Music

Last night Prahlad and I attended Svetadvipa's 40th birthday in Sydney.

It was a fancy dress party, and guests came dressed as something starting with "S". I went as "starring Sitapati as Himself", and Prahlad went as "Soap McTavish" from Call of Duty Modern Warfare.

Check out some photos here and here.

Prahlad and I drove down from Brisbane, leaving on Thursday and arriving on Saturday an hour or two before the party. After the party concluded with a wonderful kirtan by Sri Prahlada and his Bhakti Band, of which Sveta is the guitarist, we turned around and drove back to Brisbane.

We left Sydney at 11:30pm, Saturday night. The road was empty - all the truck drivers head home early for their one day a week off. It was straight through an empty night on cruise control, with Prahlad asleep beside me, a can of Rockstar (you are what you drink) in the cup holder, and the opportunity to spend some quality time with some albums that I've really wanted to give attention to.

I'm going to give you the night as it unfolded, because that affected my state of consciousness, and is going to colour my review.

First up I wanted to listen to some Aindra. I was feeling enlivened by the kirtan association at Sveta's birthday and wanted to go back to my roots. My iPod didn't have any live Aindra recordings loaded, just all of his "studio" albums. I started with Cintamani Nam. After listening to three of the four parts (you can download them here), I thought: "This is a collection of tunes. I'd like to hear some transitions." But of course I had no live Aindra to listen to. The Vraja Vilasa albums have the later development of Aindra's kirtan style, where in addition to melodies using ragas he showcased complex rhythmic arrangements.

Gaura Vani & As Kindred Spirits - Live in Australia 2011 (unreleased)

Instead of going for Vraja Vilasa I listened to an as-yet unreleased Gaura Vani & As Kindred Spirits "Live in Australia 2011" album, featuring Gaura Vani, Jahnavi Harrison (violin), Shree Shyam (bass), Visvambhar (mrdanga) and Krishna Kishore (flute) of the Mayapuris, and Clayton Frick from Sri Prahlada's Bhakti Band on electric guitar.

As the mystical interweaving of Jahnavi's violin and Krishna Kishore's flute played out over Shree Shyam's funky bass line, a quarter moon rose over the horizon to the north. 1:30am.

I listened to Gaura Vani lead the group through a collection of heartfelt original renditions of traditional devotional songs. The musicianship was astounding in its virtuosity. The improvised nature of the arrangement was apparent - startlingly fresh and invigorating; exciting in its risk, thrilling in its successful execution

Gaura Vani is able to bring a fresh perspective to songs that I know well, such as Visvanath Chakravarti's "Guruvastakam", as well as introduce devotional gems from other traditions, such as Guru Nanak's "Koye Bole Ram".

The ecumenical nature of Gaura Vani's approach to devotional traditions extends to the nature of the group and its arrangements. Musicians spontaneously burst into a joyful solo, or are urged by Gaura Vani to do so, such as when he is heard telling Clayton to "go for it".

With such a rich palette of instruments - there is bass guitar, electric guitar, harmonium, flute, mrdanga, and violin - there is a beautiful spareness to the arrangements as musicians drop in and out. There is no overkill that leads to desensitization as a musician solos non-stop, or just plays so much that you wish they'd stop. It's organic and its wholesome. The maturity of the individuals' musicianship and their interaction as a group is apparent.

The only caveat to the experience comes from the testimony of an attendee at the show where this album was recorded. Some months later I met her at another kirtan, where she told me: "Gaura Vani's kirtan was terrible. It was too complicated, and there were no words." This is not interactive kirtan for first-timers. The chants are complex and change over the course of the arrangement, sometimes returning to an earlier chorus, but often introducing newer and newer variations of an evolving theme. This is kirtan that is best appreciated by those with a grounding in the tradition, who want mind- and heart-expanding exposure to a deep well of kirtan rasa. Drink at your own peril.

Verdict: Get the album when it's available. You wouldn't be reading this review if you weren't into kirtan, would you?

Disclaimer: I was at the kirtan where this album was recorded and saw it live.

Govinda das and The Krishna Balarama Mandir 24 Hour Kirtan Mandali - Akhanda Nam 2 (import)

Mist rose up and reduced the visibility. The Bhagavatam describes the mist that endangers travellers as the discarded body of Lord Brahma, who gave it up in shame at having lustily approached his daughter. The blazing torchlight of Holden Commodore halogen lenses took care of the mist, and with no other cars on the road there were no others to worry about.

