Swarmandal Players
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Swarmandal Players
The ''swarmandal'' ( hi, स्वरमण्डल ), ''surmandal,'' or Indian harp is a plucked box zither, originating from India, similar to the qanun that is today most commonly used as an accompanying instrument for vocal Indian classical music. It is part of the culture of Northern India and is used in concerts to accompany vocal music. The name combines Sanskrit words ''svara'' (notes) and ''maṇḍala'' (circle), representing its ability to produce many notes. The instrument was seen as equivalent by the Ā'īn-i-akbarī to the qanun. Construction Modern swarmandals are similar to European psaltries. Autoharps are used as an equivalent instrument in India today, especially with the chord-button mechanism taken out. Modern swarmandals are trapezoidal and measure in length and width. Instruments may have as many as 40 strings, while older instruments from the 19th century were recorded as having 21 strings. The strings are hooked in a nail lodged in the right ...
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Jasraj
Pandit Jasraj (28 January 1930  – 17 August 2020) was an Indian classical vocalist, belonging to the '' Mewati gharana'' (musical apprenticeship lineage). His musical career spanned 75 years resulting in national and international fame, respect and numerous major awards and accolades. His legacy includes memorable performances of classical and semi-classical vocal music, classical and devotional music, albums and film soundtracks, innovations in various genres including ''Haveli Sangeeth'' and popularizing the ''Mewati Gharana'' - a school of thought in Hindustani classical music. Pandit Jasraj taught music to amateur and professional students in India, Europe, Canada and the United States. Early life Jasraj was born on 28 January 1930 in Pili Mandori, a village in the then Hisar district (now in Fatehabad district) of Haryana, in a middle-class Brahmin family to Pandit Motiram, a classical singer and Krishna Bai. He was the youngest of three sons, in a family of clas ...
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Sangita Ratnakara
The ''Sangita-Ratnakara'', सङ्गीतरत्नाकर, (IAST: Saṅgīta ratnākara), literally "Ocean of Music and Dance", is one of the most important musicological texts from India. Composed by Śārṅgadeva (शार्ङ्गदेव) in Sanskrit during the 13th century, both Carnatic music and Hindustani music traditions of Indian classical music regard it as a definitive text. The author was a part of the court of King Singhana II (1210–1247) of the Yādava dynasty whose capital was Devagiri, Maharashtra. The text is divided into seven chapters. The first six chapters, ''Svaragatadhyaya'', ''Ragavivekadhyaya'', ''Prakirnakadhyaya'', ''Prabandhadhyaya'', ''Taladhyaya'' and ''Vadyadhyaya'' deal with the various aspects of music and musical instruments, while the last chapter ''Nartanadhyaya'' deals with dance. The medieval era text is one of the most complete historical Indian treatises on the structure, technique, and reasoning on music theory that ha ...
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Zither
Zithers (; , from the Greek word ''cithara'') are a class of stringed instruments. Historically, the name has been applied to any instrument of the psaltery family, or to an instrument consisting of many strings stretched across a thin, flat body. This article describes the latter variety. Zithers are typically played by strumming or plucking the strings with the fingers or a plectrum. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, the term refers to a larger family of similarly shaped instruments that also includes the hammered dulcimer family and piano and a few rare bowed instruments like the bowed psaltery, bowed dulcimer, and streichmelodion. Like an acoustic guitar or lute, a zither's body serves as a resonating chamber (sound box), but, unlike guitars and lutes, a zither lacks a distinctly separate neck assembly. The number of strings varies, from one to more than fifty. In modern common usage the term "zither" refers to three specific instruments: the concert zithe ...
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Drone (music)
In music, a drone is a harmonic or monophonic effect or accompaniment where a note or chord is continuously sounded throughout most or all of a piece. A drone may also be any part of a musical instrument used to produce this effect; an archaic term for this is ''burden'' (''bourdon'' or ''burdon'') such as a "drone ipeof a bagpipe", the pedal point in an organ, or the lowest course of a lute. Α ''burden'' is also part of a song that is repeated at the end of each stanza, such as the chorus or refrain.Brabner, John H F., ed. (1884). The national encyclopædia', Vol. V, p.99. Libr. ed. William McKenzie. . Musical effect "Of all harmonic devices, it droneis not only the simplest, but probably also the most fertile." A drone effect can be achieved through a sustained sound or through repetition of a note. It most often establishes a tonality upon which the rest of the piece is built. A drone can be instrumental, vocal or both. Drone (both instrumental and vocal) can be place ...
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San Francisco Examiner
The ''San Francisco Examiner'' is a newspaper distributed in and around San Francisco, California, and published since 1863. Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst, and flagship of the Hearst Corporation chain, the ''Examiner'' converted to free distribution early in the 21st century and is owned by Clint Reilly Communications, which bought the newspaper at the end of 2020 along with the ''SF Weekly''. History Founding The ''Examiner'' was founded in 1863 as the ''Democratic Press'', a pro- Confederacy, pro-slavery, pro-Democratic Party paper opposed to Abraham Lincoln, but after his assassination in 1865, the paper's offices were destroyed by a mob, and starting on June 12, 1865, it was called ''The Daily Examiner''. Hearst acquisition In 1880, mining engineer and entrepreneur George Hearst bought the ''Examiner''. Seven years later, after being elected to the U.S. Senate, he gave it to his son, William Randolph Hearst, who was ...
