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Newsletter April - September 2024

Content

  1. Special Offers - String Instruments, Harmoniums & Shrutiboxes, Tablas & Drums, Media
  2. New in our Assortment - Paloma Recon Harmoniums, National Music Shrutiboxes, Dilip Mondal Sitar & Shanti Badya Bhandar Tablas
  3. Yoga & Harmonium (4) – Mantra Accompaniment with Chords
  4. The Art of Practice – Duration, Regularity, Intelligence & Joy
  5. Brief News - Philosopher on the Sarod, Sitarist with a Mission, Community Instead of Loneliness
  6. How to Make (Indian) Music? (33) – Expression is Illusion
  7. Workshops - October to November
  8. Concerts - October to December

1. String Instruments, Harmoniums & Shrutiboxes, Tablas & Drums, Media

- Special Offers -

Bargains & rarities, oddities & treasures – our special offers include precious vintage pieces, 2nd hand instruments, samples, discontinued models, B-stock with minor flaws, accessories, media & spare parts
All special offers are individual items - be quick if you are interested! Check out the following highlights. All prices are within the European Union – non-EU customers buy without VAT = 19% cheaper. More here.

Sitar P Brother Full Deco

STRING INSTRUMENTS

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Harmonium

HARMONIUMS & SHRUTIBOXES

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Tabla-Dayan

TABLAS & DRUMS

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CD-Cover Indigo Masala

MEDIA

 

 

2. Paloma Recon Harmoniums, National Music Shrutiboxes, Dilip Mondal Sitar & Shanti Badya Bhandar Tablas

- New in our Assortment -

Harmonium Paloma Premium Recon

PALOMA HARMONIUMS MADE OF RECON

Good teak wood for music instruments is getting ever more expensive and harder to procure. Therefore Paloma has already started making shrutiboxes of Recon some time ago. Now we can offer the popular Paloma harmoniums made of Recon, too – considerably cheaper than the teak wood models!

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Shrutibox National Music

NATIONAL MUSIC SHRUTIBOXES

New brand from Calcutta in good standard quality at lower price.

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Sitar DM Full Deco

SITAR DILIP MONDAL FULL DECO

Thanks to a new cooperation with sitar maker Dilip Mondal from Calcutta we can now offer a professional sitar at low price.

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Tablaset Shanti Badya Bhandar

TABLAS SHANTI BADYA BHANDAR

Our new tabla brand Shanti Badya Bhandar from Calcutta offers premium quality at low price.

 

3. Yoga & Harmonium (4) – Mantra Accompaniment with Chords

- Feature by Alice Radha -

What is the best way to learn harmonium? You should first know what you actually want to learn. In India, for example, the melody of the respective mantra is played. Most of my students, on the other hand, want to learn simple chords to accompany their favourite mantras while singing. This means: with harmonies that are adapted to Western listening habits. Many of them are yoga teachers who sing a mantra at the beginning or end of their classes.

CHORD BASICS

A chord consists of three notes which, when pressed simultaneously, form the basis for the melody. Chords played on the harmonium create a seamless tapestry of sound. This gives the mantra a supportive accompaniment. Most mantra collections contain letters for the respective chord above the text. You need to know the meaning of the chord letters in order to be able to play them. A basic musical education is of course an advantage. But even without previous knowledge, anyone can learn simple chords in their own time. Most simple, well-known mantras have 3 - 4 chords that are played repeatedly in alternation. I call them circle mantras. They are particularly suitable for beginners, as the chord sequence is easy to memorise. Incidentally, you can also play the same chords on the harmonium as on a guitar - and vice versa.

In singing circles or kirtans, the disadvantage of accompaniment with chords is that the melody is not played along. The melody should then be known or be well led by two singers. In call & response, one can then sing the melody and the other can sing along with the participants. Virtuoso players can also play chords and melodies at the same time. However, this requires more practice.

