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Kuzhal Pattu
Kuzhal pattu is a form of Music of Kerala, traditional temple music practised in the Kerala state of India. It centers on the use of the kuzhal, a double reed wind instrument, and is typically performed at temple festivals. Structure In kuzhal pattu, the kuzhal plays the lead with the support of several accompanying instruments, which may include chenda (both Clef#Treble clef, treble and Bass (sound), bass), ilathalam, toppi maddalam and a sruti (drone) kuzhal. A Kuzhal Pattu typically starts with the lead kuzhal essaying an alapanam to establish a raga. The other instruments may join in as the kuzhal pattu progresses through several ragas and compositions. The span of the musical form ranges from five minutes to over an hour, with an average length of 30 minutes. Performance Kuzhal pattu is typically used as a prelude to panchari melam, but may also be played prior to night seevelis (temple circumambulations) that perform panchavadyam. It is usually performed inside the temple ...
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Music Of Kerala
The music of Kerala has a long and rich history. It is not the same as Malayalam poetry, although most of it is poetry driven. Kerala has a rich tradition in Carnatic music. Songs formed a major part of early Malayalam literature, which traces its origin to the 9th century CE. The significance of music in the culture of Kerala can be established just by the fact that in Malayalam language, musical poetry was developed long before prose. With the development of music in the region, different branches were formed out of it. History The earliest written record of Malayalam is the ''Edakal - 5'' inscription (ca. 4th Century CE). The early literature of Malayalam comprised three types of composition: *Classical songs known as ''Naadan Paattu'' *''Manipravalam'' of the Sanskrit tradition, which permitted a generous interspersing of Sanskrit with Tamil *The folk song rich in native elements Malayalam poetry to the late 20th century CE It is very unuseful data. varying degrees of t ...
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Raga
A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradition, and as a result has no direct translation to concepts in classical European music. Each ''rāga'' is an array of melodic structures with musical motifs, considered in the Indian tradition to have the ability to "colour the mind" and affect the emotions of the audience. Each ''rāga'' provides the musician with a musical framework within which to improvise. Improvisation by the musician involves creating sequences of notes allowed by the ''rāga'' in keeping with rules specific to the ''rāga''. ''Rāga''s range from small ''rāga''s like Bahar (raga), Bahar and Shahana that are not much more than songs to big ''rāga''s like Malkauns, Darbari and Yaman (raga), Yaman, which have great scope for improvisation and for which performances ...
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The British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British Library receives copies of all books produced in the United Kingdom and Ireland, including a significant proportion of overseas titles distributed in the UK. The Library is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. The British Library is a major research library, with items in many languages and in many formats, both print and digital: books, manuscripts, journals, newspapers, magazines, sound and music recordings, videos, play-scripts, patents, databases, maps, stamps, prints, drawings. The Library's collections include around 14 million books, along with substantial holdings of manuscripts and items dating as far back as 2000 BC. The library maintains a programme for content acquis ...
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Valluvanad (southern Malabar)
Valluvanad was an independent chiefdom in present-day central Kerala that held power from the early 12th century to the end of the 18th century. Prior to that, and since the late 10th century, Valluvanad existed as an autonomous chiefdom within the kingdom of the Chera Perumals.Ganesh, K. N. (2009). Historical Geography of Natu in South India with Special Reference to Kerala. Indian Historical Review, 36(1), 3–21. The disintegration of the Chera Perumal kingdom in early 12th century led to the independence of the various autonomous chiefdoms of the kingdom, Valluvanad being one of them. The earliest mention of the term "Valluvanad" as a political entity, from the 9th and early 10th century, are references to a region within the Ay kingdom in the south Kerala, then a vassal to the Pandya kingdom. It is possible that the new chiefdom in central Kerala (within the kingdom of the Chera Perumals) derives its origin from this eponymous subdivision in south Kerala. Valluvanad was rule ...
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Thrissur
Thrissur (), formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the third largest urban agglomeration in Kerala after Kochi and Kozhikode, and the 21st largest in India. The city is built around a hillock called the Thekkinkaadu Maidaanam which seats a large Hindu Shiva Temple. It is located central of the state, and north-west of the state's capital city, Thiruvananthapuram. Thrissur was once the capital of the Kingdom of Cochin, and was a point of contact for the Assyrians, Greeks, Persians, Arabs, Romans, Portuguese, Dutch and English. Thrissur is also known as the Cultural Capital of Kerala because of its cultural, spiritual and religious leanings throughout history. The city centre contains the Kerala Sangeetha Nadaka Academy, Kerala Lalithakala Akademi and Kerala Sahitya Academy. The city hosts the Thrissur Pooram festival, the most colourful and spectacular temple festi ...
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Midnight
Midnight is the transition time from one day to the next – the moment when the date changes, on the local official clock time for any particular jurisdiction. By clock time, midnight is the opposite of noon, differing from it by 12 hours. Solar midnight is the time antisolar point, opposite to Day#Solar noon, solar noon, when the Sun is meridian (astronomy), closest to the nadir, and the night is culmination, equidistant from dusk and dawn. Due to the advent of time zones, which regularize time across a range of meridian (geography), meridians, and daylight saving time, solar midnight rarely coincides with 12 midnight on the clock. Solar midnight depends on longitude and time of the year rather than on time zone. In ancient Roman timekeeping, midnight was halfway between sunset and sunrise (i.e., solar midnight), varying according to the seasons. In some Slavic languages, "midnight" has an additional geographic association with "north" (as "noon" does with "south"). Mode ...
