Information by the makers

The iRaagam is a must-have app for any carnatic music enthusiast. It provides a ready-to-use and easy reference for about 350 carnatic raagams, The user can listen to the arohanam (ascending) and avarohanam (descending) notes that define each raagam. There is also a link to Wikipedia, if the user wants to explore a raagam in more detail on the internet.

The intuitive user interface lists raagams alphabetically as well as by their melakartha number. When viewing by melakartha number, janya raagams of each melakartha raagam can be shown or hidden using the +/- button. The user also has the ability to show/hide the Janya raagams of all melakartha raagas, using the “+ All/- All” button in the status bar.

The “Lite” (Free) version has a limited number of Janya raagams. Get the regular version for a more complete list of Janya raagams. Future updates of the regular version will include more raagams.

Source and more information: App Store – iRaagam
Address : http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/iraagam/id317078350?l=es&mt=8
Date Visited: Sun Nov 20 2011 12:32:06 GMT+0100 (CET)

illustratedcompanion_cover_thuThe 2nd impression of The Oxford Illustrated Companion to South Indian Classical Music (2009 ed.) is now available. As before, one free copy is sent to each new course participant – see also Enrollment.

New service

Recent and former course participants may avail of a not-for-profit service: extra copies can now also be sent as a present to friends and relatives anywhere in the world.

Copies of the companion are be carefully packed and sent by registered airmail (priority) straight from India. More information on request  – please send your inquiry after selecting “Other” in the form seen here >>


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Several search options are available:

  • if you use a regular internet browser (personal computer, tablet computer or laptop), first have a look at the right side of your screen; here you find a range of convenient search options instantly;
  • if you use a compact mobile device or smartphone, simply choose from two options  to find the contents you are looking for:
    1. choose from Pages which opens a list of Sub Pages as well as Recent Posts; please note that mobile devices display “Recent posts” instead of all;
    2. browse a list of posts in reverse-chronological order; for this click the Search button (you may leave the search field empty)
  • the Sitemaps seen in the main menu give the most comprehensive choice of contents; these are always up to date;
  • using the Search select websites will be equally useful.

All contents are continually updated and categorized. Feel free to suggest a resource!

Please have a look at the field in the sidebar of this page:

Websites and periodicals

If you haven’t checked out the following yet, also explore the following box in the sidebar:

Special features

As always, you are welcome to suggest a resource  >>

This course is constantly being updated either in response to participants’ queries and suggestions.

Therefore it is interesting and timesaving to find the latest additions by simply selecting “Join in & stay informed!” There you see

• Entries RSS
• Comments RSS

Clicking on either will reveal an overview of all recent additions.

Please note that the last four posts by the course author are also listed under “Recent posts and updates”. Here earlier ones are gradually replaced by newer ones. All posts remain available under “Assignments and current information”.

Find media contents under the dropdown menu “Assignments and current information”. For this, select the Category that matches a given Module.

If you are currently busy with some other topic (say listening to a favourite singer at home), either

  • go to any other category you are interested in
  • use the Forum to ask questions, initiate a discusssion
  • the “Special features” offers more and encourages participants to suggest a resource in a straightforward manner (click there to see what it entails)

You’ll notice that the course is very flexible to meet the needs of different types of learners; both with and without prior experience. Read more on how to easily stay up to date >>

The following

  • as with any internet search, keep in mind that different spellings are in use in different parts of India (e.g. Hamsadhwani with either “v” or “w”)
  • many names and words are preferably spelt with an “h” in one region yet without “h” in another
  • “th” and “dh” are used differently in Tamil and Sanskrit (thillana = tillana, krithi = kriti); simply try both variants to get better search results
  • many writers prefer “p” to “b” as the Tamil alphabet uses the same letter for both (i.e. they pronounce them differently depending on the context)
  • Tamil writers often use “aa” for a long “a” but “ee” for long “i” (e.g. vina = veena, kirtana = keertana); and “oo” for long “u” (e.g. Oothukkadu = Uttukadu)

To find out how the above works in practice, have a look here:
Special features >Search select websites.

An example for a custom search in the present context: keying “hamsadhvani chaurasia carnatic hindustani bansuri” yields the article from which the above quote is taken:

Jan 22, 2010  Jugalbandhi by N. Ramani and Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia the highlight was the extremely colourful Hindustani vocal recital of Begum Parveen Sultana.  as ‘Gandharva’ and ‘Kalanidhi’ of Carnaticmusic though she did not have  She presented a vibrant Hamsadhwani claiming to be her favourite 
www.thehindu.com/arts/music/article87860.ece
The new mediaplayer offers a control slider - click here to test how it works!
Here Ritu Guha sings a Tagore song titled “Basanti He Bhubanamohini” based on Carnatic raga Purvikalyani.*
  1. Click the link of any audio file as see above. Once the play button has appeared  click anywhere within the player module – this works well once the audio file has loaded sufficiently for the point you have selected.
  2. You can always see how the loading progresses: this is indicated by a green line as soon as you click on the start button.
  3. From this moment onwards you can click anywhere in the area above the green line. The window containing the title also acts as a control slider.
  4. Now move the control slider forward and backward for listening to a particular section repeatedly.
  5. Here you notice that there is no need for stopping and restarting in between several listenings of the same passage. Obviously this is a useful feature, be it for exploring details in longer concert items or for following an exercise repeatedly. It makes practice so much more enjoyable!

Note: the mobile browser seen on smartphones other portable devices will continue to open as before. As Flash technology is not supported by Apple, a new mediaplayer window opens on its devices (iPhone, iPad and iPod); however, external media resources requiring a Flash plugin cannot be accessed in this manner.

* Source: Rabindranath Tagore: The Singer and His Song by Reba Som. Penguin India  (2009). With mp3-CD
isbn 9780670082483.

Hi, the next Shabda event is coming up at Gayana Samaja, Bangalore on Aug. 27th.  Hope to see you all there at 10 am, and please pass the word around. More information is given below. To watch our earlier event videos, log on to www.shabda.co.in

T.M. Krishna, H.K.Venkatram, R.K. Shriramkumar

www.shabda.co.in ”creating an online archive of Indian performing arts”

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