broad and universally applicable answer is happiness. We do what we do, because it makes us happy (or atleast we think it does/ will). This happiness could be associated with fame/ popularity for some, money, a huge house etc.., good relationship etc.. Different people have different things they associate with happiness and strive for. Having a tangible material goal is very good and necessary to keep one active and focused in life. But what is it that truly makes us happy?

When I got my JEE results, I was happy. Really happy... There have been many such instances in my life.. When I look back at these instances, after a while I realized that I was happy here, simply because the heat of the moment made me forget all reasons for unhappiness.. For example, when India won the cricket world cup in 2011, I was really happy. At that moment, my grades, pending assignments, arguments with a few people, worries about where my life was headed.. etc.. all dropped out of my head; and I was happy!

In a way, emotions are all relative. Conversely, it can be argued that during my really low moments, I forgot all the good things in life. My point is that, real happiness is not about feeling ecstatic about a certain event in life. Real happiness is in the ability to move beyond these plays of the mind, observe its ups and downs from afar, and live life as a game.. Enjoying every moment inspite of the circumstances.

The arts require the individual to do this exactly. The journey to becoming a true artist is scary. One must confront all his/ her inner demons as a sort of job requirement. When constantly finding ways to express yourself, your thoughts and emotions better, you automatically are on a journey to know yourself better.

In Indian Music, there are hundreds of Ragas (Anup Jalan's answer to Hindustani Classical Music: What is a Rāga? How do we distinguish between different Rāgas?) When I hear each of these different ragas, it has a different emotional effect on me. And the effect of each raga is different each time, depending on my prior mental state, the approach of the artist and other factors, like company, atmosphere etc.. I have never been able to satisfyingly identify or name the emotions that arise in me listening to any raga. I can just observe, and at times, immerse myself in it. The same happens to me even when I am doing my practice and singing myself.

What is happening is, I am being made aware of the different facets and depth of my being in the most objective manner possible. Emotions can be very very intricate at times, and difficult to quantify.. I am now accustomed to observing them, without the entrapping attachments that come with a personal involvement. This enables me to become aware of an existence of my self, beyond petty emotions, and become a true observer to all that is occurring in universe within my mind and without. This leads to the true happiness I spoke about earlier. 

This is also why artists are placed a notch above others, and are respected immensely. They bravely take out the time and efforts to master the grammar and language which they use to create the chosen form of art. And it is truly a form of service to themselves and society.

I urge all of you to engage in some artistic hobby or the other.. It's amazing!

Differential Calculus, Archery and HDTV

What is artistic beauty? The perspective of an engineer cum full time student of Indian Classical Music...

In differential calculus, we look at any quantifiable entity that has a direct or indirect relation to other quantifiable entities. Given an overall picture of the trend of this entity, we attempt to glean more information about it by performing the operations that are made available to us with a functional knowledge of Calculus. In differential calculus, given the profile of the basic entity under study as a function of another quantifiable entity, we attempt to obtain the rate of change of the entity with respect to the other.
In a linearly varying situation, it is fairly straightforward. But life is seldom linear. The basis of differential calculus is in splitting the whole picture into much smaller ones, and approximating each to be a linear scenario. If the interval taken is infinitely small, then the end points become adjacent and a linear approximation leans very very close to the actual situation.

What now? This understanding opens up a whole new galaxy of possibilities. With knowledge of certain elements, we can begin to uncover and understand a whole set of new elements, which could (and has..) lead to path breaking innovations in various fields. The quality of the output of any application of this principle of differential calculus depends on one thing. The size of the interval under consideration. The smaller the interval, the closer one gets to reality, and obtains a truer understanding of life as it is.

If tomorrow, I decide on a momentary whim to learn archery as a hobby, after a couple of weeks of training, I would probably be able to hit a target placed at reasonable distance. Friends having no exposure to archery would probably applaud my skills as an archer. But then, I would be hitting the center of the target if at all by just a lucky chance, and not by a manifestation of skill. But someone of the likes of Jayanta Talukdar (Indian Olympic Team- Archery) would fire arrow after arrow into the center of the target by intention. Even a small displacement in final position, or a slight offset in the delivery would not go unobserved. So too, would he draw appreciation from his friends and peers only at the highest levels of perfection.

