Indian Music Experience (IME) Workshop

December 9, 2022 (Friday)

As a satellite event for ISMIR 2022, we are organizing an Indian music experience workshop for the participants of ISMIR 2022. The event will be hosted at the Indian Music Experience Museum in Bengaluru, which is India’s first interactive music museum comprising hands-on interactive artifacts on different forms of music in India including art, folk and film music. The physical-only day-long informal workshop is planned to be a unique experience to introduce the MIR community to the diverse and rich music traditions of India through guided museum visits, short introductory workshops, an exhibition on contemporary Indian music, and informal interactions between invited experts and the members of the MIR community. Through the workshop, we hope to establish cross-disciplinary connections, initiate discussions and foster future collaborations on MIR for Indian music.

The satellite event will include two workshops. A workshop of melodic aspects of Hindustani music by two of the leading musicians of Indian Vid. Aneesh Pradhan and Vid. Shubha Mudgal. The event will include a workshop on Carnatic music rhythm and percussion by one of the most sought-after mrindangam artists Vid. Akshay Anantapadmanabhan.

The participants will have the opportunity to attend either or both the workshops depending on their interest and availability. Outside of the workshops, the participants can take guided tours of the museum or leisurely visit the museum at their own pace. The event ends with a high-tea and interaction session with the artists and other participants.

The schedule for the day:

08:00: Travel to the museum from the ISMIR conference venue (60-90 min travel time)

10:15 - 12:00: Workshops (morning session)

12:00 - 15:00: Museum guided tours and lunch

15:00 - 16:40: Workshops (afternoon session)

16:40 - 18:00: High Tea and interaction with artists

6.00 pm: Travel from the museum back to ISMIR conference venue (60-90 min travel time)

The workshop is available only to in-person registrants and not available for virtual participation. We will however make an effort to record some of the sessions and make it available later to all participants. Registration for the satellite workshop is free with the in-person registration for ISMIR 2022. Transportation (between the museum and the ISMIR conference venue), lunch and coffee-breaks are included with your registration.

To register for the satellite workshop, please make sure you select “Yes” on the corresponding question while registering as an in-person attendee for the ISMIR 2022 conference. You are welcome to bring accompanying guests at a nominal additional fee using the add-on tickets available during registration.

Timeline and Logistics

Abstract:

The workshops will facilitate introduction of musical concepts and some demonstrations directly from master performers of the repertoire. The guest speakers are notable orators and we envision an intellectual exchange between the artists and scientists. A broad outline of the workshops are illustrated below, we will have 2 parallel workshops conducted during morning and afternoon. You can choose one of them for the morning session until the capacity reaches the cap. In the afternoon, you will be given the option to choose the other workshop or continue with the same, the allocation will be done during registration.

Workshops:

1. Workshop on melodic aspects of Hindustani music

1A. Traditional Music and technology: Some observations about the Indian situation
Traditional music in India has evolved over several centuries and is spread over a spectrum of music categories. Many of the traditional forms of music have influenced each other and their practitioners have demonstrated strategies to meet the challenges posed by technology. This session will highlight some of these adaptive strategies and the dialogue that has and could happen in future between traditional music and technology.

1B. Traditional Music and technology: Improvisation in Hindustani raag and taal
Improvisation plays an integral role in the presentation of Hindustani music, and traditional and institutional forms of pedagogy have addressed the improvisational aspect variously. This session will focus on improvisation given the presence of technology in the performance and teaching of Hindustani music.

2. Workshop on Carnatic music rhythm and percussion

2A. Intro to Carnatic Rhythm & Pedagogy
Indian art music has a deep and complex rhythmic structure. In this workshop we give an intro to the context of Carnatic rhythm and percussion and its role as well as its possibilities. Attendees will get an interactive experience into popular rhythmic time cycles and learn about konnakol in the way any student will learn about these topics in traditional pedagogy. The workshop will culminate into a percussive solo experience on the mridangam and konnakol.