My next listening project is the spiritual successor to Aindra - the continuation of his albums showcasing the development of kirtan at the Krishna Balarama Mandir 24 hour kirtan that has been at the heart of ISKCON kirtan culture for over 25 years now.

Krishnapada had imported this hard-to-acquire followup to the underground cult classic "Akhanda Nam" (available here), and given it to me to listen to.

Govinda das is the pretender to Aindra's throne. Not in any kind of scheming way - that's just the way that it's shaken out. Aindra released tapes that circulated in the underground, stretching and redefining the kirtan paradigm. Govinda das is doing the same thing.

If Gaura Vani's kirtan could be said to be "not tailored for kirtan first timers", Akhanda Nam could be said to be unequivocally rejecting them, and squarely aiming at hardcore kirtan heads, with no apologies.

The first Akhanda Nam album is an advanced study in Aindra's style of kirtan. It only makes sense if you have internalised Aindra's kirtan - its ragas, its rhythms, and its movements. Even then it is a stretch. It presents a further development of the style in a particular direction, one that is not going to be to the taste of everyone.

Akhanda Nam 2 is esoteric kirtan geekery levelled up. It asks the question: "...and then what?", and makes several attempts to answer it.

Mark my words: this album will define the future of kirtan. Going back to listen to Cintamani Nam now evokes a thought of "Oh, this is a collection of tunes". They are now mostly well-known tunes, popularised and spread even to the point that their origin on Cintamani Nam might be obscured. At the time of original publishing however, those tunes were revolutionary and unprecedented. In the same way, the elements of Akhanda Nam 2 will come to be so widespread that in the future a retro-reviewer will say: "Ho Hum, everything you already know, notable only for the fact that it was the first time it was recorded and popularised".

That day, however, is far away; and today if you know what's on this album, and you pull it out in a kirtan, people are going to look at you like you just dropped in from Mars.

Here are a few highlights:

• Slow is the new fast.
• Slowing down is the new speeding up.
• Rupak taal (7/8) is the new kem taal (6/8)

Study this album. Notable features include the mrdanga sound. To me it sounds like a single mrdanga player, but there is something interesting going on with the top end - a stereo effect that gives it a characteristic and unmistakable sound. A bounce delay perhaps?

On the third track the mrdanga signals kem taal (6/8), but the clapping comes in at double time for kairava taal (4/4). There is a 13 second period of absolute polyrhythmic chaos before a beautiful resolution occurs. Either a stroke of mad genius, or two different recordings put on top of each other - which is a stroke of mad genius... do those guys do that kind of stuff live?

Some of the ideas seem unfinished or partially developed. The second track kicks off in 7/8, introducing the public to a new rhythmic structure (roopak taal). However, it doesn't go anywhere, instead dissolving into a slow 4/4.

The production seems a little rushed, or else the guys were dipping into acid while making the album. It starts strong, then starts to lose its way. A violin creeps in and swells to wash everything out in a huge reverb. Someone discovers a surmandal sample and then starts hitting it once or twice every mantra. A country western / blues twanging creates a surreal atmospheric effect at first, and then goes on to a level that begins to parody itself.

I thought the violin was a MIDI keyboard with someone one-finger tapping the vocal melody on it. Especially after hearing Jahnavi's otherworldy expressiveness on the instrument, this comes across as crude, and overbearing. However, the album cover has a photo of a violin player, so the lack of subtlety in the mixing may be more the issue. The same may be for the twanging instrument. A lower mix level for these two (and a tighter reverb for the violin) would have created a subtle undertone, rather than a distracting overtone. But then maybe that's all part of the production - a nod to the unintentional/unavoidable technological limitations that gave Vrndavan Mellows its characteristic sound: the analog compression, the muddying of the mixdown on tape, the cacophony of sounds that created a swirling aural canvas that disoriented the listener and transported them to an otherworldly place, with an otherworldly soundtrack.

Or it could just be a rushed mix that sounded ok on the monitors it was played on and doesn't translate well to a car stereo. It happens, especially when you are in a rush to publish, because whoever publishes first gets first stake in describing the future direction of kirtan. Whether or not being first to publish an influential description of the future sound of kirtan was the intention of this album, it is the effect.