TYPES OF LEARNERS
In my teaching practice, I see different types of learners. The piano student has played the piano before, and therefore already has a certain dexterity and knows the keyboard. This type usually only needs the chords and can then get started. The visual types basically plays what they see. The mantras are recorded while looking at the keyboard and the students copy what they see onto their keyboard. This can work well for a while with simple, slow mantras. However, as the mantras become faster and more complex, copying becomes increasingly difficult. Then it makes sense to deal with chords.

For absolute beginners, it is important to look at their own keyboard and know which finger should be placed on which key. Many students label the keyboard with the respective note. By breaking down the chords, the student works out the mantra. Fingerings are irreplaceable for this, as they make it easier to change from one chord to another. In addition, I also give my students so-called standing tones: keys that are held down when changing from one chord to another. This means that there are no pauses in the sound and the harmonic carpet remains in place for the entire mantra. It is still not necessary to really know chords or notes. A video with a view of the keyboard and listening to the melody and chords greatly supports this way of learning the harmonium, especially at the beginning. However, once the chords have been learnt in this way, it becomes easier and easier to learn more difficult harmonies later on.

It is also important to find out whether you are self-taught or whether you need a teacher. If you are self-taught, you can learn the desired mantras yourself with the right learning materials. This requires a certain amount of discipline. If you need a teacher, there is the choice between group or individual lessons. In my experience, groups are suitable for beginners and for finding out where you currently stand. I recommend private lessons to really cater to the student’s personal requirements. You can find contact details of harmonium teachers here.

PRACTICE TIPS
It takes time to learn to play the harmonium. Practice, practice, practice is the motto. No mantra mastery without practice. It's better to practise a little every day than for a long time once a week. Our brain loves repetition. Therefore I advice my students to always start with one mantra or one chord sequence first. You should practise this until you have internalised it. This means that the fingers know exactly when to press which key and when to change chords to match the melody. Ideally, you should then accompany the mantra by heart. This also gives you the opportunity to concentrate better on the singing.

It helps if you can sing the mantra you want to accompany by heart. Then it is easier to accompany because you can already feel when the chord change is going to happen. The less you have to switch back and forth between text, chords and keyboard with your eyes, the easier it will be to play and sing at the same time.

Alice Radha is a musician, mantra expert and yoga acharya in the Sivananda tradition. She gives mantra and harmonium workshops, trains yoga teachers, teaches harmonium for yoga practice and has developed contemporary learning material for harmonium.
Links:
Alice Radhas Website, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube
Alice Radha’s learning material at India Instruments

 

4. The Art of Practice – Duration, Regularity, Intelligence & Joy

- Experience Report by Yogendra-

If you want to learn a musical instrument, you need practice. In the classical North Indian music tradition, there is even a separate word for musical practice: riyaz. The very existence of this special word shows the fundamental importance of practising for the learning process.

DURATION
YogendraOn the one hand, learning music is about motor skills: movement sequences have to be learnt anew and then automated and fine-tuned. This applies just as much to the fingers dancing over keys, strings or drumheads as it does to the breath of flutists or the larynx muscles of singers, which are completely invisible from the outside. When this purely physical level is mastered to a certain degree, music can be created. Motor learning needs repetition. Only when certain movement patterns are called up again and again does our nervous system adapt to them and the processes become automatic. Only then does fluency develop - the basis for every further development. Step by step and layer by layer, increasingly complex skills can develop.

But there is also a mental learning level. My ear has to learn to recognise units of musical structures - melodies, rhythms, harmonies. And I have to articulate meaningful musical expressions myself. The characteristics of different styles and traditions often differ as much as different languages. Anyone who has learnt Western classical music, for example, will not necessarily understand what is going on in Indian ragas - and vice versa. On a mental level, too, the learning path leads in countless small steps from the first shaky attempts to a largely automated fluency. And of course this also requires countless repetitions over a long period of time. Duration is therefore a crucial element of successful practice.

