MetaFilter posts tagged with IndianMusic

Ravi Shankar has died.

Rustic Etruscan — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 21:07:55 -0800

Ravi Shankar, sitar virtuoso, has died at 92.

Bansuri

flapjax at midnite — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 01:13:34 -0800

It's the middle of August, and chances are pretty good that it's HOT where you are. Let's lend our ears, then, to some of the most cooling music around, from the Indian bansuri. Air conditioning for your soul. More info on the players heard in the linked video clips: Hariprasad Chaurasia, Prasad Bhandarkar, Harsh Wardhan. David Courtney's Bansuri and venu page is informative and packed with more embedded YouTube clips. Free online bansuri lessons, from the fine folks at Know Your Raga. Interactive bansuri fingering chart.

The veena, turned up to 11.

flapjax at midnite — Fri, 16 May 2008 01:24:42 -0800

With a pickup mounted on the body of the instrument just below the strings, Revathy Krishna, KP Sarada and Sivanandam and Jayanthi Kumaresh get an unexpectedly fat sound out of their veena. Rocking! The instrument is more often amplified with a microphone, in which case it sounds more like this performance by D. Balakrishna, who, as you'll hear, ain't no slouch, neither. And here Pichumani gets his groove on, no doubt about it. So, hey, two more raags for the road, courtesy of Rajeswari Padmanabhan. The second tune on her clip, by the way, has got some deep blues in it, so I'm thinking maybe Rajeswari might've been down to the crossroads at midnight... [NOTE: see hoverovers for link descriptions] One of the legendary veena masters is S. Balachander. Here's a short documentary on him, with some fabulous reverb on that narrator! Part 1 (4:35) and 2 (4:41). Here's a performance by S. Balachander. By the way, those clay pots that you see being played as veena accompaniment in these clips are called ghatam. Pretty cool, huh? Here's a player surrounded by a set of tuned ghatam.

The intoxicatingly beautiful vocal music of south India

flapjax at midnite — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 07:39:35 -0800

Queens of Carnatic singing: Nithyasree Mahadevan: 1, 2 and 3. Sudha Ragunathan: 1, 2, 3 and 4. And the legend of the legends, M.S. Subbulakshmi, in her film appearances from decades past: 1, 2 and 3, and as an elder stateswoman of Carnatic vocal artistry: 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Ustad Srinivas, solid-body electric mandolin guru.

flapjax at midnite — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 07:18:28 -0800

Ustad Srinivas plays some mean electric mandolin, y'all. There's some biographical info here and here.

Indian vocal music

flapjax at midnite — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 05:14:09 -0800

While you compose that incisive comment, or scour the blogs for an interesting post, or photoshop your latest masterpiece, or whatever you do on your computer, perhaps you'd like to do it to the mellifluous strains of some enchanting Indian vocal music. Learn more here. Listen to more Indian music of almost every type (including historic film music from decades past) here. [previously]

Sounds from all around

flapjax at midnite — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 08:45:22 -0800

If you're interested in musical instruments from all over the world, Wesleyan University's Virtual Instrument Museum should not be missed. Instruments are searchable by type (idiophones, aerophones, etc.), by materials (wood, bamboo, etc.), or by geographic region. The photos are very good, and many instruments are represented by excellent MP3 audio clips. And the exhibits (QTVR movies: drag your mouse to see the instrument from all angles) are wonderful.

From The Beatles to Britney

fotzepolitic — Sat, 13 Dec 2003 08:56:22 -0800

So the issue of India's rise in the IT world ("penetrating America's economic core," worries Business Week) has been discussed (here and here), but what about their influence in pop culture? It's hard to escape Panjabi MC in the UK. Jay-Z and Missy Elliott sampled S.Asian music, and now Britney Spears has a bhangra-flavored remix (even if her love of "Indian spiritual religions" doesn't mean she's heard of Hinduism). And there's more -- a Baywatch actress is the first foreigner to star in a Bollywood flick. From Pop Idol to American Idol, now there's Bollywood Star. "Bend it Like Beckham" director Gurinder Chadha is doing a Bollywood version of "Pride and Prejudice." Is this just the exotic flavor of the month, or a cultural shift in line with the economic changes ahead? (and, just for fun -- a dig at the whole S.Asian music collaboration thing, from a site that appears to be The Onion for British Asians)

The new Mahir?

davebush — Mon, 19 Feb 2001 18:50:21 -0800

The new Mahir?