Newsletter March / April 2019

Overview

1. India Instruments turns 25 – Competence & Passion

2. Synthetic Mridangam & Tabla – Vegan, Sturdy & Easy to Tune
3. Raga Teaching CDs - Gyan Vol. 5 with Ragas Purvi & Asavari
4. Brief News: Shared Values, Extra-Indian Music, Sarod for Millions

5. How to Make (Indian) Music? (18) – To Fall in Love with Sounds

6. Workshops – April to June

7. Concerts – April to June


1. India Instruments wird 25 – Competence & Passion
- Company Info -


India Instruments turns 25 this year - we will celebrate this on August 17th with a big summer party with lots of live music and some workshops in Berlin! All the world is cordially welcome! Planning is underway and the exciting and varied programme is taking shape. We will announce details in our next newsletter in June and in due time on our website as well...

In the beginning India Instruments was just a vague idea. But ideas need people who live them with competence and passion to become reality. Competence and passion unites the wonderful people who work in our team today to make Indian instruments of the best quality available in Europe!

Ashis Paul

Ashis is a senior disciple of Anindo Chatterjee and among the best tabla players of his generation. In Kolkata he coordinates the cooperation with several small instrument makers, e.g. P. & Brothers, Kanailal & Sons and Narayan Badya Bhandar, and checks their quality.

 

Atul Krsna

Atul comes from a Vaishnava family with Indian roots, learned to play various drums from an early age and today accompanies musicians such as Kirtaniyas, Dave Stringer, Arjun Baba and Petros Haffenrichter on khol, dholak and tabla. On weekdays he works in customer service, shipping and various other fields in our shop in Berlin.

 

Carsten WickeCarsten has studied cultural sciences and film, learnt tabla and later studied rudra veena with Asad Ali Khan. Today he has dedicated his entire life to the rudra veena - he performs in India and Euope, teaches and builds his own exquisite rudra veenas. In Kolkata he is responsible for quality check at Monoj Kumar Sardar.

 

Ghazal Ramzani

Ghazal is a kathak dancer with a degree from Rajendra Gangani at the Kathak Kendra in Delhi and has also learnt tabla and harmonium. She helps with shipping and administration in Berlin and delights the team with homemade Indian dishes.

 

Ioanna Srinivasan

Ioanna studied kathak dance with Vijay Shankar and works as a freelance dancer and choreographer. She has her own kathak school and helps us in Berlin with maintenance and repair work.

 

Jens Petersen

Jens plays wind instruments and learns mridangam and kanjira with Manickam Yogeswaran. As a materials expert and experienced craftsman, he is the specialist for elaborate wood and shellac work and for drum maintenance in our Berlin workshop.

 

Mohit

Mohit is our guy for quality check of harmoniums in Delhi. He learnt classical Indian vocal from childhood and later graduated in classical Indian music from various universities. Besides his work as a singer he plays keyboards, tabla, guitar and drums.

 

Norbert Klippstein

Norbert learnt sarod with Kamalesh Maitra, Ali Akbar Khan and Ranajit Sengupta and teaches Indian music. He runs the daily business in Berlin, leads the team and cooks for everybody, does customer service, sales, shipping, administration, import, repairs, technology, web photos and everything else necessary to keep the shop running.

 

Yogendra

Yogendra learnt with Ali Akbar Khan and Partha Chatterjee and tours as a performing and teaching sitarist. He writes emails and the newsletter, organises suppies in India, does research, develops new ideas and tries to see the big picture and keep India Instruments on a good path together with Norbert..

 


2. Synthetic Mridangam & Tabla – Vegan, Sturdy & Easy to Tune
- New in our Assortment -


Traditional heads of tablas and South Indian mridangams are made of animal skins and react strongly even to slight changes in temperature and humidity. Therefore they must be tuned continuously. In addition, the skins wear out while playing and have to be changed again and again at high cost and with a lot of effort. Besides, the killing of animals for the production of the skins may be ethically unacceptable for vegans and vegetarians. All these problems are solved by the S.R.I. (Synthetic Indian Rhythm) Tabla and S.R.I. Mridangam from Karunya, which are completely made of synthetics and have a stainless steel tuning mechanism. They are easy to tune, keep a stable pitch, and are sturdy, durable and vegan.