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Within You Without You
"Within You Without You" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1967 album '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''. Written by lead guitarist George Harrison, it was his second composition in the Indian classical style, after "Love You To", and inspired by his stay in India in late 1966 with his mentor and sitar teacher Ravi Shankar. Recorded in London without the other Beatles, it features Indian instrumentation such as sitar, tambura, dilruba and tabla, and was performed by Harrison and members of the Asian Music Circle. The recording marked a significant departure from the Beatles' previous work; musically, it evokes the Indian devotional tradition, while the overtly spiritual quality of the lyrics reflects Harrison's absorption in Hindu philosophy and the teachings of the Vedas. The song was Harrison's only composition on ''Sgt. Pepper'', although his endorsement of Indian culture was further reflected in the inclusion of yogis such as Paramahansa Yoga ...
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Strawberry Fields Forever
"Strawberry Fields Forever" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was released on 13 February 1967 as a double A-side single with "Penny Lane". It represented a departure from the group's previous singles and a novel listening experience for the contemporary pop audience. While the song initially divided and confused music critics and the group's fans, it proved highly influential on the emerging psychedelic genre. Its accompanying promotional film is similarly recognised as a pioneering work in the medium of music video. Lennon based the song on his childhood memories of playing in the garden of Strawberry Field, a Salvation Army children's home in Liverpool. Starting in November 1966, the band spent 45 hours in the studio, spread over five weeks, creating three versions of the track. The final recording combined two of those versions, which were entirely different in tempo, mood and musical key. It fea ...
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The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of all time and were integral to the development of counterculture of the 1960s, 1960s counterculture and popular music's recognition as an art form. Rooted in skiffle, beat music, beat and 1950s rock and roll, rock 'n' roll, their sound incorporated elements of classical music and traditional pop in innovative ways; the band also explored music styles ranging from folk music, folk and Music of India, Indian music to Psychedelic music, psychedelia and hard rock. As Recording practices of the Beatles, pioneers in recording, songwriting and artistic presentation, the Beatles revolutionised many aspects of the music industry and were often publicised as leaders of the era's Baby boomers, youth and sociocultural movements. Led by primary songwriter ...
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George Harrison
George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian culture and helped broaden the scope of popular music through his incorporation of Indian instrumentation and Hindu-aligned spirituality in the Beatles' work. Although the majority of the band's songs were written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, most Beatles albums from 1965 onwards contained at least two Harrison compositions. His songs for the group include "Taxman", "Within You Without You", "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", "Here Comes the Sun" and "Something". Harrison's earliest musical influences included George Formby and Django Reinhardt; Carl Perkins, Chet Atkins and Chuck Berry were subsequent influences. By 1965, he had begun to lead the Beatles into folk rock through his interest in Bob Dylan and the Byrds, and towards Indi ...
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Ajoy Chakrabarty
Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty (born 25 December 1952) is an Hindustani classical vocalist, composer, lyricist and an exponent of the Patiala-Kasur gharana. He was given Padma Bhushan Award, the third highest civilian award in India in 2020. Early life Ajoy Chakrabarty was born in Kolkata, West Bengal. He was raised with his brother in Shyamnagar. His younger brother, Sanjay Chakrabarty, is a lyricist and composer. He graduated top of his class in music, both in B.A and M.A. from the Rabindra Bharati University in Kolkata and joined the ITC Sangeet Research Academy in 1978 as its first scholar. Today he is one of the youngest gurus of this academy. His father, Ajit Chakrabarty, was his first Guru. He then studied with Pannalal Samanta, Kanaidas Bairagi and Jnan Prakash Ghosh. Besides that, he had learnt from Latafat Hussain Khan, Nibruttibua Sarnaik, Hirabai Barodekar and in Carnatic styles from M. Balamuralikrishna, that kept enriching his musical expression and repertoire. Despit ...
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Rashid Khan (musician)
Ustad Rashid Khan (born 1 July 1968) is an Indian classical musician in the Hindustani music tradition. He belongs to the Rampur-Sahaswan gharana, and is the great-grandson of gharana founder Inayat Hussain Khan. He is married to Soma Khan. In a story told in several versions, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi once remarked that Rashid Khan was the "assurance for the future of Indian vocal music". The SRA site gives the Bhimsen Joshi accolade as: "One of the most notable torchbearers of the Hindustani classical tradition in the twenty first century" He was awarded the Padma Shri, as well as the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2006. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award, in 2022 by the Indian Government in the field of Art. Early life Born in Sahaswan, Badayun, Uttar Pradesh. He received his initial training from his maternal grand-uncle, Ustad Nissar Hussain Khan (1909–1993). He is also the nephew of Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan. As a child he had little i ...
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Kishori Amonkar
Kishori Amonkar (10 April 1932 – 3 April 2017) was a leading Indian classical vocalist, belonging to the Jaipur ''gharana'', or a community of musicians sharing a distinctive musical style. She was a performer of the classical genre ''khyal'' and the light classical genres ''thumri'' and ''bhajan''. Amonkar trained under her mother, classical singer Mogubai Kurdikar also from the Jaipur ''gharana'', but she experimented with a variety of vocal styles in her career. Career Training Amonkar's initial training in music was by her mother, the classical vocalist Mogubai Kurdikar. She has stated in an interview that her mother was an exacting teacher, initially teaching her by singing phrases and making Amonkar repeat them. In the early stages of her career, she travelled with her mother to performances, accompanying her on the tanpura while Kurdikar sang. In the early 1940s, young Amonkar began to receive vocal lessons in Hindustani classical music from Anjanibai Malpeka ...
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