#TBT a day late. Last year we celebrated the 59th birthday of #DebashishBhattacharya with this project. It's one of his compositions, a "garland of ragas" for students, where all 11 #raag families are played. Apart from playing it, the other challenge for me was to take all 17 videos from the students, mix the audio, and sync everything. Diverse frame and sampling rates, metronome speeds, and file formats made for some work!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq0jLzFzQUU

#raga #hindustanimusic slideguitar #india

A #raag for the #monsoons. Raag Miyan ki Malhar is based on Kafi thaat (Dorian mode in Western terminology). The ascending scale is 7 1 4 2 5 b7 b6 7 1. Descending is 1 b7 5 4 5 b3 4 2 1.

https://youtu.be/rgHjbPluXEQ

#raga #HindustaniMusic #SlideGuitar #SteelGuitar #dobro #tabla #DebashishBhattacharya

Great interview in the Amsterdam press with my friend and teacher, Pandit #DebashishBhattacharya . Discussing his innovative guitar designs and upcoming performances.

https://t2online.in/music/indian/pandit-debashish-bhattacharya-gets-into-festival-mode-and-speaks-about-the-need-for-innovation-with-musical-instruments/484990

#SlideGuitar #dobro #SteelGuitar #HindustaniMusic #raag #raga

Last week we had days of unrelenting rain here in NC. nothing like the #monsoons in India, of course, but here a monsoon #raga anyway 😉.

Here is my friend and teacher #DebashishBhattacharya with a short version of #Raag Megh (cloud). Pentatonic scale of 1 2 4 5 b7

https://youtu.be/ApMoky6Sdmw

#mastomusic #hindustanimusic #slideguitar

Nice review of the album I helped produce this past fall featuring Pt #DebashishBhattacharya and Pt #SwapanChaudhuri.

https://acousticguitar.com/evocative-music-from-a-unique-instrument-on-debashish-bhattacharyas-the-sound-of-the-soul/

#slideguitar #hindustanimusic #raag #raga #tabla #steelguitar

Do I have any friends here in the Fediverse that will be in the #Netherlands in July? Here are some upcoming events for the great Indian #slideguitar master #DebashishBhattacharya in #Amsterdam in July.

Includes an all day #masterclass on #Hindustani #raga and two subsequent days of concerts with his trio.

https://www.debashishbhattacharya.com/tour-dates

#mastomusic #musiclessons #dobro #steelguitar

Nice interview with #DebashishBhattacharya produced by his label #AbstractLogix. Talks about his musical heritage, his relationship with #johnmclaughlin, and his latest recording.

https://youtu.be/j6U1YXY8GC8

#raag #raga #Hindustanimusic #SlideGuitar #SteelGuitar #dobro

Westerners tend to think of Indian classical music as loose #improvisation but the exact opposite is true. Even the opening free time #alap section of a #raga is organized into chapters. #DebashishBhattacharya explains how he organizes alap in #RaagYaman.

https://youtu.be/odXQw1J4uho

#HindustaniMusic #SlideGuitar

A snippet of my lesson with #DebashishBhattacharya. He’s teaching an #alap in #raag Komal Rishab Asavari. I like using the #intonia app to double check the shape of the alankar (ornamentation) and gliding.

Early morning transcribing yesterday’s lesson with #DebashishBhattacharya. #hindustanimusic is traditionally taught orally. The guru sings the lines, the student plays them back. This is a new #raga for me—#Raag Komal Nishab Asavari—meaning flat (komal), second (nishab), minor scale (asavari). Same as western Phrygian mode except the 3rd and 7th are always skipped when ascending. Written in the Sargam—Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni. I use an old lab notebook to write things out. :-)

Happy 103rd birthday to Pt #RaviShankar. Among the greatest proponents of #HindustaniClassical #Music.