2B. Compositional Structures in Carnatic Rhythm
In this workshop we dive deeper into the organization of Carnatic rhythm. Attendees will learn about the types of rhythmic compositions in percussive solos and their structures. Each composition type will be demoed live showcasing the musical possibilities from these structures. Attendees will get a deeper insight into the various types of rhythmic compositions presented in the Carnatic rhythmic framework.

Bio:

Shubha Mudgal

Born into a musically dedicated family, Shubha Mudgal has been trained by some of the finest musicians and musicologists in India. Trained by eminent scholar-musician-composer Pandit Ramashreya Jha “Ramrang”, she also received guidance from Pandit Vinaya Chandra Maudgalya and Pandit Vasant Thakar. She later learnt stylistic techniques from well-known maestros Pandit Jitendra Abhisheki and Pandit Kumar Gandharva. She also received training in thumri from Smt. Naina Devi and is thus a versatile and popular performer. In addition to being a performer, Shubha has also won recognition as a composer. She is the recipient of numerous time sawards, including the Padma Shri from the Government of India in the year 2000, and the Gold Plaque Award for Special Achievement in Music at the 34th Chicago International Film Festival, 1998, and the Yash Bharati Samman from the Government of Uttar Pradesh in 2015. She has also been closely involved with several projects related toto music education in India. Formerly a member of the Central Advisory Board of Education constituted by the Government of India, Shubha also chaired a focus group discussing the need for introducing an arts education program in mainstream school education during the National Curriculum Framework 2005. Shubha Mudgal was also a Nana Shirgaokar Visiting Research Professor for traditional music at Goa University. She has taught a course on Hindustani Music with Aneesh Pradhan for the Performing Arts Department of the Ashoka University, India. Shubha Mudgal has recently been invited by the Goa Institute of Management as a Distinguished Visiting Scholar for a period of two years from January 2022.

Aneesh Pradhan

One of India's leading tabla players, Aneesh Pradhan is a disciple of the illustrious tabla maestro Nikhil Ghosh from whom he inherited a rich and varied repertoire of traditional tabla solo compositions from the Delhi, Ajrada, Lucknow, Farrukhabad and Punjab gharanas. Greatly appreciated by both the cognoscenti and the lay listener as a soloist and accompanist, Aneesh Pradhan is the recipient of several awards such as the Aditya Birla Kala Kiran Award (2000), the Natyadarpan Award for 'Best Background Score' (1998) for music direction to the Marathi play 'Tumbara' directed by Sunil Shanbag, the Vasantotsav Award (2012) instituted in memory of the eminent vocalist Dr. Vasantrao Deshpande, and the Saath Sangat Kalakar Award (2013) instituted in memory of G.L.Samant by the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, Pune. A popular performer at most prestigious concerts and festivals in the country, Aneesh Pradhan has also traveled widely and performed overseas at major events. He has also recorded prolifically for national and international record labels accompanying a host of vocalists and instrumentalists. His first tabla solo album titled “Tabla: the solo tradition” recorded in concert in 1997 and published in 2004, was followed by “Tabla solo: a continuing tradition”, a studio recording made in 2006.

Akshay Anantapadmanabhan

Akshay Anantapadmanabhan is a reputed and leading mridangam artist known for his sensitivity, tonality and innovative approach of spreading Indian rhythm through the world. A prime disciple of the legendary guru Sri. T.H. Subash Chandran, Akshay has performed with the past and present leading names of Carnatic music: Sri RK Srikantan, Smt. Sudha Raghunathan, Smt. Aruna Sairam, Sri. Unnikrishnan, Sri. TM Krishna and Smt. Ranjani & Smt. Gayatri to name a few. Akshay has given collaborative performances with Hindustani, Latin jazz, American jazz and rock musicians in unique showcases of South Indian percussion. His latest solo production: 'Re-imagining Indian Rhythms' pushes the boundaries of Indian rhythms in an avant-garde approach, bringing together the mridangam, kanjira, konnakol and bharathanatyam with digital loopers and interactive visuals. Akshay is also a core member of the viral Indian Classical fusion bands 'The Thayir Sadam Project' and 'Carnatic 2.0 Reloaded'