A r t i c l e s
	World Music and India By Ayan Bhattacharya According to the Oxford dictionary, world music is music from the developing world incorporating traditional or popular elements. With the various media in vogue, cultural exchange is very much a reality. Hence it is often remarked that world music is where the future of music lies. India, with its rich and variegated heritage occupies an important place in this scheme of things. It has over the years emerged as a cultural hotbed, with music as one of the most emergent facets. There are myriad and various genres in Indian music. Each distinct region has a representative sub-culture of music. However, on the whole, a single broad classification does exist. There are two classes of being, HINDUSTANI of the north and northwest and CARNATIC of the southern climes. Classical music is very much a performing art, and vocals are found to exist in various forms, some of which are detailed as below: Khayal: Khayal is a Persian word, standing for imagination. The progenitor of khayal is the multi-faceted genius of the Middle Ages, Amir Khusrau. There are two types of khayal, slow and fast. Rhythmic rendition is the mainstay of khayal. Dhrupad: The origin of dhrupad is credited to Raja Mansingh Tomar of Gwalior in central India. The words that make up a dhrupad song are chiefly devotional. The mood is generally sombre. Dhamaar: The origins of dhamaar are not well established. The rhythm to which dhamaar is set is also called the dhamaar taal or dhamaar rhythm. The words of dhamaar generally describe the celestial love between Lord Krishna and his consort Radha, and are also known as "Hori". Tappa: Tappa came into being sometime in the middle of the eighteenth century. The progenitor is a camel driver tribesman from central Asia, called Shori Miyan. Tappa encapsulates the musical flavour of the land of Punjab. Usually the words are sardonic and witty. A heady combo of simple language and "classicity" of sound makes tappa a very popular art indeed. Thumri: Thumri may have been created by the people who gave the world tappa too. Usually thumri is about love and musical ornamentation is a prevalent practice. Tarana or Tilana: Tarana or the carnatic tilana is also rhythm based like khayal, but without words. Certain specific sounds, such as DARENA, DANI, TUM NAA, form the essential lyric Coming back to Hindustani music per se, there are definitive styles or gayaki, associated with particular geographical regions. Each such distinctive style constitutes a gharana. Kirana, Patiala, Maihar are some established ones. Each exponent tries to combine the idiosyncrasies of his gharana, with his own talent, during his recital to create divine melody. Sweetness of sound is, in fact, one of the characteristic traits of Indian musiclore. Along with the fundamental sounds, it is its mainstay. The basic notes in Indian music are as below: Sa or Saraj Re or Rishabh Ga or Gandhaar Ma or Madhyam Pa or Pancham Dha or Dhaibhat Ni or Nishad Incidentally it is a common observation that popular tunes are derivative of the classical system, with melody specially worked upon. The historiography of Indian music is made up of individual contributions of many a stalwart. Of these the contribution of Miya Tansen is without parallel. Born as Ramtanu Pandey circa 1515, his father was Mukund Panday. He converted to Islam when he married a lady from Western India, when a music student in Gwalior Central India. However, his fortunes rose when he was introduced to the court of mughal emperor Akbar in 1556. His singular contribution is the creation of the four-division system. According to this, any musical piece has four parts, STHAYI, ANTARA, SANCHARI and ABHOG. Another person who is remembered each time that Indian music is mentioned is Pandit Visnu Narayan Bhatkhande. His Kramik Pustak Maalika published in six volumes is the most authoritative source on Indian music. He lived between 1860 and 1936. Lastly to instruments. There are several instruments that have been served well by their performers. As recorded in physics texts, each instrument has a characteristic sound. It is for the artiste to create a style or 'baaj' to showcase the instrument's merits and his own talent. There are four types of instruments in use in India: Enclosed or unenclosed. Wired Instruments played with bow or fiddle Wind instruments Let us consider the popular Indian instrument sitar .The sitar originally had three wires and was called KACHHAP VEENA. Nowadays there are seven steel wires. The rounded bottom portion made of dried pumpkin skin is called thoombaa. There is a wooden cover on the thoombaa called the tabli. The tabli stretches along the length of the hollow wooden tube affixed with the thoombaa. The tube is called dand. This is the basic structure, to which is added the wires. To facilitate fixation of the wire with the body, animal bone is used, as is more steel. Some sitars have another thoombaa fixed with the bottom of the dand. That the sitar is so shaped helps to manoeuvre the wires to the left and to the right. However it is difficult to create a uniform sound for long periods of time. Pandit Ravi Shankar, a living sitar legend, has created over the years a universally appreciated 'baaj' or style. Thus it is seen that the idiom of music is uniform and universal. Despite its many troubles and tribulations Indian music today has its niche. If all beautiful acoustics of the world fuse to form new sounds the world would be richer for it
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