SRI Mridangam

Dr. K. Varadarangan, physicist, engineer and classical South Indian musician, has been developing the S.R.I. Karunya percussion instruments since 2010 in many years of research alongside his regular work as an expert for wireless communication systems. He wanted to avoid the killing of animals for the production of drumheads and the cutting down of trees for the manufacturing of drum shells. In addition, a standardised production was important to him to ensure a consistently high uniform quality, which is not achieved in traditional Indian way of making instruments from natural materials. When Dr. K. Varadarangan was ready for series production, he founded the company Karunya Musicals in Bengaluru for the production and distribution of his instruments.

SRI Tabla

The synthetic skins of Karunya‘s S.R.I. Tabla Set C und S.R.I. Mridangam C, with chemically bonded elastomer loading, are water-repellent and can be wiped with a wet cloth for cleaning. The sophisticated high quality clamping mechanism is easy to use and allows for a very accurate (+/- 1 hertz) and stable tuning. If a skin is damaged or worn out after many years of playing, it can be replaced quickly and easily. The sound of the S.R.I. Tabla is clear and resonant, but still lacks some of the finer nuances of good traditional tablas. The S.R.I. Mridangam has a powerful sound with a characteristic metallic buzz, just like a very good traditional mridangam. Several professional drummers play S.R.I. Mridangams in classical South Indian concerts nowadays.

S.R.I. Mridangam C Karunya @ 449 € / 377.31 € non-EU and S.R.I. Tabla Set C Karunya @ 395 € / 331.93 € non-EU are available from us now! Other pitches are available on request.

S.R.I. Mridangam C Karunya – details, pictures, sound sample, order.
S.R.I. Tabla Set C Karunya – details, pictures, sound sample, order.


3. Raga Teaching CDs - Gyan Vol. 5 with Ragas Purvi & Asavari
- New in our Assortment -


Gyan Vol. 5

The popular teaching CD series Gyan - Educational Series of Indian Ragas has been completed by a new volume. Gyan Vol. 5 treats a total of 10 ragas in the scales Purvi and Asavari, 5 in each scale. Thus the Gyan series, which has been released gradually in 5 double albums over several years, has now covered all 10 basic scales (thata) of North Indian classical raga music, and has compiled an impressive compendium of 47 ragas on a total of 10 CDs. Highly interesting and useful for all who want to study the North Indian raga tradition thoroughly!

Each CD presents vocal examples in a group of ragas using the same basic scale to illustrate their similarities and differences. Each raga is explained from its most elementary steps and then gradually and systematically developed to an advanced level. Comments with demonstrations reveal the mystery of each raga. Finally, the complete movement of the raga, the so-called chalan, is presented in a structured way so that even a beginner can grasp it adequately. Several beautiful compositions in each raga expand the student's repertoire.

Renowned singer Subhra Guha has been recorded for the vocal demonstrations. In addition there are spoken explanations by Vijay Kichlu, himself an important singer, scholar and teacher. The albums have been designed to be useful at all levels of learning - from beginners to professionals who need clarity about the interpretation of two similar ragas. The booklet contains notations of all compositions in each raga, further helpful information and a glossary of all technical terms used in the commentary.

Gyan Vol. 5, 2 CDs and booklet with ragas Purvi, Puriya Dhaneshri, Paraj, Basant, Shri, Asavari, Komal Rishab Asavari, Jaunpuri, Desi and Lalit – 24.50 € / 20.59 € non-EU.

Further infos & order.
Overview of all Gyan CDs and further raga teaching materials


4. Brief News: Kurz notiert: Shared Values, Extra-Indian Music, Sarod for Millions
- Szene Info -


Shared Values Shared Values Festival – Non-South Asian Performers of South-Asian Music

Shared Values is the title of a festival dedicated to non-South Asian performers of South Asian art music that has been running in London since February and will continue until May. The first festival with a focus on non-South Asian performers had probably been Parampara! - Indian Music on its Way to the West in 1992 in Berlin. Back then the non-South Asians were primarily presented as students of their South-Asian teachers. That seems no longer necessary today - the teachers have passed away and the former students have become mature artists in their own right, who are also recognised in South Asia. However, the festival organiser, Sama Arts Network, believes that the "breadth and depth" of non-South Asian performers in their "adopted" music culture can only be „put in perspective“ if they perform together with "leading indigenous performers". This is probably why almost all non-South Asian soloists are presented together with South Asian percussionists or other accompanists.