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Panchavadyam
Panchavadyam (Malayalam: പഞ്ചവാദ്യം), literally meaning an orchestra of five instruments, is basically a temple art form that has evolved in Kerala. Of the five instruments, four — timila, maddalam, ilathalam and idakka — belong to the percussion category, while the fifth, kombu, is a wind instrument. Much like any chenda melam, panchavadyam is characterised by a pyramid-like rhythmic structure with a constantly increasing tempo coupled with a proportional decrease in the number of beats in cycles. However, in contrast to a chenda melam, panchavadyam uses different instruments (though ilathalam and kompu are common to both), is not related very closely to any temple ritual and, most importantly, permits much personal improvisation while filling up the rhythmic beats on the timila, maddalam and idakka. Panchavadyam bases itself on the seven-beat thripuda (also spelt thripuda) thaalam ( taal) but amusingly sticks to the pattern of the eight-beat chempata ...
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Panchari Melam
Panchari Melam is a percussion ensemble, performed during temple festivals in Kerala, India. Panchari Melam (or simply panchari), is one of the major forms of Chenda Melam (ethnic drum ensemble), and is the best-known and most popular in the ''kshetram vadyam'' (temple percussion) genre. Panchari Melam, comprising instruments like Chenda, Ilathalam, Kombu and Kuzhal, is performed during many temple festivals in central Kerala, where it is presented in arguably the most classical manner. Panchari is also traditionally performed, albeit with a touch of subtle regional difference, in north Kerala (Malabar) and south-central Kerala (Kochi). Of late, its charm has led to its performance even in temples in Kerala's deep south. Panchari is a six-beat thaalam ( taal) with equivalents like Roopakam in south Indian Carnatic music and Daadra in the northern Hindustani classical. Another Chenda Melam which comes close to Panchari in prominence and grammatical soundness, is Pandi Melam, pe ...
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Alapana
In Carnatic classical music, alapana is a form of manodharmam, or improvisation, that introduces and develops a raga (musical scale). It communicates the permitted notes and phrases of the raga, setting the mood for the composition that follows. As a term that is Sanskrit in language, alapana means "to speak, address, discourse, communicate". It is the first part of Ragam Tanam Pallavi (RTP), which showcases a Carnatic musician's ability to understand a raga and improvise music set to it. Overview The flavor of the raga is outlined in the alapana by rendering the raga's permitted notes in structures and phrases unique to the raga (known as "raga lakshanam"). Alapana typically precedes a song that is going to be sung in the same raga. It demonstrates proper knowledge of the raga by highlighting key phrases common to it. Alapana is rendered in different speeds, with a gradual increase in tempo. Likewise, the complexity of the patterns increases steadily as the alapana prog ...
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Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Canara, and Thiruvithamkoor. Spread over , Kerala is the 21st largest Indian state by area. It is bordered by Karnataka to the north and northeast, Tamil Nadu to the east and south, and the Lakshadweep Sea to the west. With 33 million inhabitants as per the 2011 census, Kerala is the 13th-largest Indian state by population. It is divided into 14 districts with the capital being Thiruvananthapuram. Malayalam is the most widely spoken language and is also the official language of the state. The Chera dynasty was the first prominent kingdom based in Kerala. The Ay kingdom in the deep south and the Ezhimala kingdom in the north formed the other kingdoms in the early years of the Common Era (CE). The region had been a prominent spic ...
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Ilathalam
Elathalam, or Ilathalam, is a metallic musical instrument which resembles a miniature pair of cymbals. This instrument from Kerala in southern India is completely made out of bronze and has two pieces in it. Elathalam is played by keeping one part of the cymbal in left hand banging the other cymbal to the one in left hand. Even though this instrument is small by size, it does have more thickness than the common cymbal, and thus gives a distinct chime. Elathalam is never a lead instrument but is used in a number of ethnic Kerala percussion ensembles like Panchavadyam, Chenda melam, Thayambaka and Kailaya vathiyam besides by second singer on a Kathakali stage beside providing the beat in Kuzhal Pattu and Kombu Pattu. Masters of Elathalam Leading elathalam masters of the present day include:Cheriyath Thanku Marar, Chelakkara Unnikrishnan, Maniyamparambil Mani, Kothachira Sekharan Nair, Chengamanad Paramu Nair, Pallavur Raghava Pisharody, Chelakkara Jayan, Pookottur Sasidharan (Asi ...
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Bass (sound)
Bass ( ) (also called bottom end) describes tones of low (also called "deep") frequency, pitch and range from 16 to 256 Hz (C0 to middle C4) and bass instruments that produce tones in the low-pitched range C2-C4. They belong to different families of instruments and can cover a wide range of musical roles. Since producing low pitches usually requires a long air column or string, and for stringed instruments, a large hollow body, the string and wind bass instruments are usually the largest instruments in their families or instrument classes. Use in composition In musical compositions, such as songs and pieces, these are the lowest-pitched parts of the harmony. In choral music without instrumental accompaniment, the bass is supplied by adult male bass singers. For an accompanied choir, the bass is typically provided by pipe organ or piano (or if a choir can afford to hire one, by orchestra). In an orchestra, the basslines are played by the double bass and cellos, bassoon o ...
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