Dr. Lalmani Misra, vichitra vina, Pt. Kishan Maharaj, tabla | Raga Shyam Bihag

Описание: Dr. Lalmani Misra was the foremost exponent of the rare instrument, vichitra vina. He was known as both a musician and a scholar. As a musician, he performed on a number of different instruments such as sitar, sarod, santoor, and jal tarang. However, he was most accomplished on the vichitra vina, which remained his primary instrument for performance throughout his adult life. As a scholar, his publications include instructional books for teaching Hindustani instrumental music, such as his Tantri Nada, and an extensive historical study of Indian instruments, Bharatiya Sangita Vadya. This performance took place in Varanasi in the Durga Temple located in Durgakund. The performance took place on September 4, 1975. Raga Shyam Bihag is an original creation of Dr. Misra's combining elements of four ragas, Shyam Kalyan, Nand, Maru Bihag, and Bihag. Following the alap and jor, the late Pt. Kishan Maharaj accompanies the vilambit and drut gat-s in tin-tala. At one point during the drut gat, Dr. Misra compliments Kishan Maharaj for his perfectly in-tune tabla. Because the microphone was placed nearer to the tabla, and because Kishan Maharaj played with the gusto of Bananas Gharana tabla masters, the automatic record level of the Sony cassette recorder I had at the time played havoc with the recording, drastically scaling back the record level every time Kishan Maharaj struck his tabla forcefully, sometimes causing the vina to become practically inaudible. I tried to compensate for this as much as possible by using the "amplify" effect in Audacity to the point of saturating the the digital file. This has helped to bring out the vichitra vina in those areas, but, unfortunately, it was impossible to get a better balance than what is present here. There is also a constant hum caused by a fan or the electrical current interfering somehow, and several shouts coming from Kishan Maharaj as he admonishes the audience to be quiet. Still, it was one of the few times I heard Dr. Misra being accompanied by Pt. Kishan Maharaj, and it is one of a few recordings of Raga Shyam Bihag, so I think it is worth posting.