Here is the next “product” as a result of my experimentation of taking the skeletal structure of Carnatic Ragas and adapting them into the western rock fold. The ones that interest me most are ones like this particular one which involve intervals or combinations that are unusual in the western world – sort of like this earlier one. The idea here is to use the skeletal structure as the basis for a westernized melody and enhance it with appropriate chords.
Here take a listen:
(Note: I think this may present itself best if heard via headphones with good dynamic range, especially bass)
Can you guess the raga? If not, select the text following Answer below to reveal the answer:
Answer:
malahari, a janya of mAyAmALawagowLa: S R1 M1 P D1 S / S D1 P M1 G3 R1 S. For the key of C, in western terms it is C Db F G Ab C on ascent, and C Ab G F E Db C on descent.
Compared to some of the earlier ones, this one was easier. I am not sure why. But I did have to struggle a lot initially to come up with the chord progression appropriate for a melody in this raga. Also, I started with an aim of doing something in the complex “super-brother” of this raga (a scholarly one 
) but gravitated towards this one, as I was unable to make the melody sound “less carnatic”. Or maybe I should say that some combinations of swaras/notes in that raga seemed to feel way too unusual in the western context, and I could not get the right balance I wanted.
About the Special Effects:
I used some special effects here. Obviously, yet another homage to my favorite band Pink Floyd. The start has wind, waves crashing/lapping on a sea-shore, cries of a sea gull, andd some footsteps on pebbles and rocks on a beach, which is then followed by a (somewhat ominous) church/temple bell.
Why such specific sounds and what significance you ask? I am not sure! The genesis of the piece started with me contemplating on the two note combination of those bells (da sa in this raga) – pretty much at the tempo and length of the original piece. Almost immediately my mind conjured up an imagery for it. I imagined an old, crumbling church/temple bell on an abandoned shore, with wind howling and seagulls cawing (some influence for this is certainly Echoes and One Of These Days by Pink Floyd). I started searching for samples to use, and I found the footsteps sample (see Audio Credits below), and added it to the imagery. So someone walking up to the abandoned “temple” and ominous gonging on the bell seemed somehow as an apt start for a haunting melody in this raga (it does get loud and noisy later!)
Chord Progression: For those interested, the chord progression goes like this:
C5 Fmadd9/G C5 C#maj7/G# Csus4/G C# C
Eventually it just cycles through the C#maj7/G, Csus4/F, C# and C four times and fade.
Audio Credits: I used the following sounds from freesound.org:
- Wind: Wind by user ERH.
- Waves: Ocean Waves Crashing by user luftrum.
- Footsteps: Footsteps in the sand on a beach in BC, Canada by user hazure.
- Sea Gull: Seagull cawing on the west coast of Canada by user hazure
Every thing else was generated by GarageBand – no real instruments were used for this.
August 17, 2009 at 6:17 pm
Very nice Arun. Excellent malahari. I just heard your other attempts. I like SrI and this one a lot. malahari is crystal clear. Possibly because the rAga sounds good with plain notes. Ilaiyaraja will like your attempt:)
Arun: Thanks Drs! Yes I also think the raga sounds good in plain notes – perhaps aided by our association to it in the gitam context.
The one I wanted to try was sAvEri
– but the reason I dropped it is not because of the ri, but the ni – I felt s n d etc. sounded too odd in a western context and also too much “indianish”
The choice of the name is obvious.
Arun:
August 18, 2009 at 7:29 am
The reason the rAga sounds good with plain notes is not simply because of its association with the gItes. It as such shuns heavy gamakas which is the domain of its heavyweight cousin sAveri.
Arun: I agree. Initially I was toying with adding a saveri like ri and da here (i was actually not sure if malahari allowed them), but found the plain, plaintive notes themselves to be satisfying enough. Also, it seemed “cooler” initially to pull off a saveri vs. the “beginniner” malahari – I eventually realized it was vanity speaking inside of me
!!
August 19, 2009 at 2:22 pm
Wonderful. You have a knack for coming with these nice western sounding pieces…
my 2 cents – i think you should have used choir/opera chorus like sounds to make it sound ‘grand’ – like a gregorian chant etc…..
Arun:
– but that is not the style I was going after – but I can definitely see how it would have fit the mood, and the imagery I had in mind (besides don’t have those sounds in my GarageBand – but that is a separate purchasable option).
September 2, 2009 at 11:33 am
I understand, should you need it -you can download midi sound-fonts I guess ?
p.s : I don’t have garageband, so am guessing.