Akhanda Nam 2 comes across as a reference CD for ideas on further development of Aindra's paradigm, and while it presents some possible answers to the question "..and then what?", it raises and leaves us with some further intriguing questions:

What does the future hold? A gradual and progressive return to something as complex as Narottama das Thakura's kirtan style with 108 different taals? Akhanda Nam 2 builds on the work that has gone before, and presumably the Akhanda Nam 3 will do the same. If Aindra's kirtan was sufficiently exotic to alienate the casual kirtan listener (imagine first timers trying to sing along and follow the rhythms), Akhanda Nam 2 levels up to alienate everyone who finally managed to master kem taal. Esoteric kirtan geekery just levelled up, and it's awesome.

Verdict: Buy it and learn to play everything on it, just like you did with Vrndavan Mellows.

Disclaimer: I don't know Govinda or the other musicians on the album, and my review of it is based on listening to it and speculating. As Krishna Kishore from the Mayapuris said to me when we met in person for the first time: "We read your review of Ten Million Moons and thought: 'Who is this a**hole?'" Lol. We can sort it out in the dham, mano-a-mano.

Krpamoya - Chakram



You can listen to clips from Krpamoya's album Chakram on Soundcloud

In 2000 I was washing dishes in a kitchen in Wellington, New Zealand, listening to one of my favorite kirtan tapes. A visiting devotee from the UK said to me: "Who is that you're listening to?", so I told him: "Dude, that is like Krpamoya", because in New Zealand we speak like we're in Los Angeles.

He gave me a puzzled look. "Why are you listening to him?" Now it was my turn to give him a puzzled look: "Because he's like, awesome". Now his look turned pensive. "Hmm, I never thought people around the world would listen to his kirtan on tape. To us he's just this guy who leads kirtan at the Manor."

In millenial New Zealand Krpamoya was the name of a guy who lead an awesome Janmastami kirtan on a highly sought-after tape that was copied and passed around kirtan afficianado circles. The energy of the kirtan was palpable - it was massive, with a powerful bottom end provided by a lot of mrdangas, and Krpamoya effortlessly moved between melodies with a fluid grace and a voice that was liquid gold.

It was awesome.

Now fast-forward to 2011, and Krpamoya has released a studio album "Chakram".

All I can say is: "What happened?"

No, I'm kidding.

But while I'm kidding around... there's a famous scene in the mockumentary This is Spinal Tap where the band are being presented with historical reviews of their albums and asked for their reaction to them. The reviews become increasing brusque until they reach the point of a single, dimissive sentence. Here's my Spinal Tap review of Chakram: "Can't wait for the movie to come out, can't listen to the album without it".

The album opens epic. It's not a stretch to imagine the opening track as the extended mix of the opening credits to a BBC program. The dramatic drums and the sound of swords being drawn evokes the ITV series "Robin of Sherwood", and Clannad's album Legend, the sound track of the same.

Now I have a confession to make: Legend was the first record I ever bought, and I wore that thing out listening to it.

There are no sleeve notes for Chakram, no credits or musician listings. For some reason I imagine Krpamoya and Jayadeva (was he involved?) locked in a studio somewhere, and discovering a movie sound effects library, and just going nuts.

I couldn't find the right context to listen to the album. But driving back from Sydney overnight (a 900km drive), I discovered the missing piece - a quest epic enough to warrant the soundtrack of Chakram.

Chakram, like Gaura Vani's music, and like Akhanda Nam, is an interpretation of kirtan. Where Gaura Vani draws from a diverse base of traditional Indian and contemporary Western musical forms to create a familiar yet fresh pop experience, and Akhanda Nam draws on the esoteric with the idea that the more alien it is the more authentic it must be (or is that "the more authentic it is, the more alien it must be"?), Chakram draws on a different cultural base to find its unique take - the Indian movie soundtrack.

This is a kirtan album produced by the spirit of AR Rahman.

In the correct space to process the whole thing, as I drove through the Celtic Country of Northern New South Wales on an epic quest, I was able to fully savour the flavours of Chakram.

The opening track has all the hallmarks of an epic movie soundtrack, and a contemporary one at that, with the right kind of processing applied to the female vocal (Krpamoya's daughter Tulasi?). That track is begging for a techno / dubstep remix. I'm serious. Listen to it.