Some of my friends, who are huge movie buffs, watch exclusively HD or Blu-Ray prints. They just cannot tolerate a low video quality. The resolution of their cognition instruments has increased by continuously being exposed to infinitesimal perfection in quality, that the flaws that may not be so obvious to the general observer get magnified.

Now, is this heightened sense of perception always good? On the face of it, it would appear not so. The other side of the ability to understand finer aspects of any activity is that its flaws, if any, get magnified. A well trained classical singer would not be able to enjoy a beautiful but not wholly perfect melody the same way I or a not so experienced musician would. So is it then a curse to develop a heightened sense of perception? Again, no. This sense enables the connoisseur to access previously unknown realms of joy and the level of immersion in the field tremendously increases. That's why the role of a "rasika" is sometimes treated almost as important as that of the performer in the Indian tradition. The rasika too has the same level of cognition abilities, and achieves the same spiritual state as that of the artist. He/ she just has not spent time in honing the instruments used to deliver the same material, the same way the artist has.

This heightened sense of perception, when restricted to strictly its own domain, could come with its disadvantages. But once it reaches a level so high that it begins to seep into the entire character of the person, one gets the ability to see beauty in the perfections as well as the imperfections of life. My gurus teach horribly out of tune (i'm sure that's how we sound to them :P) singers like me day after day and never get fed up or tired. They still show excited signs of appreciations at those moments when we manage a good delivery during our time with them. I know of highly skilled movie makers with an amazing repertoire of skills still sit back and enjoy a presentation of poor external qualities if the content has great inherent beauty. I've seen great artists enjoy music delivered with feeling even when not perfectly in tune. Their perception, once matured enough to capture the niceties of emotional appeal, can observe from afar the musical imperfections, but still appreciate the beauty in delivery and lyrical content. Artists of one genre after a certain stage begin to enjoy and appreciate art of any form.

In the long run, obtaining this heightened sense of perception, increasing the resolution of the cognition instruments pays off amazingly well. I've heard PhD students in my college share experiences of an increased sense of focus and ability to delve deeper into the intricacies of their field after having actively studied classical music. This makes perfect sense to me as one who is beginning to dive into the deep ocean of Dhrupad himself. This is probably why having an artistic hobby is highly recommended by experts :D

Rock Climbing and Raag Sangeet...

This post draws on a personally observed analogy, and is not a scholarly study of two activities. It attempts to unravel the intricacies of classical music using that analogy and can help the uninitiated understand and appreciate classical music to some extent.

I'd spent a month in the Western Himalyan Mountain Ranges about 3 years back professionally learning mountaineering. Few of those days were spent in learning rock climbing in some depth. I was struck at the extent of the analogy that can be drawn between classical music, which I'm learning now and a completely unrelated adventure sport like rock climbing.

In rock climbing, the first thing we do is study the rock and become one with it. Identify the path to be taken, locate holds, cracks, ledges and the like, most of which would be almost invisible to the untrained eye. A rock climber before climbing first builds his/ her finger/ toe strength with specialized exercises apart from those for general fitness and stamina. Then he/ she learns to identify different types of holds and supports to use for climbing, in the rock and also techniques to hold onto different types of holds and ways to support the weight on them. Also to be practiced are ways of moving efficiently and gracefully from one support to another.

The rock climber before climbing the rock does what is known as eye-climbing. Here, he/ she identifies a path to be taken and simulates the entire climb, identifying all supports and planning the techniques most suitable to be used on them, to avoid getting lost midway. There could be many paths to climb the same rock, each one with its own set of challenges. Paths could be easier and smoothly flowing in the beginning or at some other time, have a certain type of hold being more prominent and requiring extra command over and others being not so important for that particular chosen path, there could be various actions (in terms of choice of hold to catch onto, or approach to anchoring yourself onto a chosen hold) that could be taken on a chosen path to continue the ascent and so on... Its basically about making few big choices at the onset and then making many many small choices as you go on.

In Raag based music, the tanpura substitutes the rock as an independent and complete entity. Before synchronizing oneself with the tanpura and interpreting and presenting the melodic structures that a trained singer reads from it, one must first build the strength of the throat and vocal chords with some specialized techniques. In Dhrupad (the oldest surviving form of Indian Classical Music), the extent of emphasis on proper voice culture techniques is truly exhaustive to the point of being extraordinarily difficult and even at times painful; but once mastered, the voice is then able to deliver really beautiful and rich harmonics with the notes being sung, which in the layman's language translates to an extraordinarily rich sounding, resonant, powerful yet amazingly mellifluous voice. Once this is done, the reading of the tanpura begins. We start to learn to recognize the various notes and microtones (shrutis) that slowly uncover themselves from within the demure folds of the drone. Then we learn to anchor ourselves onto these 'holds' and play around with them, move from one to another, make long and short jumps and basically gain control over their delivery from within ourselves.

