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| What is the Karnatic Lab? | ‹‹ back | ||
| Karnatic music is classical music from south
India. Typical instruments are voice, mridangam (a cylindrical barrel
drum about), violin, bamboo flute, and the vina, a stringed instrument
similar to the sitar. It has a very long tradition (around 2000 years) and many of its concepts, such as form, rhythm, scales, melodic development, meters, ornamentation, and structured improvisation are not only highly developed, but also both logical and practical. For these reasons, we are studying it and inventing ways to transfer the methods to our own music. Rhythmical techniques: systematic shifting of accents, phrases that are systematically lengthened, shortened, sped up and slowed down, the use of long metrical cycles, irregular groupings (5,7,9), polyrhythms, polypulses, etc... Microtonality: the use of intervals that do not exist in the traditional western equal tempered tuning system. Ornamentation: shakes, trills, glissados, grace notes, vibratos, flutter, changes in tone color, and other effects. The concept behind the Karnatic Lab series is to present pieces that explore the mentioned concepts. While the source for using these concepts comes from Karnatic music, it is not our goal to play that style of music. As musicians in the west, it makes little sense contextually to try to completely copy the musical style of an eastern culture. |
What is meaningful and relevant, we believe, is to explore how that culture
can influence us to develop our own. In this pursuit, we have chosen to base the series on
these concepts which also occur in other cultures as well, including our own. Musicians and
composers are invited to play or have pieces played as long as they make use of at least one
of the concepts. We have also found that by study of the Karnatic approach, it has enabled us to better understand many of the more complex statements already made by many in the west: for example, Steve Coleman, Igor Stravinsky, Brian Ferneyhough, Messiaen. This opens the concerts up to most types of music - we have programmed contemporary, jazz, improvised, electronic, medieval, and ethnic all side by side. We can learn from hearing all the different approaches next to each other. For example, the way a Balkan group, a jazz combo, or a contemporary composer creates a piece with a meter of seven beats will all be very different. Or the comparison of Karnatic, Baroque, and contemporary ornamentation can be very insightful into some truths about ornamentation in general. Because the Karnatic Lab is about only concepts, we are able to present together different approaches to these concepts, no matter in which style they come. |
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