Although there are no liner notes, I know that Chakrini provides vocals on the album, because Krpamoya was giving me a guided tour of the Manor when we ran into her, and she talked about it.

The second track on the album is a version of Narottama das Thakura's Sri Rupa Manjari Pada flawlessly executed by Krpamoya and Chakrini as a harmonised duet. Each of their voices are gold, and together they are priceless. Harmony (disparagingly referred to as "Horror-mony") is frowned upon by purists. However, Western music is based on harmony, and Western ears and minds are developed to appreciate, and even require it; and western ears will find much to be pleased with here.

The song is carefully scripted and has a pretty standard arrangement. Many times interpretations of traditional songs founder on the fact that the structure is plain. It's the same thing repeated several times. If you don't speak Sanskrit, then it all sounds like gibberish, so the only thing you have to appreciate is the melody. And if that is just repeating, well then it's boring.

The titles of the songs on the album are all in English, but the songs are all in non-English languages.

However, a careful listening reveals several very interesting and emotionally provoking tweaks in this version of Sri Rupa Manjari Pada. There are points where the harmonies diverge in an interesting fashion, creating and resolving tension in interesting ways. You may not understand the words, but you can feel the rasa. One of the verses has a 6/8 phrasing that gives it a staccato feel that sets it apart from the rest. Small tweaks like this combine to create a very subtle yet powerful effect.

It's slick in its sound, and slick in its production.

Krpamoya has an interesting interpretation of the song "Ajna Tal" following this, which he titles "Dancing in the Streets". The opening to this song uses space and reverb, with a woman's voice, to paint an aural picture with a palette of raga. Moving through the Northern New South Wales countryside at sunrise, it makes a perfect sound track.

Krpamoya has eschewed the traditional instruments associated with the musical tradition that he is reinterpreting for a contemporary audience - for example the mrdanga drums, and instead uses the sound effects that he found in the movie sound track library. I'm kidding again. The Song "Ajnal Tal" (Dancing in the Streets) is traditionally performed with a 6/8 feel. This is hinted at by a drum - is a darbuka or similar goblet drum, or a bodhran, or both? Here's where liner notes would provide a clue. Whatever the drum being used, it is skillfully woven into the background, and doesn't at all sound out of place while driving through Celtic Country. Nor does it produce the "wtf?" experience that western audiences, conditioned to 4/4 pop music or 3/4 ballads, typically have when a hardcore head-wobbling Indian 6/8 rhythm kicks in. It remains true to its roots while remaining subtle and non-confrontational.

Another track that deserves a special mention here is "Let the Bee of My Mind Fly to the Eternal Lotus", traditionally known as "Krishna Deva Bhavantam Vande".

This track begins with another soundscape painted with a female vocal (this time I believe Krpamoya's daughter Jahnavi), and an innovative use of space, reverb, and ambient effects. Whoever produced this has some serious mad skills and sensibilities. The colours of the raga are intriguing also. The meaning of the mantras is obscure (liner notes!), but the music conveys the emotional message without the necessity of rationality. When Krpamoya begins to sing the song, it is the perfect resolution for the tension created by the opening scene.

The next track - "Father, what is Spirit?" - is the only English track on the album and is a spoken word piece where Krpamoya gets a little preachy, but in a delightfully English way. It's kind of "Hinduism as presented by C.S. Lewis". And I think Krpamoya, aside from his musical contribution, is kind of like the C.S. Lewis of ISKCON. Maybe the movie that goes with this album is kind of like a Narnia movie, but I digress.

The album, once I got past the epicness of the opening track and found the right space to experience it in, was a very rewarding experience. The guest vocalists are superb. The production is impeccable and the arrangements are reinterpretations into contemporary western musical vocabularies that remain faithful to the originals.

Verdict: Get the album, go on an epic quest and play it as your personal sound track. Alternatively, add it to your existing collection of movie sound tracks and C.S. Lewis spoken-word records.

Disclaimer: In the interim between hearing the Janmastami kirtan and listening to Chakram, I visited the UK and met Krpamoya, staying with him and his family at their home in a quiet cul-de-sac in the English countryside. They all have red hair, and one of them is Jahnavi, the violinist in As Kindred Spirits. Musical ability runs in the family as much as devotion does.

Update: Apparently the CD comes with a 16-page booklet. I should have downloaded the *other* torrent. ;-) (Actually, I got a complementary copy, which didn't include the liner notes.)

