Not everyone learns from the teacher. But today, thanks to technology, one of the best living mridangam vidwans, Sangita Kalanidhi Umayalpuram K Sivaraman, is accessible to all people passionate about carnatic music.
The incredible genius of Umayalpuram has been distilled into Mridanga Cintamanih, a 7 DVD pack, with the intention of preserving something priceless for generations to come. Divided into four levels, the DVDs are instructive and cover the entire spectrum of mridangam performance, from the beginner level to the nuances of accompaniment and vocal music. This DVD pack is of great value as a reference material for college students and the like.
The Level I DVD starts from the beginning and instructs the novice mridangam player on finger placement, posture and introduces him to Adhi, Roopaka Chappu, Misra Chappu, and Kanda Chappu talas.
The rest of the levels are divided into two DVDs each. The Level II DVD features advanced sequences along with demonstrations of Gathi Bedham (change of speed), aruthis (short endings), moras, and korvais. They seem easy and simple when mastered by Umayalpuram, but they can be challenging for students.
The unflappable student of percussion music will find more treasures waiting to be explored at Levels 3 and 4. The former delivers more internal knowledge, usually acquired only after years of learning from the master, such as intricate patterns and techniques such as Pecking, Gumki, Arai. Chapu followed by Taniavarthanams detailed in the 4 basic talas. The art of tuning Mridangam is a bonus with this DVD.
At level 4, the student learns what it takes to play mridangam in concerts, both vocal and instrumental, where the mridangam musician not only has to stand his ground, but also play in harmony with the vocalist or other instrument players and contribute to the unified beauty of music. It also includes light classical music, from folk to bhajans.
The mridangam lessons listed on the DVDs are also available in .pdf format and include an excerpt from Umayalpuram’s book. The total duration of the 7-pack instructional music series is 22 hours, at the end of which the mridangam student is many musical miles ahead of where they started. Of course, the journey is never complete, but one is definitely well equipped for it.
And it is not just the mridangam enthusiast, but the classical music world in general, that benefits from this presentation, which can rightly be called Umayalpuram Sivaraman’s masterpiece. This marriage of musical genius and the best of technology must be treasured.
