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Enigmatic
Permutations (page 3 of 6) To develop the process of Indian rhythmic structure and variation, I will focus on the kaida form of composition or improvisation. The kaida form characteristically ends phrases with "tu na ke na." The type of bols used also provides clues as to whether it is kaida form or not. Kaidas occur during slow and medium speeds of the performance. The performance of a kaida typically begins with the basic theme, followed by variations on the theme in increasing complexity. The progression of variations end with a concluding tihai, which is a cadential technique involving three repeated statements drawn from the theme in which the final matra, usually "dha", overlaps the first beat of the theka. The last "dha" of the tihai is also the first beat of the theka. The following kaida is an example in tintal from Swapan Chaudhuri:
For our purposes of analysis, "dhin" and "tin", and "ge" and "ke" are equivalent. The separate phrases and their respective lengths are:
All variations must exclusively use these phrases, i.e., no new phrases may be introduced. This places all variation upon permutations of these phrases provided they are multiples of sixteen. As long as each subsequent variation is a multiple of sixteen beats, the material will fit in tal. The variation must also end with "tu na ke na" to be a legitimate member of the kaida family. This requirement places "dha ge tu na ke na" at the end of each variation. Since the last six beats are filled, this leaves 32n-6 beats to fill with phrase permutations, n being the multiple of the original theme. Variations can become larger than the theme is this manner which is described in detail below. Another requirement is that the variations follow a linear progression. For example, it would be unacceptable to repeat the second variation after playing the fifth variation. Therefore, as the variations continue, the material becomes more removed from the original theme. Variations occur by applying different general techniques on the previous variation. Techniques include:
These techniques become second nature to a good improviser. The tabla student becomes fluent with these techniques by learning kaida compositions and ingraining variation of this sort upon the student. The following are Swapan's variations and an analysis of each variation based on the above theme in tintal.
This type of variation is a very common first variation. The theme is split in half and the first half is played three times before the second half is played, 3(1/2)+1/2=2. The bal technique is used here in a very straightforward manner. This type of variation serves two main purposes. It grants the improviser time to think of more complex variation by having a standard and simple algorithm to apply. The three-and-one variation also expands the material into a larger piece of material to vary. The first expansion is termed dora, which doubles the kaida theme in size. The next doubling would be termed tera, which resulting in a variation four times the size of the original theme. The musical result is shift in rhythmic emphasis.
This variation is identical to the theme in all lines but the second. The point of variation is found in the second line. The palta method is used, reversing the two phrases in the second line.
The same method is used for the third variation as the method used for the first. Variation 3 is to variation 2 what variation 1 is to the theme.
The technique of replacement of empty space for bols is the basis of this variation. In the second line, "tere" is removed from the second beat, "kite" from the third, and "ti" from the eighth. This is a simple variation of variation 2. The spaces create a new phrase to work with. The remaining bols from the second line, "taka tere kite dha," is free to be used. « PREVIOUS PAGE | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | NEXT PAGE »
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