You can check out the musicians, the producer, the engineering, and all the technical specs here.

enCHANTED: Live at Purna

The other album that I had on my list to give some serious time to was enCHANTED "Live at Purna". By destiny, it didn't make it on to my iPod for this trip, so I wasn't able to listen to it in the depth it deserves. I'm going to NZ on December 14, so I'll get a chance to listen to it outside of my normal environment, where I can reflect on it more, and I'll get back to you with my review.

Here is a recording of the Tulasi puja song from a recent Saturday night feast program:

• Tulasi puja (mp3,46 min, 49MB)

We have a Hare Krishna Saturday feast every week at the Sherwood Scout Hall, 14 Young St, Graceville, 5pm - 7pm. Entry is free and open to all. A vegetarian feast is served as part of the program.

Musicians in this recording:

• Vocals and guitar: Sitapati das
• Vocal: Param Satya
• Vocal: Janna
• Chinese violin (Erhu): Emily
• Violin: Fei
• Keyboards: Vrajadhama
• Flute: Priya Darsani

Janna's mic is distorting at the beginning, but we fix it a verse or two in.

Here is today's effort: a recording of Om Namo Shivaya. I've mashed up two different Jai Uttal melodies here. I'd like to have spent more time on recording the vocal, but it's gun and run in the lead-up to the Insync kirtan on Friday.

• Om Namo Shivaya (mp3, 5.2MB, 3:05)

A little bit of the tattva of Shiva, for your entertainment and edification:

In today's modern scientific culture we treat mythology, history, and metaphysics as separate things. The Vedic culture, in contrast, sees these three things as inseparable aspects of the same thing - reality.

Shiva-tattva (the "truth" about Shiva), and in fact any Vedic tattva (understanding) is impossible to grasp using the Western approach. Very quickly one becomes overwhelmed by what seems like contradictory statements and frankly unrelated material.

Let us examine these different aspects of Shiva - historical, mythological, and metaphysical - in isolation, as the Western approach would have us; and then examine them in the integrated Vedic worldview.

Shiva - mythological

In Hindu mythology Shiva is the destroyer god. He is in charge of universal devastation as well as any principle of deterioration or disorder during the lifetime of the manifested universe. He is depicted as covered in crematorium ashes, carrying a trident and playing a drum, dancing the Tandava-nrtya - the dance of destruction.

He has two wives - his first Sati, immolated herself; and with his second wife, Parvati, he had a son Ganesh, whose head he severed and then replaced with an elephant head.

Shiva is worshiped by yogis and others who desire liberation (kaivalya) from samsara, the cycle of birth and death.

Shiva - historical

Presented by Bhaktivinoda Thakura as a western understanding of Shiva's history: as the Aryans drove down from the North of India they encountered many indigenous peoples with their own modes of worship. In one area Shiva was worshiped.

The cultural dynamic of the Aryans, which gave rise to the Vedic culture, was to assimilate other religions and cultures. We see the same thing in modern Western culture, much of it arising from the expansion of the Roman Empire. Think about it - what do the Crucifixion of Christ, bunny rabbits, and chocolate eggs have in common?

The story of the assimilation of Shiva worship into the Aryan culture is told in the Srimad Bhagavatam 4th Canto. Daksa is an Aryan noble who performs the regular Vedic sacrifices. The word has gone out: "Shiva is in". Daksa, as a light-skinned Aryan is a little racist and says: "We ain't having no black-faced fella here!"

According to the story, he has his head chopped off and replaced with the head of a goat as the result - a clear cautionary tale that Shiva is bona fide and discrimination against him will result in dire consequences. Around this time Shiva's black skin becomes covered with crematorium ash, conveniently making him white.

Shiva - metaphysical

Shiva the metaphysical principle is described as the aggregate consciousness of the living entities trapped in samsara. If you imagine a multi-faceted jewel, each of the individual faces is a jiva - an individual soul; that's you and me. The whole jewel, however, is Shiva.

In this way, metaphysically Shiva is a superset identity that includes all of us. Shiva is described in the Brahma-samhita as "Vishnu transformed in contact with the material nature". Just as milk turns to yoghurt when curdled with an appropriate agent, similarly when the jivas come into contact with the material energy, maya, their aggregated super-identity is transformed - from Vishnu to Shiva.

Shiva is therefore one aspect of brahman, the sum total of reality.

