The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : A glimpse into the art of Gamaka

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Thursday, Jun 18, 2009
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A glimpse into the art of Gamaka

Staff Reporter

Sukanya Vijayakumar

BANGALORE: A practitioner of the rare art of Gamaka singing, Sukanya Vijayakumar, brought out her fifth audio disc on Wednesday. Gamaka involves narrating epics in the form of music.

Speaking to presspersons, Ms. Vijayakumar said that Shatpadi (six-line poems) is a widely used format for Gamaka art and there is a need for other formats of poems to become equally popular.

Besides, Carnatic music consists of 72 “Melakartha” ragas of which only 15 to 20 are widely used since 16th Century. “Sensing the need for development of these two fields, I brought out this CD which comprises Keerthane, Devaranama, Sangatya and Ragale, composed using 27 rare ragas,” she said.

Website

She announced the launch of website www.72melakartha.ind.cc. The website consists of a chart of 72 melakartha ragas which were translated to Western notation. “The website will help the musicians and instrumentalists across the globe in development of music,” he said.

The CD was released by Gamaka Kala Parishat president B.G. Ramesh. She said that she would distribute the disc free to Gamaka teachers so that they can pass on her experiments to students.

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