The Shared Values festival is intended „to project that South Asian music is universal, welcoming and inclusive“. The slight quaintness of this intention becomes obvious when we imagine a European cultural organisation in North America organising a festival with non-European performers of European music... As long as it still matters where a musician comes from, the universality of Indian music remains a mere claim and idea rather than being a factual reality. It‘s an important question why this is still the case today, and an ambitious festival could have taken it up, e.g. in a symposium. Apart from that, however, it is certainly very gratifying for the invited non-South Asians that Shared Values acknowledges their lifelong commitment to South Asian art music. And for all non-South Asians who are currently studying South Asian art music, Shared Values may show what is already possible today - and what is still missing.

Complete festival programme.


Peter Pannke Introduction to Extra-Indian Music Culture – Radio Play by Peter Pannke & Clarence Barlow

About 30 years ago, one could have believed that classical Indian ragas would get established in music life in Central Europe. There were raga concerts, festivals, radio broadcasts, record labels and practical courses of study at educational institutions. Only Central European musicology lagged behind this development by categorising ragas as non-European music and banishing them into the niche subject of ethnomusicology. Musician, writer and music producer Peter Pannke and composer Clarence Barlow, born in Calcutta, mocked musicology‘s Eurocentric narrow-mindedness in a satirical radio play for Hessian Radio in 1990, a radio play full of absurd comedy, subtle allusions and biting irony. The one-hour production is now available again online until January 2020 in the SWR media centre.

The plot: Musicologist Klarendranath Barlopadhyaya meets Pandit Pieronymus Ghosh, editor-in-chief for extra-Indian folklore, in the studio of AIR, the association of Indian radio stations. Both belong to the English-speaking Indian minority and converse in their mother tongue. Barlopadhyaya has just returned from a field trip to Central Europe and presents his latest insights into music and rituals of the Europeans in the light of his various original field recordings. Both experts discuss their concerns about dwindling population figures in the Northwest Asian lowlands, ritual drug consumption and incessant deafening aircraft noise. On a different narrative level, the Indian live broadcast of Ghosh‘s and Barlopadhyaya‘s conversation has been recorded and is now being broadcast by Hessian Radio with a little over 4 minutes of introduction and several explanatory insertions in German.

Introduction to Extra-Indian Music Culture – Radio Play by Peter Pannke & Clarence Barlow – Original English version with German insertions.


Guido Goh The Voice of Germany – Sarod for Millions

The Voice of Germany is a battleship of German television entertainment, based on the elimination principle already known from the ancient gladiator fights. Candidates are sifted out in several rounds of the show until one winner remains in the end. The 2018 season with 17 episodes from October to December drew 2.5 to 3.5 million viewers per episode - and thus offers aspiring singers the chance of quick fame. One of the participants: rock singer, music teacher and choir director Guido Goh - with a modified sarod bought from India Instruments!

In addition to the strong vocal performance, his spectacularly glittering sarod with its fantastic exotic look and ethereal sound certainly contributed to the fact that Guido Goh managed to create a very special atmosphere and win many sympathies. He made it into three episodes and among the last 40 candidates. With this fresh tailwind, Guido Goh is now working on a singer-songwriter pop album with sarod. Probably the only time a sarod reached even more people in German television dates back to 1982. In the widely popular music show Bio's Bahnhof, sarod player Wajahad Khan performed classical ragas in an ensemble with his father Imrat Khan and his three brothers.

Guido Goh with sarod at The Voice of Germany:: Crying in the Rain.
In the Air Tonight.


5. How to Make (Indian) Music? (18) – To Fall in Love with Sounds
- Quote by Mark Barden -


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

My love for music is what made me become a composer in the first place. And composing is about falling in love with sounds that fascinate me and then letting them grow.

Mark Barden, born 1980 in Cleveland, Ohio, composes concert music and sound installations. He sees sound as a fundamentally physical phenomenon. He has received numerous international awards for his work.