The idea that the soul exists and is separate from the body is an interesting one, and one that is easy to understand on reflection. My body and my mind are changing. The hands on the clock turn, the pages of the calendar turn; time passes, day follows night - and yet I remain somehow suspended in one eternally present moment watching all of this happening, just as someone may stand on a river bank and watch the water flow past, carrying so many things with it.

So it is with the soul - it is the witness, the observer.

The idea, however, that the individual souls have aggregated identity, Shiva - and further, Vishnu - is a novel one. In the Vedic culture it is explained by reference to introspection through the practice of mystic yoga and the experience of elevated states of consciousness, and to divine revelation. In the end both are one: Tattva-darsibhih, those who are seers of the truth become speakers of truth.

Reintegrating Shiva

These three different things seem like quite a mash-up, from a contemporary perspective. Allow me to show how these three things flow seamlessly together in the Vedic approach to reality:

In AD 820 a celibate monk who became known as Adi Shankaracarya [wikipedia] left his body at the age of 33. Historically his existence is certain, although the exact date is unclear. The Vedic approach to history doesn't fixate on, and hence record dates the same way the Western approach does.

In his short life he had established a powerful new religious philosophy, and a monastic order with centers across Southern India.

He was considered to be an incarnation of Shiva, whose appearance and mission were foretold in scripture. Shankara is a name of Shiva; acarya means teacher. In one Purana (metaphysics presented as historical/mythological stories) Shiva is recorded as telling his wife Parvati that he will appear as a teacher and present a confusing philosophy that will contain some elements of truth and some misdirection.

Shankaracarya taught that the soul is different from the body, and that there is ultimately an underlying reality of oneness between all souls.

One of the best-known songs that he wrote expands on the words of an Upanishad: "Shivo 'ham" - I am Shiva - pure, blissful consciousness (Click here to hear Dave Stringer singing this song).

A later song, Bhaja Govindam, advocates devotion to a transcendental personality, and Adi Shankara's statement "Narayano paro 'vyaktat" supports the idea of transcendental personality. However, he is best known for the "not this, not that" (neti neti) approach to establishing the difference between purusha (soul) and prakrti (matter). Also, in the philosophical system that has been propounded by his followers up to today involves the idea that contact with the material energy (maya) is not just the cause of the transformation of the aggregate identity of the jivas from Vishnu to Shiva, but is also the cause of the appearance of individuality.

The idea there is that upon liberation individual existence ceases, and the individual identity is merged back into the totality of transcendent consciousness. This doctrine bears a remarkable similarity to Buddhist doctrine of nirvana, where the individual existence ceases, and the individual identity is simply extinguished - "like a candle going out".

At the time that Shankaracarya presented his philosophy Buddhism was the dominant school of thought in India. After Shankaracarya, Buddhism spread to Asia, where it remains a significant force today, specifically because Shankaracarya's school of thought expelled its influence from India.

Some people say that this historical context is the cause of Sankaracarya's presentation of a post-liberated state that bears a remarkable similarity to the Buddhist idea, and that his songs such as Bhaja Govindam reveal his true stance on the matter. The Bhagavat Purana proclaims: "Vaisnavanam Shambhu" - (and) among Vaisnavas (devotees of Vishnu), Shiva is foremost.

So, hopefully that goes some way to showing how these things - mythology, history, and metaphysics - are all intertwined in a Vedic approach to reality.

I'm working on the chord charts for the kirtan at Insync Institute next Friday.

Here's a track that I recorded for it:

• Radha Ramana Haribol (mp3, 6.5MB)

This is the radio edit version. I did a five minute one to show each part of the kirtan clearly, so that people can learn it easily from the chord chart.

Then, on Prema Yogi's suggestion, I did this sub-4 minute radio edit, which follows a standard pop song structure: intro, verse x 2, pre-chorus, verse, pre-chorus, chorus, solo, mega-chorus, outro.

The sounds are all Korg MicroX presets, and I ran my voice through the Antares AVP-1 (rack mounted Autotune unit).

I got the original melody from Jai Uttal. The bass moving in the opposite direction from the keyboard in the chorus was Vrajadhama's idea.

I'm pleased with the way that it's turned out - it kind of starts abruptly because I wasn't paying much attention when I started to put it together, it's just a rough demo.

