Making a Note

Following the head start,the instruments spin out nimble taans,creating complex scintillating tunes,giving the impression of different vainikas (veena players) playing together. “A traditional vainika has never attempted a recording using seven different veenas together. I wanted to showcase the sound of this instrument in all its purity,with movement-based and emotion-based compositions,since this is the only instrument that can execute the subtleties of the human voice,” says Jayanthi Kumaresh,40,whose album Mystical Duality (Earthsync,Rs 299) released last month.

The musician who believes that the multiple layers of her veenas are a reflection of the multiple layers of her personality,is unfazed by the announcement made by the government of India two years back,when it declared that the mythological musical instrument,veena,was a “dying instrument”. “It was definitely a painful announcement,but I have grown up playing the instrument,and know that I could do things differently with it. I am optimistic. There are fewer people teaching the instrument now,but many youngsters are still interested in learning it. There are many takers for it abroad. However,the instrument is not as famous in North India,” says Kumaresh,whose mother gave her a baby veena when she was only three. “The affair with the instrument has continued ever since,” says Kumaresh,who grew up in a family of musicians and picked up the veena after she saw an idol of Goddess Saraswati holding it.

The four-track album opens with the title track in raga Shudha Sarang and is followed by Strings with no Ends in raga Bilawal. It concludes with Waiting at Dusk,a folk composition that opens with raga Pahadi and finishes with Bhairavi. “The beauty lies in hidden ragas that have been used in the various compositions,” says the niece of eminent violinist Lalgudi Jayaraman,who has been making an effort to turn veena from a chamber instrument to a concert instrument. Unlike any other string instrument,like the sitar and the sarod,veena has no resonance strings.

Talking about the process of working on the album,Kumaresh says,“I first recorded one tune and then heard that on the headphone and layered a second one on it,with a different kind of veena and harmonised the two.”

And as Kumaresh sits in a yogi’s position,holding the majestic instrument and pulls the strings with the plectrums,it becomes vibrantly alive with each raga. “Notes are not separate. They are connected to a reality that lies beyond perception. This is my tribute to the oldest and the most majestic instrument that India has contributed to the world,” says Kumaresh. We are all set to tune in.