6. Workshops – April to June
- Scene Info -


Details of all workshops are available in our website's network section.

27.04. SE - GOTEBORG: Kathak with Ghazal Ramzani
28.04. MUNICH: Harmonium & Mantra with Madhavi
01.05. BERLIN: Naad Yoga with Yvan Trunzler
04.05. MUNICH: South Indian Rhythm with Rohan Krishnamurthy & Ernst Stroer
04.-05.05. BERLIN: Dhrupad with Yvan Trunzler
10.-12.05. BAD MEINBERG: Harmonium Beginner's Seminar with Katyayani
10.-12.05. FULDA: Konnakol - Door Opener to Rhythm with Magnus Dauner
10.05. BERLIN: Harmonium with Petros and Visvambhar Sheth
11.05. CH - ST. GALLEN: Harmonium with Manish Vyas
12.-19.05. BAD MEINBERG: Chakras in Nada Yoga with Anne-Careen Engel
22.-26.05. POTSDAM: Sitar Intensive with Partha Chatterjee
26.05. BERLIN: Tabla with Amit Chatterjee
31.05. BAD MEINBERG: Music from the Source with Maharaj Trio
15.-22.06. PT - MONTE VELHO: Kirtan Camp with Jai Uttal
17.-23.06. SEHLENDORF: Dhrupad with the Gundecha Brothers
21.-23.06. NORDSEE: Harmonium Beginner's Seminar with Annette Pritschow
08.07. OBERLAHR: Harmonium with Vaiyasaki Das


7. Concerts – April to June
- Scene Info -


For details, locations, times and further dates check our concert calendar.

