Indian Rhythmic Cycles
The concept of the ever-recurring cyclic rhythms of the universe is one of the basic tenets of Hindu philosophy. The perception of the cyclic nature of life is reflected in Indian classical music through the device of tala, a recurring time-measure or rhythmic cycle. Just as in the Hindu religion, man is born, lives his life, dies and is then reincarnated to begin a new life, so the tala cycle begins, develops and then returns to the sam, the first beat of the cycle, anchor of all melody and rhythm and the leading beat to which all returns.
There are two different traditions in Indian classical music, the Carnatic music of South India and the Hindustani music of North India. The music of South India retained a purity of development that has led to a highly organized theoretical system. In contrast, Hindustani music has achieved its equally high artistic standards through the cultural interaction between Hindus and Muslims, producing an extremely rich but less-systemized music.
The book Ancient Traditions--Future Possibilities, by Matthew Montfort, contains exercises that teach both North and South Indian rhythms. Some of these exercises are adapted here for the World Wide Web.
Using MIDI
GM Standard MIDI files of North and South Indian rhythm exercises from the book are presented here, arranged for General MIDI conga and bongo. Use these to practice, or as a rhythm track for an original composition.
Computers with multimedia capabilities now come configured for MIDI playback via web browsers. However, with the built-in MIDI support in Netscape and Explorer, some files may not reproduce properly. For proper playback, this site recommends the Beatnik Plugin which supports both GM voices and user programmable sounds.
To set up playback on a MIDI sound module that is not GM compatible, see the mridangam MIDI map of the sounds of the mridangam (a South Indian two-headed barrel drum made of jackwood with goatskin heads), or the tabla MIDI map of the sounds of the tabla (a North Indian pair of drums with goat-skin heads).
South Indian Grooves
South Indian Solkattu MIDI File. Solkattu is the onomatopoetic drum syllable language of the mridangam. This composition in khanda gati adi tala, an 8 beat rhythmic cycle where each beat is divided into quintuplets, is an advanced level example from Chapter 3, Exercise IV, pages 86-87.
(345K GIF of Solkattu Notation)
To practice reciting solkattu, use this pronunciation guide to Indian drum syllables along with the GIF of solkattu notation shown above.
North Indian Grooves
The tabla has a language all its own. For every sound on the drum there is a corresponding syllable. These syllables are known as bols, and to the tabla master these onomatopoetic bols and their corresponding sounds on the drums are almost one and the same. Each North Indian tala has a theka, a standard set of bols that identify the rhythmic cycle. The theka aids the soloist in keeping time. Practice reciting the following thekas while keeping track of the rhythmic cycle, as shown in the following link. The MIDI files of these thekas make excellent groove tracks for creating compositions or practicing.
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