Then starts the raag itself. The raag is like the path chosen by the rock climber. It will have certain notes being more prominent than others, movements particular to its own realm, and moods associated with certain parts/ phrases and so on. This task becomes more daunting because most of the notes exist only as probabilities and not discretely. The skill and dexterity required to move in the right manner from one note to another while still maintaining an aesthetic appeal is incredibly high, and doing it successfully is a task that requires hours of 'riyaaz' or time spent dwelling on each note of each raag independently and then travelling along with them based on the structure of the raag aided of course by individual creativity and imagination. Here too, it is a game of making few big choices and many smaller ones at an instantaneous level. Spontaneity plays a major role in Raag based music as the possibilities are almost literally infinite and too much of planning and fixed structures could end up being redundant and irrelevant to the moment.

In rock climbing, if you do not anchor yourself properly, you plummet down to be jerked up by the safety rope tied (the absence of which could lead to a sticky end.. :P ). In classical music, though one does not literally plummet to his physical downfall, incorrect positioning of the note invites severe criticism from listeners and an abrupt severance of the deep spiritual connection that gets established in the course of the recital.

An experienced rock climber climbs so gracefully and seemingly very effortlessly navigates the subtlest and most complicated of paths with such ease, that it is a real pleasure to watch him/ her in action. In my opinion, it is an art form in its own right and can give great joy to those who dive into the depths of the stone...

The analogy being drawn here of course has its boundaries, and a complete parallel very obviously cannot be drawn between two completely different endeavors. However, the extent to which the analogy could be drawn seemed to satisfactorily explain some of the intricacies of classical music to a newcomer.

Hope it helped demystify to some extent the esoteric world of Indian Classical Music :D

The aura of a classical musician

I've always wondered why classical musicians carry that presence and have that aura that I've only seen in very few people, mostly those who have been meditating for many years. While always generally aware of the rigors and discipline involved in become a good classical singer, it didn't make sense why others who work just as hard in whatever they are involved in do not achieve the same spark in their eyes.

Living in a gurukul for Dhrupad, probably the toughest (widely considered so because of the rigorous voice training it involves and the near inhuman levels of perfection and understanding of "sur" or musical notes and 'shrutis" or microtones) and most puritan form of Indian Classical music still in existence today since the past two weeks, I am beginning to understand why.

For one, we work really hard. My official schedule involves getting up at 4.15-4.30 am every day and developing the lower octaves of my voice and going to bed by 10- 10.30 pm after about 7-8 hours of direct vocal practice apart from which I have my class with my gurus (The Gundecha Brothers, Padmashri award winning artists, amongst the senior-most dhrupad singers today) for a couple of hours, spend another hour or so listening to dhrupad recordings of my gurus and other senior artists of today and yesterday, occasionally read about music and discuss music with the other musical aspirants of the gurukul. But then, all those I know in the corporate sector including many friends, my father and sister and other acquaintances also work really hard. My mother works really hard at home. A lot of people work really hard at what they're doing. What makes classical musicians different?

The nature of the art is extremely introspective. We spend hours listening to the tanpura and synchronizing our body, mind and soul with it, and in the process achieve unknown levels of insight into our own consciousness. When asked why dhrupad is so difficult, Ustad Fariduddin Dagar, my gurus' guru replied saying "Who says it is difficult? In dhrupad you have to be able to tell the truth; that's it". Its a way of life. The other day while trying to stabilize my voice while singing in tune, I went deep in and discovered deep rooted traces of impatience that was manifesting as an unstable voice. My voice stabilized to a significant extent after that. Each note of the octave has so much to reveal. Just yesterday our guru showed those present the difference in the shades of the "Re" or the major second note in two different raags and how the exact same notes in two different raags sound and are different. For those initiated, he sang Yaman and Bhupali. Yaman was sung omitting the Ma' and Ni to make the notes technically same as the ones in Bhupali. But the flavor and sound of each note was very different.