I'll see if Param has enough of her voice back tomorrow to record a vocal track for it. I'll copy Dave Stringer's technique of having a woman tracking his vocal on the call, and see how that sounds.

I'll also be working on Devakinanda Gopala and Om Namah Shivaya tomorrow.

In 2000, while living in Wellington, New Zealand, I had the idea for a musical based on the story of Mrgari the hunter.

In a feverish state of inspiration I wrote and recorded it in three nights, we rehearsed it over two days, then performed it on a Sunday at our Krishnafest.

We had a live band, lead by Mahavan, performing the music, and the actors delivered their lines and sang the musical numbers.

Before leaving Wellington in 2001 I did a more elaborate recording of the final number of the production "The Touch of a Saint".

While shifting house today I found a copy of the "Touch of a Saint EP" and ripped it to mp3.

The first song of the musical "Mrgari the hunter", which introduces Mrgari to the audience, is not on the EP - it's lost to history. The version that we used for this production was stylistically influenced by Chuck Schuldiner, the founder of the band Death.

The second song is "What goes around, comes around". Narada Muni explains to Mrgari that leaving animals half-dead, as he has been doing, will result in karmic reactions.

In the chorus the dead animals on the stage arise and dance around Mrgari, singing "what goes around, comes around".

Wade Aukett, who played Narada Muni in the production sings on this version of the song, which we did at the same time as the Touch of a Saint recording.

• What goes around, comes around (mp3, 5.6MB)

The next song is Mrgari's response to this revelation: he has an existential crisis. He now knows that he cannot continue with his livelihood as a hunter, but doesn't know what will become of him.

This is expressed in the song "How will I survive?". I played Mrgari in the production and sang this song. I am singing in this recording of the song which sounds like a post-production demo, due to the presence of bass guitar. The opening piece is heavily influenced by Queensryche's Operation Mindcrime concept album. Probably the whole Mrgari the Musical concept was influenced by that album, actually.

• How will I survive? (mp3, 2.9MB)

Narada Muni responds to Mrgari with the song, "Trust in the Lord", which draws its lyrics from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount and the Vedic mantra nityo nityanam, cetanas cetananam, eko bahunam yo vividhati kaman. The song ends with Narada Muni introducing the Hare Krishna mantra to Mrgari.

This version is sung by me, and is the original demo version that I recorded at night while my fellow ashram residents were sleeping. You can hear me trying to be quiet while singing and playing guitar. The original demo tracks were recorded using Acid Loops 1 through the built-in soundcard of a Dell Pentium.

• Trust in the Lord (mp3, 3.4MB)

The backing vocals are out of tune (it was just a demo so that the live musicians would know what to play / sing), but here I used the "ooohh / aaaah" idea that I got from Damien Caine - a musician friend of Vrajadhama and myself. We had recently visited him in Auckland and listened to some of his latest recordings. He is a consumate pop musician. Extremely talented.

The final song in the musical was the duet "The Touch of a Saint", where Narada and Mrgari traded verses, and sang the chorus together.

Narada's first verse was was inspired by the description of the mercy of Lord Caitanya in Caitanya-caritamrita Adi-lila 8.5 ("by the mercy of the saintly person, the lowest can reach to the highest goal") ; and the observation of Angira Muni that Narada Muni is like a "touchstone", a mythical stone that turns lead to gold ("by the mercy of the saintly person, the stone-like heart can turn to gold").

The next two verses, which belong to Narada and Mrgari respectively, are a direct translation into English of the first two verses of Bhaja hure mana, a Sanskrit song by Govinda das Kaviraja.

This recording was the one that I poured a lot of energy into. Wade, who played Narada Muni, sings Narada's first verse. Mahalaxmi dd, who went on to sing in the LA Temple Bhajan Band, sings Narada's second verse. Mrgari's verse is then sung by Wade.

I played all the instruments on this recording, including a 12-string guitar that belonged to my fellow ashram inmate Svetadvipa, who now plays guitar in Sri Prahlad's Bhakti Bhajan band. Backing vocals were provided by a bunch of different people, including a real low voice by Mangala Vaisnava, and real high voices from Krishnaloka (and I think Guru Vani). The recording was done using Vrajadhama's Korg D16 multitrack recorder.

• Touch of a Saint (mp3, 7.8MB)

If I had the source tracks for this I would cut the first chorus to a single repeat, then change from half-time to single time underneath the breakdown, ala A-ha's Take on Me (did you ever notice that?).