Here is a rare recording of Ravi ji from The Ojai Festival in 1983, accompanied by Pt. #SwapanChaudhuri on #tabla. I was fortunate to help produce a recent album that Swapan Ji recorded with Pt. #DebashishBhattacharya. I had a chance to ask him about the Ojai performance and he said what he remembered most was that it was really cold!

https://youtu.be/eBoDNI8yGvs

A raga is more than just a scale. There are rules for the order that notes can be played in. Not only that, there are rules for which notes can be ornamented, and the tempo and width of the ornaments. Just shaking notes that “sound Indian” doesn’t make it Indian music.

Here’s #DebashishBhattacharya giving some examples.

https://youtu.be/HQuvr1ohzh4

#raga #slideguitar #steelguitar #dobro #Hindustanimusic

Wednesday Morning #Raga. A monumental #raag #Bhimpalasi from #DebashishBhattacharya on #Hindustani #SlideGuitar. The #alap is on my regular rotation.

Bhimpalasi is based on Kafi thaat (Dorian in western terms) but the ascending line does not include the second or 6th degree. Descending lines can include all 7 pitches.

Ṉ̣ S G̱ M P Ṉ Ṡ, so minor 7th, root, minor 3rd, 4th, 5th, minor 7th, root.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRE-vfAxwtXNPMb1U406EDx3LZZacYWNS

#mastomusic #dobro #steelguitar

Some #raga music for a Friday. The Drut (fast) section of #raag #Bagashree with Pt. #DebashishBhattacharya on #SlideGuitar and Pt. #SwapanChaudhuri on #tabla. This is the title track from Debashish's new record. This version of Bagashree is a bit deceptive in that it sounds like Khamaj (mixolydian), but because of where the tonic is it's actually in Kafi (Dorian) thaat. The ascending scale is
D F G B C D'. Descending is
D' C B A G F E D.
https://youtu.be/VVsZv3NaGH8

#mastomusic #Hindustani

#Morning #raga by my friend and teacher #DebashishBhattacharya on #Hindustani #SlideGuitar. His brother #SubhasisBhattacharya accompanies him on #tabla.

A morning #raag from Bhairav thaat, I believe specifically Basant Mukhari. 16 beat cycle teental #tala.

https://youtu.be/8HKb16yrIVE

#mastomusic #SteelGuitar #dobro #WorldMusic

I get hired from time to time to do session work, usually for #SlideGuitar, #SteelGuitar or #Dobro.

This is a track from Asheville-based guitarist #RobFlewell. He sent me his #AcousticGuitar track and asked me to add Hindustani slide. I’m playing my 22-string #chaturangui, an instrument designed by my teacher #DebashishBhattacharya.

https://youtu.be/pArGP6VAwb4

#guitar #AcousticMusic

Celebrating #holi with all of my friends from #india here and abroad.

A lovely duet on the 4-string slide #ukelele between #DebashishBhattacharya and his son.

Harkening back to the #middleeasternmusic roots of #Hindustanimusic

https://youtu.be/pXrtJCm9I2g

A #Sunday melody in the style of a #pahadi #folk song. The scene is a family in the Himalayas in their home gathered as the meal is being prepared, singing this melody.

The final cut on the most recent release by #SlideGuitar master #DebashishBhattacharya accompanied by Pt. #SwapanChaudhuri on #tabla.

The guitar is a Chaturangui, a 24 string instrument designed by Debashish.

https://youtu.be/ja1KSfXE_JY

A long cut from my teacher #DebashishBhattacharya’s new record. This is the alap and vilambit section of #raag Bagashree. Features Debashish on #chaturangui (Indian #slideguitar) and the grand master tabla player Swapan Chaudhuri. Mixed and mastered by my friend Gabe Herman aka #audiogabriel.

#mastomusic
#raga

https://youtu.be/3ifxe20DnWk

Last year we students of #DebashishBhattacharya celebrated his birthday by putting together this performance of one of his compositions. The piece is a #ragamalika, a “garland of ragas.” In this case all 8 thaats (#raga families) are included. In order: Bilawal, Kalyan, Marwa, Purvi, Bhairav, Bhairavi, Asavari, Kafi, Todi, Khamaj.
Each student sent me their part and I stitched them together. (I’m the lefty)
#SlideGuitar
#Hindustani
#HindustaniClassical

https://youtu.be/Yq0jLzFzQUU