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Benares Uthan in Saxena Book PERCUSSIVE INSTRUMENTS
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16 posts biru_ramen 16 posts
biru_ramen
Thanks. The hardware I use to slow down the speed probably causes that extra ghost note. Even so though, the recording sounds more like DhagedinS than the written Dhagedin. And the non bayan "ge's" still bother me. I like the book, mainly because of the cd that accompanies it. There are solo compositions from each major gharana, and each composition contains the dev nagri script and it's English equivelent (along with the recording). I really like being able to follow the solo's on the cd and see what bols the performer is playing. The book could have been so much better if they had included the transcriptions of ALL of the recorded material. The delhi kaida and palta's, why didn't they include a transcription of that too? That's what I need! And the authors own compositions, they should have done a recording of that. Why they didn't is beyond me....I bought the book and cd used, and the first two tracks skip around a lot, which is really frustrating.......but I give it a thumbs up.
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biru_ramen 16 posts
biru_ramen
My questions are about Sudhir Saxena's book, "The Art of Tabla Rhythm", in the section that gives an example of a Benares Uthan. The book comes with a cd, and if you don't have the cd it might be difficult to answer my questions (but I'll give it a shot anyway). The first quarter of the tintal Uthan goes like this:

Dhitdhit Kdedhatit Dhagedin Nagnag

Listening to the cd, it sounds like straight sixteenth notes (a total of sixteen notes or bols). I even slowed it down to half speed and it still has a straight sixteenth note feel to it. That's why I don't understand the "Dhagedin" matra-it's definately not a triplet, I hear 4 notes, but in the dev nagri script there are only 3 bols in that matra, the "din" part corresponding to a pakhawaj style Dhin. It's not Dha/ge/di/na. Also, in the Nagnag matra, the ge's sound like soft non resonant syahi stroke's, or possibly ke's, I don't hear any resonant bayan strokes. I hope somebody out there has this cd and can help me with this.......And, before anyone brings up the 5 bol second matra, It is my understanding that the "Kde" is considered one bol (and on the cd I hear 4 notes in that matra, not 5).
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zennman 134 posts
zennman
One of those bols is probably held for an extra beat.. most likely 'dhagedhin-' if it is a Benaras composition. However I could not get a feel for the composition the way it was written. Nagnag could be 'na ga na ga' which is a two handed dayan stoke. But it is hard to tell yet.

How do you find the book, by the way ? I have not heard about it before, and I just googled it. What are your thoughts about the book ?
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rapture 471 posts
rapture
agreed. quarter beat pause after dhin, and naganaga on the dayan. of course, we can't know without hearing the recording. try keeping the beat as the uthan is being played, and after several tries, you'll probably notice the pause.

-r
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