REGULARITY
In addition to duration, the arrangement of practice time is also important. Regularity is the key. If you practise for four hours at a time once a week, you are stressing yourself unnecessarily. If, on the other hand, you practise for half an hour a day with full energy and concentration, you can regenerate in between and process what you have practised. To do this, it makes sense to set a consistent time slot for practising that fits in well with your personal daily routine. A fixed place to practise is also helpful. The instrument is ready there, as are the necessary accessories. Nothing has to be brought in or prepared separately.

Understood and organised in this way, practising does not become stressful. On the contrary, it takes on a regenerative quality, even if I challenge and exhaust myself in the process. Ultimately, practice time is time for myself. I am not accountable to anyone. I can immerse myself completely in the music. Be in the flow. And gain distance from everything that might otherwise be weighing me down. My daily practice time is not an additional duty, but a luxury that I afford myself, an oasis in which my head is free, my body is warm and alive and my soul flies. It is a ritual that gives me strength in its reliability.


INTELLIGENCE
To make progress, I have to use my practice time intelligently. I need to know where I want to go. Finding that out can take a while. But once it's clear, I can work towards it systematically. I start practising slowly, warm up and get a feel for the right movement. Then I can increase the speed and intensity. Then I might take a short break, slow down a little or practise other things. But at some point, I push myself to my limits in every session. In doing so, I constantly change the focus as required. This is the only way I can gain more and more musical freedom.

What are my strengths and weaknesses? What is still missing in my playing? The answer to these questions gives me direction - and changes over time. Tools make self-assessment easier: a mirror shows me my posture and movement when playing. Recordings give me clarity about the quality of my sound. For Indian music, I can align my intonation with a tanpura sound and my rhythm with tabla cycles. By researching in this way, I not only learn musically but also about myself. Intelligence also helps when I don't know what to do next. Then I can seek new inspiration from other learners or teachers. After all, music doesn't just make people happy in a quiet little room, it also creates connections between people.

JOY

Yogendra

My strongest motivation for practising is the deep, intense, intimate, sensual, exhilarating experience that I can have. My instrument envelops me in an enchanting sound. My sense of time stops. My breath deepens, my pulse quickens and my cells vibrate. I am completely present in the moment, passionately and enthusiastically immersed in what I am doing. And no matter how stressed, tired and out of tune I may have felt before practising - afterwards I am refreshed, revitalised and purified, cheerful and balanced. I have had this pleasurable experience time and time again - as a beginner, as a student and today as a performing and teaching musician. It doesn't wear off and doesn't need an increase in dosage. How does that happen?

Enthusiasm is fertiliser for the brain, says neurobiologist Gerald Hüther. It enables us to constantly develop and realise our potential. Psychologists speak of creative passion and the experience of flow as the key to happiness. In spiritual circles, devotion, mindfulness and presence in the here and now are cultivated as the path to the divine or enlightenment. These are all other descriptions for what is meant here by pleasure - and it can all be found in practising. The cosmos of music is just as boundless as the human spirit. I am just as much a learner on a journey of discovery today as I was as a beginner 40 years ago. This beginner's spirit keeps us fresh and alive. And if we give it space, it works all by itself and shows us the way - be it when practising music or elsewhere in life. With this in mind, I wish you good practising at all times!

Yogendra is the founder of India Instruments, performs as a sitarist and teaches sitar and Indian music.
The text is a heavily abridged and slightly revised version of the 4-part series of the same name in our newsletters March - October 2017. Links to the complete original texts:
#1 Duration
#2 Regularity
#3 Intelligence
#4 Joy

 

5. Brief News - Philosopher on the Sarod, Sitarist with a Mission, Community Instead of Loneliness

- Scene Info -

Rajeev Taranath - Philosopher on the Sarod

Rajeev Taranath was one of the leading sarod masters of the post-Ali Akbar Khan generation with his emotional depth and sense of subtlety in raga interpretation. His rich knowledge and philosophical view of ragas as a form of spiritual exploration made him an influential mentor for many younger musicians. Rajeev Taranath was born in Bangalore in 1932. From an early age, he enjoyed an extensive intellectual and artistic education in his family. Even as a child, he was a celebrated singer - until problems with his voice ended his singing career prematurely. As a teenager, he was fascinated by the young star of the time, Ravi Shankar. But it was only when he experienced Ali Akbar Khan with the sarod in 1952 that he had the decisive revelatory experience and soon became his pupil. In addition to music, Rajeev Taranath studied English literature and later taught as a professor of English. He ended his academic career in his early 50s and since then has devoted himself entirely to music. He has performed and taught mainly in India and the USA and has released numerous records. He was honoured with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and the Padma Shri for his services to Indian classical music. Rajeev Taranath passed away in Mysore on 11 June at the age of 91.