20.04. HAMBURG: Supratik Sen Gupta-Sitar
23.04. BERLIN: Tabla Ensemble Kamalesh Maitra
23.04. GB-LONDON: Jesse Bannister - Sax
26.04. BERLIN: Yvan Trunzler - Dhrupad
27.04. BERLIN: The Love Keys - Kirtan
27.04. GB-LIVERPOOL: Subhadra Desai - Hindustani Vocal
27.04. BERLIN: Indian Dance & Chanting
27.04. STUTTGART: Diptesh Bhattacharya
28.04. GB-MANCHESTER: Subhadra Desai - Hindustani Vocal
28.04. BERLIN: Matyas Wolter - Surbahar
28.04. GB-LONDON: World Dance Day
02.05. BERLIN: Madhuri Chattopadhyay - Violin
03.05. CH-COURRENDLIN: Olivier Nussbaum - Sarod
03.05. CH-LAUSANNE: Snatam Kaur - Mantras
04.05. FREIBURG: Sundaram - Kirtan
04.05. DETMOLD: The Love Keys - Kirtan
04.05. MÜNCHEN: Ernst Ströer & Rohan Krishnamurthy-Mridangam
04.05. BERNAU: Sebastian Dreyer - Sitar
04.05. STUTTGART: Shahid & Ayan Khan - Sarangi
04.05. HAMBURG: Kirtaniyas - Kirtan
05.05. OSNABRÜCK: The Love Keys - Kirtan
05.05. RU-MOSCOW: Snatam Kaur - Mantras
05.05. BAD HERRENALB: Supratik Sengupta-Sitar
05.05. POTSDAM: Sebastian Dreyer - Sitar
07.05. HU-BUDAPEST: Snatam Kaur - Mantras
07.05. BAD MEINBERG: The Love Keys - Kirtan
08.05. HU-BUDAPEST: Snatam Kaur - Mantras
09.05. GB-LONDON: Subhadra Desai - Khyal
09.05. CH-KREUZLINGEN: Rohan Dasgupta-Sitar
10.05. KÖLN: The Love Keys - Kirtan
10.05. BERLIN: Petros and Visvambhar - Kirtan
10.05. GB-GLASTONBURY: Kirtaniyas - Kirtan
10.05. CH-ST.GALLEN: Rohan Dasgupta-Sitar
11.05. SE-STOCKHOLM: Snatam Kaur - Mantras
11.05. WOLFENBÜTTEL: Indigo Masala-World Fusion/C.Wicke-Rudra Vina
11.05. GB-LONDON: Sacchidanand Desai - Vocal
11.05. BERLIN: Satyaa & Pari - Kirtan
11.05. SEEDORF: The Love Keys - Kirtan
11.05. GB-LONDON: John Bailey - Rabab
11.05. CH-LOCARNO: Rohan Dasgupta-Sitar
11.05. GB-STROUD - Kirtaniyas - Kirtan
11.05. HAMBURG: Petros and Visvambhar - Kirtan
12.05. FRANKFURT: Yogendra-Sitar
12.05. GB-LONDON: Harish Kulkarni - Bansuri
12.05. GB-LONDON: Indro Roy Chaudhury - Sitar
12.05. KÖLN: Petros and Visvambhar - Kirtan
13.05. BERLIN: Supratik Sen Gupta-Sitar
14.05. GB-LONDON: Ken Zuckerman - Sarod
14.05. CH-WINTERTHUR: Rohan Dasgupta-Sitar
14.05. BERLIN: Sohini Roy Chowdhury - Bharatnatyam
15.05. F-VADUZ: Rohan Dasgupta-Sitar
16.05. F-PARIS: Snatam Kaur - Mantras
16.05. HANNOVER: Mirabai Ceiba-Mantras
17.05. CH-LUZERN: Rohan Dasgupta-Sitar
17.05. A-WIEN: Carsten Wicke - Rudra Veena
17.05. DK-COPENHAGEN: Kirtaniyas - Kirtan
18.05. CH-BASEL: Rohan Dasgupta-Sitar
18.05. LORCH: The Love Keys - Kirtan
18.05. HAMBURG: Snatam Kaur - Mantras
18.05. F-BERGHEIM: Mirabai Ceiba-Mantras 18.05. RADEVORMWALD: Maharaj Trio - Sarod & Sitar 18.05. GB-MANCHESTER: Murad Ali - Sarangi
18.05. DARMSTADT: Carsten Wicke - Rudra Veena
18.05. STUTTGART: Somabanti Basu - Sarod
19.05. GB-LONDON: Debasmita Bhattacharya-Sarod
19.05. GB-LONDON: K.Das-Sitar & I.Majumder-Sarod
19.05. GB-LONDON: Debasmita Bhattacharya-Sarod
19.05. HEIDELBERG: Mirabai Ceiba-Mantras
19.05. NEU ISENBURG: Snatam Kaur - Mantras
19.05. BONN: Maharaj Trio - Sarod, Sitar
19.05. STUTTGART: Usman Khan - Sitar
19.05. GB-LIVERPOOL: Murad Ali - Sarangi
19.05. SE-STOCKHOLM: Kirtaniyas - Kirtan

19.05. F-PARIS: Anoushka Shankar - Sitar
22.05. PL-WARSHAW: Snatam Kaur - Mantras
22.05. RO-BUCHAREST: Mirabai Ceiba-Mantras
22.05. CH-BERN: Rohan Dasgupta-Sitar
23.05. BG-SOFIA: Mirabai Ceiba-Mantras
23.05. CH-LAUSANNE: Rohan Dasgupta-Sitar
24.05. DK - COPENHAGEN: Snatam Kaur - Mantras
24.05. CH-THUN: Udhai Mazumdar - Tabla
24.05. BONN: Partha Bose-Sitar
24.05. CH-THUN: Rohan Dasgupta-Sitar
24.05. BERLIN: Kalyanjit Das - Sitar
24.05. HAMBURG: Carsten Wicke - Rudra Veena
24.05. GLONN: East End - WorldBeatTrio
25.05. GB-LONDON: Kirtaniyas - Kirtan