A senior classical musician is one whose level of awareness to such minute and minuscule changes in frequencies and tonal projections is just so far advanced that it naturally seeps into other aspects of his/ her life and brings them to a state of a generally heightened sense of being and hence they manage to command that presence that they do and have that aura around them at all times. Its amazing.

When I landed here, for the first few days, I couldn't understand the demand to increase/ decrease the pitch by my guru while teaching other students, let alone my own. After two weeks of intensive practice and listening, I am now able to identify the minute frequency differences that they point out so obviously. The next step is to identify these same flaws in my own singing and correct it, followed by a stage where these errors (however minute) do not occur at all. The entire process will easily take a few years at least, and I'm looking forward to all the learning and growth I know is in store...

Longitudinal Vibrations and Probability Spaces...

No.. This is neither a physics nor mathematics related post... Its about sound and music :D

Disclaimer: This post contains ideas from my limited understanding of sound and music. I'm sure these ideas will evolve with time as I progress on my journey. Please forgive any factual errors and other gross misconceptions if any and do notify me of the same... Thanks :D

Its been few years since my last post and a LOT has happened since then. Those of you who have met me in the recent past know that I'm shifting my track altogether into the field of Indian Classical Music; and I thought it would be a good idea to rejoin the blogging world with a post about my understanding of the same. One of my professors makes a very interesting statement, "Music is nothing but sound designed". All the design principles we use for architecture, technology design, ambiance designing etc all apply here. In fact, sound design is one of the most primary design endeavors of the human mind.

Sound is basically longitudinal vibrations. On the face of it, all you need to describe any sound is frequency and amplitude. But the kind of information transmitted through sound is truly mind-boggling. A simple sentence spoken contains so much information that is being sent through just these vibrations. All the different sounds of the words, modulations generated by the speaker, the speaker's voice itself which varies greatly person to person and even time to time! The same note played on an acoustic guitar sounds very different from that played on a piano or a trombone. Its vary fascinating, how all this information is encoded in the form of longitudinal vibrations and transmitted through air. We still cannot exactly replicate the natural sounds of any instrument or the human voice electronically. Even in the best and most expensive synthesizers in top studios, there is always a slight deterioration in quality when compared to the original acoustic instrument/ voice.

Sound Design in very inherent in all of us. We all do voice modulations, play around with tones based on emotions being experienced/ conveyed, modulate volume etc... You can hear a person and say if he/she is happy, sad, angry, worried etc.. even if you do not know the person in any way, or even if you are unaware of the context. Atleast to a certain extent. This means there is some sound design ideology inherent in all of us. Music is just building up on this technology.

Music is basically patterning of sounds around a reference point, called the 'Shadaj' or 'Sa' in Indian music or the 'Tonic' or 'Key' in Western music. These patterns are then used for some purpose, typically to convey an emotion or message (either using the help of lyrics or without). We all know the 7 basic notes Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni.. Some of us know the 5 other notes that come in between. These 12 notes together comprise what is known as the chromatic scale.
The most interesting thing is that every genre of music in this entire world, be it Carnatic or Reggae, Jazz or Pop, Dhrupad or Blues; they all use the same 12 notes! The approach to patterning these 12 notes about the origin varies from genre to genre. The grouping of notes, harmonies, melodic concepts and approaches all are very different. But the basic ingredients are just these 12 notes.

Then comes the idea of time. Music has a past, present and future! A note sounds different each time depending on what was played before it. And many times, by hearing a note, you can predict what will follow after it. Its like a probability space... At various points of time, each of these 12 notes will have a certain probability distribution. Western Classical music typically discretizes notes and creates beauty through exploring harmonies. Indian music does not explore harmonies. It instead focuses on creating beautiful smooth melodic curves, and you will rarely hear discrete notes sung by an Indian. The probability curve will depend on the message being conveyed and in Indian Classical music, on the raag chosen. Changing this distribution even slightly creates a whole new feeling! There are many pairs of raags which differ by just one note, but sound completely different! One could be a very serious melancholic feeling while the other could be a peppy romantic feeling...

The world of music is truly endless, and one could lose himself/ herself completely in it for few lifetimes. Not unlike any other research endeavor, it has a lot of intellectual (and even spiritual!) challenges to offer and many dimensions to be explored and discovered. I am very excited to be starting this journey into the world of music and will share my experiences and learnings better once I dive into it...