Pandit Rajeev Taranath - A Life in Music, Documentary from 2023

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Manju Mehta – Sitarist with a Mission

Manju Mehta (* 1945) grew up in a family of musicians in Jaipur. Her elder brother Shashi Mohan Bhatt was her first sitar teacher; her younger brother is the world-famous mohan vina virtuoso and Grammy award winner Vishwa Mohan Bhatt. After a Master's degree in music and a successful start to her career as a sitarist, she married tabla player Nandan Mehta, gave birth to two daughters and withdrew from the public eye for almost 10 years. In 1980, Manju Mehta became a student of world star Ravi Shankar, resumed her concert career and founded the Saptak School of Music and the popular Saptak Music Festival in her adopted home of Ahmedabad. She received several awards and was listed in the highest category as a Top Grade Artist on All India Radio. Manju Mehta passed away on 20 August at the age of 79. Her two daughters Poorvi (sitar) and Hetal (tabla) carry on the musical legacy of their parents.

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Community Instead of Loneliness - Learners of Indian Classical Music Berlin

SaraswatiSince February 2024, there is a new community in Berlin: the Learners of Indian Classical Music Berlin. Spontaneously formed from a scene meetup, this new community serves as a hub for everyone who wants to learn Indian classical music and share their passion with others. Under the motto "From lonely riyaz to togetherness," the initiative organizes regular meetups, student concerts, and jam sessions, and invites all interested individuals to stay connected through a WhatsApp group inbetween meetings. Instrumentalists, vocalists, beginners, and advanced learners — all are welcome. If you'd like to meet like-minded people in Berlin, network, and exchange ideas with other learners, write to: IndianMusic@gmx.de. You don't live in Berlin but still want to stay connected with us? Sign up for our newsletter using the email provided!

 

6. How to Make (Indian) Music? (33) – Expression is Illusion

- Quote by Igor Strawinsky -

The series "How to Make (Indian) Music?" presents thought-provoking, inspiring or controversial quotes from artists and intellectuals.

Music does not inherently have the power to express anything, be it a feeling, a state of mind, a mood, a natural phenomenon... if music seems to express something, which is almost always the case, then this is only an illusion, not a reality. It is simply an additional attribute that we have given to music by tacit and unwavering consent, imposed as a label, as a convention - in short, an aspect that we, unconsciously or out of habit, confuse with its very essence.

After romantic-impressionistic early works, composer Igor Stravinsky (1882 - 1971) developed his own successful style through the use of polytonality and distinctive rhythms. Quote from: Marcus du Sautoy: Der Creativity Code - Wie künstliche Intelligenz schreibt, malt und denkt, Munich 2021, p. 206 (Original edition: The Creativity Code - How AI is Learning to Write, Paint and Think, London 2019)

7. Workshops – October to November 2024

- Scene-Info -

18.-20.10. BAD MEINBERG: Harmonium Beginner Seminar with Ekachakra Devi Dasi
08.-10.11. BAD MEINBERG: Harmonium Advanced Seminar with Michael Bier
08.-10.11. OBERLAHR: Harmonium Beginner Seminar with Marco Büscher
10.-16.11. CH-BASEL: 39th Annual Seminar of the Ali Akbar College of Music - Indian classical vocal, instrumental, sitar & tabla
13.-15.11. GOSLAR: Sitar Intensive with Kushal Das

Details of all workshops in our workshop calendar.

