Mrdanga

Here is an interesting mod that Bali Fergusson (Balaram Das) from Hawaii has done to his Balarama mrdanga. There are two holes drilled in the body inline with the strap rings, towards the center of the drum.

Apparently this increases the volume and resonance of the drum. I'm interested to try it out...

Just got this email from Jai Gopal, who sells the Tilak fiberglass mrdanga from the Philippines:

Dear Sitapati Prabhu,

I'm grateful to know that you were the one who actually convinced Vraja Vilasa prabhu to buy the 2nd batch of our Tilaka mrdanga. Without your honest video review we couldn't made improvements on it. I sincerely hope to have another review from you on this new batch the soonest.

Thank you and may Guru and Krishna bless you and your love ones.

Your servant,

Jai Gopal das
(Philippines)

Yes, I think the Tilak 2.0 mrdangas are worth buying. And no, I didn't get paid or get a free one to say that. ;-)

Watch out for another video review when Krishnapada and I get together next.

Mrdanga Clinic with the Mayapuris
Brisbane 22 October 3pm - 5pm
Sydney Temple 28 October 3pm - 5pm
Suggested Donation $25

Here's a world exclusive: a review of the new Tilak mrdanga, a Balarama-replica made in the Philippines. You can order one from Jai Gopal on Facebook. Currently the cost is US$300 incl. shipping.

One thing to note is that the camera microphone does not accurately reproduce the high frequencies produced by the Balaram mrdanga, so the difference between the two is not so apparent in the video. However, you can hear the difference in resonance between the two mrdangas around 7:30 and 8:04.

Shortly after this we weighed the two mrdangas - the Balaram weighs in at 4.5 kg, the Tilak at 3kg. Something else we discovered is that you can flex the body the body of the Tilak mrdanga with your hands. I got the feeling that I might be able to damage the body by compressing it hard enough with my own strength, something you definitely cannot do with a Balaram.

OK, this one is a bit experimental.

On the second song of the night (and from memory the third) Arjuna didn't play tabla - Janardana played the white Balarama mrdanga in the picture.

The sound of an untuned Balarama mrdanga is truly that of a plastic drum. If you tune it up you can get something half-way decent out of it. However, this was untuned, and to boot, unmiked to begin with. I noticed after the first few moments of the kirtan, which were spent trimming input gain and setting up the live sound, then turned around and adjusted the mics. As a result initially the sound level of the mrdanga is low.

However, this kind of works, as it allows the dynamics to build. Speaking of dynamics, I got a free Faderport - I'm just waiting for it to arrive. Now if I can use that, then I can (relatively) easily do the same thing with a recorded mix that I did on the night, riding the fader and recording it with automation. At least until I get the Zed R16, at which time the whole thing becomes a no-brainer. In the meantime you get a mix where the flute wanders all over the top of the whole kirtan - on the night I raised the volume during the response and lowered it while Maharaja sang.

I boosted the 760Hz on the top end of the mrdanga, and tried something I read about in Owsinski's book "Recording Engineers Handbook" [read online at Google Books].

In the book Owsinski explains that R&B producers put a 32Hz tone through a channel and trigger it from the kick drum. This gives you a real deep sub bass feel. I tried that with the wimpy plastic mrdanga to give it more oomph.

I put an test oscillator on a channel and set it to 66.910Hz. Then I put a noisegate on the channel and set the sidechain to the channel with the mrdanga. The noisegate settings are: Threshold (-17db) | Attack (3ms) | Hold (40ms) | Release (1824.6ms).

What this does is gate the oscillator until the bottom end of the mrdanga is hit hard, at which point the gate opens and the test oscillator's tone comes through. The effect, at least in the small amount of listening I've been able to do, is like a deep djembe playing in the kirtan.

In this mix I also played around with stereo positioning of elements, to make them closer to the actual layout of the room as captured in the stereo room mic. On the night I tried to position people to avoid leakage between mics. Next time I'll also take stereo balance into account.

OK, here's the track. Let me know how it sounds / what you think.

• Nitai Pada Kamala (mp3, 11:27, 16MB)

Oh yeah, at the end, in the last few minutes, Janardana and Rohan go to double time in 6/8 time. This song is in 3/4 (waltz) time. The feel changes going to 6/8, but the timing works. Maharaja was not used to that change but he quickly fell into the groove. The chimpta really helps in a situation like to keep the beat anchored.

In reference to yesterday's post about mrdangas and metronomes, Maha-mantra wrote me to say that "triplets at 66 bpm is too fast for beginners", and of course it is.

I didn't start out on 66 bpm with triplets - and neither should you. The 66 bpm practice of that mantra is just what I'm doing at the moment. The post is as much inspirational as it is instructional. The main point is - practice with a metronome.

Mantra suggests starting out with single beats at 204 pm. You can use the initial mantras in my book "The Art and Science of Harinam Sankirtan Yajna", such as te ta and te ta ta. That way you'll be following, rather than imitating.