25.05. AURICH: The Love Keys - Kirtan
25.05. KARLSRUHE: Tejaswini Sathe - Kathak Dance
25.05. CH-ZÜRICH: Dave Stringer - Kirtan
25.05. CH-LIESTAL: Rohan Dasgupta-Sitar
25.05. GB-LONDON: A.Sengupta-Sitar & B.Mukerjee-Vocal
25.05. STUTTGART: Subhankar Chatterjee - Vocal
26.05. VIECHTACH: East End - WorldBeatTrio
26.05. EMDEN: The Love Keys - Kirtan
26.05. NL-AMSTERDAM: Debasish Bhattacharya-Slide Guitar
26.05. CH-ZÜRICH: Dave Stringer - Kirtan
26.05. GB-LONDON: Snatam Kaur - Mantras
26.05. GB-LONDON: Kirtaniyas - Kirtan
26.05. BERLIN: Roy Sunak - Bansuri
28.05. CH-SEELISBERG: O.Roy-Bharatnatyam/I.Roy-Chowdhury-Sitar
29.05. CH-SEELISBERG: Somabanti Basu - Sarod
30.05. BAD MEINBERG: Vikash Maharaj - Sarod
30.05. HU-BUDAPEST: Mirabai Ceiba-Mantras
30.05. CH-SEELISBERG: S.Basu-Sarod / G.Prasad-Bansuri
31.05. BAD MEINBERG: Sundaram - Kirtan
31.05. CH-SEELISBERG: G.Prasad-Bansuri/I.Roy-Chaudhury-Sitar
01.06. BAD MEINBERG: R.Vakkalanka-Sitar/Satyaa &Pari-Kirtan
01.06. SK - BRATISLAVA: Mirabai Ceiba-Mantras
01.06. CH-SEELISBERG: I.Roy-Chaudhury-Sitar/K.Das-Sitar
01.06. STUTTGART: Monalisa Ghosh - Odissi
02.06. BAD MEINBERG: R.Vakkalanka-Sitar/Gaiatrees-Kirtan
02.06. A-WIEN: Mirabai Ceiba - Mantras
05.06. KRÜN: Maharaj Trio - Sarod, Sitar
08.06. FREUDENSTADT: Satyaa & Pari - Kirtan
08.06. GB-LONDON: Homage to Alla Rakha Khan
09.06. GB-MANCHESTER: Indrayuddh Majumder - Sarod
09.06. GB-LONDON: Homage to Alla Rakha Khan
10.06. SALZGITTER: Maharaj Trio - Sarod, Sitar
10.06. HAMBURG: Anoushka Shankar - Sitar
11.06. KRÜN: Soumik Datta - Sarod
12.06. KRÜN: Soumik Datta - Sarod
12.06. GB-LONDON: V.N.V.Ramana Murthy - Carnatic music
12.06. NL-AMSTERDAM: Mirabai Ceiba - Mantras
12.06. WÜRZBURG: Maharaj Trio - Sarod, Sitar
13.06. B - ANTWERP: Mirabai Ceiba - Mantras
14.06. BERLIN: Maharaj Trio - Sarod, Sitar
14.06. GB-MANCHESTER: Anoushka Shankar - Sitar
15.06. GB-LONDON: Mirabai Ceiba - Mantras
15.06. POTSDAM: Monsun - Klänge des Sommers
16.06. DRESDEN: Maharaj Trio - Sarod, Sitar
18.06. BAD MEINBERG: The Love Keys - Kirtan
20.06. STEINBERG AM SEE: Manish Vyas - Kirtan
21.06. STEINBERG AM SEE: Satyaa & Pari - Kirtan
21.06. GB-LONDON: Prabhat Rao - Vocal
21.06. PT-LISBON: Kirtaniyas - Kirtan

22.06. GB-LONDON: Krishna Das - Kirtan
22.06. STEINBERG AM SEE: David Lurey - Kirtan
22.06. BINGEN: Maharaj Trio - Sarod, Sitar & Tabla
22.06. GB-LONDON: Nupur School - Rabindra Sangeet
22.06. STUTTGART: Tejaswini&Group - Kathak
23.06. CH-ZÜRICH: Rajendra Gangani & TrishnA-Kathak Dance
26.06. NL-ALMERE: Krishna Das - Kirtan
27.06. WALDKIRCH: Maharaj Trio - Sarod, Sitar
28.06. FREIBURG: Maharaj Trio - Sarod, Sitar & Tabla
29.06. SAALFELD: The Love Keys - Kirtan
29.06. GB-LIVERPOOL: Indrayuddh Majumder - Sarod
29.06. STUTTGART: Moshin Khan - Sitar
30.06. STUTTGART: Moshin Khan - Sitar

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