8. Concerts – October to December 2024

- Scene-Info -

12.10. KIEL Abhirup Roy (Tabla)
12.10. HEIDELBERG Odissi Dance
12.10. MANNHEIM R.S.Nandakumar (karn. Vocal)
12.10. CH-GENEVA Carsten Wicke (Rudra Vina)
12.10. FRANKFURT Mouli Chakrabarti (Khyal)
12.10. LÜBECK Subhankar Chatterjee (Khyal)
12.10. GB-LONDON Arnab Chakrabarty (Sarod)
13.10. STUTTGART R.S.Nandakumar (karn. Vocal)
14.10. BE-BRUSSELS Harsh Wardhan (Bansuri)
16.10. STUTTGART Jayalakshmi Sekhar (Sarasvati Vina)
16.10. AT-WIEN Daniel Bradley (Sitar, Surbahar), Rina Killmeyer (Bansuri)
16.10. GB-LONDON Amritha Jayakrishnan (Bharatnatyam)
16.10. BE-BRUSSELS Ashish Dha (Dhrupad)
17.10. BAYERISCH GMAIN Pulsar Trio (Sitar, Piano, Drums)
18.10. GB-LONDON Kala Chethena Kathakali Company-Kathakali
18.10. BERLIN Shirin Sengupta Nath (Khyal)
19.10. CH-WETTINGEN Kushal Das (Sitar), Shashank Subramanyam (Venu)
19.10. STUTTGART Subhankar Chatterjee (Khyal)
19.10. GB-LONDON Charulatha Mani (karn. Vocal)
19.10. GB-LONDON Brajeswar Mukherjee (Khyal)
19.10. BERLIN Ranajit Sengupta (Sarod)
20.10. STUTTGART Subhankar Chatterjee (Khyal)
21.10. GB-LONDON S.Roychowdhury (Bharatnatyam), J.Mayer (Sitar)
22.10. GB-LONDON Niranjana Ramanath (Bharatnatyam)
24.10. GB-LONDON D.Khan (Sarangi), J.Kumaresh (Sarasvati Vina)
24.10. GB-LONDON Poorna Hariharan (Bharatnatyam)
24.10. BE-BRUSSELS Asad Qizilbash (Sarod)
25.10. GB-LONDON Anindo Chatterjee, Anubrata Chatterjee (Tabla)
25.10. GB-LONDON Jasdeep Singh Degun (Sitar), Shalmalee Joshi (Khyal)
25.10. NL-AMSTERDAM Faiz Ali Faiz (Qawwali)
25.10. NL-HAARLEM Marianne Svašek, Marluz Kristel (Dhrupad)
25.10. HANNOVER Carsten Wicke (Rudra Vina)
25.10. CH-BERN Manish Vyas (Kirtan)
26.10. GB-LONDON Amaan Ali Bangash (Sarod), L. Subramanium (Violine)
26.10. GB-LONDON Akash Parekar (Sitar)
26.10. GB-LIVERPOOL Rajhesh Vaidhya (Sarasvati Vina)
26.10. WÜRZBURG Pulsar Trio
26.10. CH-LOCARNO A.Anand (Dance), A.Tripathi (Vocal), R.Tonding (Saxophon)
26.10. CH-BADEN Manisha Vasumithran (Bharatanatyam)
26.10. BERLIN Tharaha Antany (Bharatanatyam)
26.10. BE-BRUSSELS Faiz Ali Faiz (Qawwali)
26.10. STUTTGART Ranajit Sengupta (Sarod)
27.10. GB-LONDON Aruna Sairam (Karn. Vocal)
27.10. GB-LONDON Kushal Das (Sitar), Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande (Khyal)
27.10. GB-LONDON Jason Kalidas (Bansuri)
27.10. GB-LONDON Nithyashree Mahadevan (karn. Vocal)
27.10. BE-BRUSSELS Deepsankar Bhattacharjee (Sitar)
27.10. WUPPERTAL Rajhesh Vaidhya (Sarasvati Vina)