When I have a little more time I'll sit down, start with the basics, and go systematically from there.

In mrdanga playing power is good, endurance is great, but precision is king.

If you have power and endurance people will notice you. If you have precision you can become invisible - the kirtan will rock so hard that people will forget you're there.

And that's the goal.

To develop precision you need to practice with a metronome. It's a form of hasta-sadhana ("finger practice") that involves subordinating yourself to Krishna in His form of time (kalo 'smi). It can be hard on the mind, but that's what it's all about - conquering the mind and becoming a faithful and useful servant of the kirtan.

After I shot this video I had a realisation about muscle fibres. You see, I've been practicing with a metronome for 30 - 60 minutes a day, and my precision is pretty high. However, I've been noticing that while my power and endurance have been going up with my new physical training program, my precision has been disappearing.

Here's my theory as to why: the precision is not simply in the brain, it's also in the muscle fibres. High speed mrdanga playing uses reflex actions. These reflexes are stored in the muscle memory. As you add new muscle you need to retrain it to make it precise in mrdanga playing. So it's back to the metronome and hasta-sadhana for me, otherwise all this power and endurance is just for show.

I've been doing some investigation into drums and drumming lately.

Param Satya plays the tabla. I've been playing mrdanga for a few years now, and recently I've taken up doumbek (aka darbuka, tarambuka, egyptian tabla and more), and djembe.

Prahlad plays mrdanga, doumbek, and djembe.

We have a kirtan retreat coming up with drumming workshops and a drumming circle, so all these drums will come in handy. There are a few more at Atma as well.

We're also investigating designs, materials, and production lines for producing mrdangas locally and globally.

A sifu master once said: "If you want to master something do it ten thousand times".

Of course, beyond the conception of mastery is the realization that we are subordinate to our environment and exist in order to serve.

However, the principle is valuable. I express it like this: "The difference between an experienced drummer and an inexperienced drummer is ten thousand strokes."

The other day I taught the basic strokes on the mrdanga to a student. Then I told her: "Now you know what I know. The only difference between us is ten thousand strokes."

There is no short cut, no substitute. Of course, there are lots of things that you can do to accelerate and deepen the effectiveness of your practice. Serving and associating with others who are better than you will lift your game. But still, the hard yards are there, just waiting for you to do them.

Ten thousand strokes - that's all it takes to get to the next level. How long will it take you to do them?

Prahlad and I are studying the Egyptian tabla at the moment. When I watch a video like the one below of young Yunus firing over a 12/4 rhythm, I realize that he is simply picking up from where he left off in a previous life. Born into an appropriate family, he quickly reconnects with his previous patterns. This is the fate of unsuccessful spiritualist as well - he or she gets the opportunity to take birth in a family of pious, devoted persons.

So in a sense our explanation that at the time of death everything material is lost is not strictly true, because otherwise there would be no such thing as karma. According to Bhagavad-gita 15.8: "The living entity in the material world carries his different conceptions of life from one body to another as the air carries aromas."

While material wealth cannot be taken with you, your conceptions of life remain, and you continue to evolve, or degrade in terms of your consciousness.

Materially or spiritually, you get some impetus from your previous life's effort, and you go from there. Ten thousand strokes. Whether it's playing an instrument or progressing in spiritual life, the principle is the same. Do the hard yards.

These guys have dedicated their time to something. Instead of playing video games or watching tv, they've developed this skill. They have the same number of hours per day as everyone else, but they have invested them in a focused way. They have used their time to do ten thousand strokes on one drum.

"Those who are on this path are resolute in purpose, and their aim is one. O beloved child of the Kurus, the intelligence of those who are irresolute is many-branched." - Bhagavad-gita 2.41

Focused effort. Enthusiasm to begin, simultaneous determination and patience to see it through.

These are the principles of success.

"Ten thousand strokes" - that's what it takes.

A video podcast lesson on playing daadra taal beats on mrdanga, as per a request on an earlier lesson posted to YouTube.com.

Here are the mantras:

Daadra taal cartal beat:
dheiya da da dheiya

Mrdanga beats:

Dhei da dhei ta kheta kheta
Thei ta thei ta kheta kheta

While I'm singing Hari haraye namah krishna, I think I also change to:

Dhei da dhei tak da dhena kheta
Thei ta thei tak ta dhena (thena) kheta

The dhena and thena in the second line of the above mantra are interchangable. Do either one or the other, not both.

Here is the breakdown beat:

That top end is used for the other beats that I demonstrate. I'll get the images for those beats to you later on.

Here's the "Babalu madness beat" :-) :

da guru gur da dhei da guru gur da dhei da guru gur da dhei ta kheta kheta
ta khur khur ta thei ta khur khur ta thei ta khur khur ta thei ta kheta kheta

For those who are listening really carefully, the last mantra that I'm playing after this in the final "Nitai Gaura Haribol" at the end is:

dhei ta tak take ta tak take ta tak ghida ghida