Krsna Kirtana Songs est. 2001 www.kksongs.org
Introduction of Carnatic Talams
After exploring the ragams
of South Indian music, known as Carnatic music, we enter the realm of rhythm,
known as the talam. If one has
studied North Indian (Hindustani) music, one would be familiar with the notion
of the tala. Besides the fact that tala is based on a rhythmic cycle, the
similarities between a North Indian and South Indian tala ends there. The
complexity of the South Indian tala is so great, that only bona fide training
in Carnatic music is the only way to understand it. Yet, this is a humble
attempt to present a simplified version of a complex art.
From a Hindustani
musician’s perspective, the function of tala is to essentially provide a fixed
repetition of a particular cycle an artist chooses. For instance, tintal in
Hindustani music will always be “dha dhin dhin dha dha dhin dhin dha dha tin
tin ta ta dhin dhin dha.” This is called the theka. Of course, performers on a tala instrument like tabla or
khol will put their variations and varieties of the theka which yields prakārs. For most instances and
purposes, the tala performer will stick to the count of number of beats per
cycle. In Carnatic music, this is not the case. Very rarely will anyone play a
straight cycle throughout a Carnatic performance. The rhythm in Carnatic music
is underlying. The lead performer will keep track of rhythm, while the
mridangam, ghatam, or whichever tala instrument improvises according to how the
vocalist renders the song. Therefore, picking up and counting out rhythms in
Carnatic music can be a challenge.