27.10. FRANKFURT P.Upadhye, A.PV, S.Gopal (Bharatanatyam)
27.10. STUTTGART Ranajit Sengupta (Sarod)
29.10. CH-LIESTAL A.Anand (Dance), A.Tripathi (Vocal), R.Tonding (Saxophon)
31.10. STUTTGART M.Ghosh (Odissi), M.Pal (Mohiniyattam), T.Ghosh (Kathak)
01.11. CH-BASEL P.Upadhye, A.PV, S.Gopal (Bharatanatyam)
01.11. CH-WINTERTHUR Manish Vyas (Kirtan)
01.11. STUTTGART M.Ghosh (Odissi), M.Pal (Mohiniyattam), T.Ghosh (Kathak)
02.11. STUTTGART B.S.Rao (Sitar), B.V.Raghavendra Rao (Violine)
02.11. CH-BADEN Vijaya Rao & Students (Bharatanatyam)
03.11. FR-PARIS Deepsankar Bhattacharjee (Sitar)
03.11. CH-BERN Diptesh Bhattacharya (Sarod), B.Pahari (Bansuri)
03.11. DARMSTADT M.Ghosh (Odissi), M.Pal (Mohiniyattam), T.Ghosh (Kathak)
05.11. CH-BASEL A.Anand (Dance), A.Tripathi (Vocal), R.Tonding (Saxophon)
06.11. BE-BRUSSELS Lakha Khan (Sarangi)
08.11. CH-BERN A.Anand (Dance), A.Tripathi (Vocal), R.Tonding (Saxophon)
09.11. STUTTGART Kushal Das (Sitar)
09.11. CH-GENF Shuaïb Aftab Qawwal (Qawwali)
09.11. FR-PARIS Shantala Subramanyam (karn. Flöte)
09.11. CH-LUZERN A.Anand (Dance), A.Tripathi (Vocal), R.Tonding (Saxophon)
10.11. CH-BASEL Ken Zuckerman (Sarod)
10.11. NL-HAARLEM Kees van Boxtel (Bansuri)
10.11. STUTTGART Kushal Das (Sitar)
10.11. BERLIN Nātya Berlin Tanzschule-Bharatanatyam
14.11. CH-WINTERTHUR A.Anand (Dance), A.Tripathi (Vocal), R.Tonding (Saxophon)
15.11. GB-LIVERPOOL Rajeeb Chakraborty (Sarod)
15.11. CH-LAUSANNE A.Anand (Dance), A.Tripathi (Vocal), R.Tonding (Saxophon)
16.11. STUTTGART Sharif Khan (Vocal, Tabla)
16.11. FR-PARIS Apeksha Niranjan (Bharatanatyam)
16.11. LI-VADUZ A.Anand (Dance), A.Tripathi (Vocal), R.Tonding (Saxophon)
17.11. NL-AMSTERDAM Kushal Das (Sitar)
21.11. DRESDEN Pulsar Trio (Sitar, Piano, Drums)
23.11. GB-LONDON Baluji Shrivastav (Sitar)
24.11. CH-GENF T.Balachander (karn. Vocal)
24.11. GB-LONDON Anol Chattopadhyay (Khyal)
24.11. FR-PARIS Isabelle Anna (Kathak)
24.11. CH-WINTERTHUR A.Sharma (Dhrupad), H.Wettstein (Sitar)
28.11. GB-LONDON Eeshar Singh (Santur)
29.11. GB-LONDON P.Unnikrishnan (karn. Vocal)
30.11. CH-BASEL Yogendra (Sitar)
30.11. GB-LONDON Mahesh Raghvan, Nandini Shankar (Violin)
30.11. FR-PARIS B.S.Rao (Sitar), B.V.R.Rao (Violine)
01.12. GB-LONDON Prakash Yadagudde & Students (Bharatanatyam)
07.12. GB-LONDON Thomas Vo Van Tao & more-Mohiniyattam
08.12. FR-PARIS Nicolas Delaigue (Sitar)
19.12. BE-BRUSSELS Arnaud Eurin (Sitar)

Details of all concerts in our concert calendar.

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