There was a Spanish-language version of the musical ("El Toque de un Santo") that we recorded and performed in Peru. For that one I rented a rehearsal studio with a Marshall stack in it and used that for the Mrgari the hunter song, which was inspired by a live Judas Priest album that I was listening to at the time. I can't find a copy of that, maybe it will show up one day.

The last song on the EP (it's the third track, but conceptually the last one), is a song that we did for another musical - The Lifting of Govardhan hill. We sang this song (Maha-mantra + "Govardhan, Govardhan, Krishna's lifting you high - now we're safe and dry") on the night as we danced around a Govardhana Hill that was built by Triyuga while he was working on the Lord of the Rings films as a set piece and minatures builder. When he brought it up the stairs I swear it looked like a meteorite that he had dug up out of the ground.

This recording features different singers who were at Gaura Yoga at the time on each of the mantras. The first is Krishnaloka; the second is Wade; the third is a lady whose name escapes me now - she went to the UK; Krishnaloka returns for the fourth repetition; Param Satya sings after the first chorus; then Wade; then Guru Vani; then our mystery lady - whose name is on the tip of my tongue.

This was my swansong at Gaura Yoga in Wellington ("the Loft" at the time), and I wanted to capture the mood and personalities of the time.

The beat was supplied by Vrajadhama's Korg Electribe ES-1, which I was playing with at the time. Stylistically the song had a "round" type chorus, where the last word overlaps the first word of the next chorus, and a key change at the end.

• Govardhan (mp3, 7.6MB)

This post is dedicated to the autotune posse

We spent the weekend on the Gold Coast. There is a lot of Krishna Conscious outreach going on down there, and it was a real pleasure to spend time with people who are enthusiastic and dedicated to sharing the philosophy and lifestyle of Krishna Consciousness with others.

We did kirtan on Saturday night in Surfers Paradise at the Bhakti Centre, and on Sunday in Coolangatta at the Country Women's Association Hall. The Bhajan Babas - Venu Gopal on harmonium and lead vocal, Yamal Arjuna on drums, and Janmastami on bass - played their unique combination of traditional melodies with a solid rock / blues groove rocking the bottom. Super mellow groove.

On the way home we stopped off in Tweed Heads to put some gas in the car. The servo had speakers at the pumps and I heard a song that was total autotune plus something else like a vocoder. Using my iPhone I googled what seemed to be the hook: "Watchya say", and found this:

When we got home I did some more google research (wikipedia), and found out that the song samples this one: Imogen Heap - Hide and Seek (embedding disabled). Below I've embedded a version of the song with the lyrics. However, if you follow the previous link and watch the video with only Imogen's mouth visible you can learn a lot about the expressive vocal techniques she employs, in addition to the melody and harmonies, to give the track strong emotional appeal.

According to the wikipedia article for this song, Imogen uses a Digitech Vocalist Workstation to get the vocal harmonies. You can see her doing it here:

The Digitech Vocalist Workstation works by taking two inputs: a vocal via a mic, and harmonic information from a keyboard via MIDI. The machine then generates harmonies for the vocal line based on the chords being played on the keyboard.

The live version doesn't sound as good as the recorded version because she is singing with a machine that effectively amplifies pitch deviations in her voice, and her singing is pitchy (=a little off-key in places). In the recorded version she has either (a) used autotune to correct the pitch of her voice; or (b) retracked her vocal over and over again until she got it pitch perfect.

After four months of planning and the concerted efforts of devotees across Australia, here it is - the Gaura Vani and As Kindred Spirits with the Mayapuris Australian Tour 2009 .

Here's a rundown of what's happening and when:

Thursday 22nd October

Event: Mrdanga Clinic with the Mayapuris
Venue: Contact Sitapati for details
Time: 3pm - 5pm
Location: Brisbane
Cost: $25 suggested donation

Friday 23rd October

Event: Kirtan concert
Venue: Broadbeach Surf Life Saving Club
Time: 7pm
Location: Broadbeach
Cost: $15/$10 presale from Pashin stores

Saturday 24th October

Event: Maha Kirtan 3
Venue: Graceville State School
Time: 1pm - 8:30pm
Location: 23 Acacia Ave, Graceville
Cost: Free entry - strictly limited numbers: be there early!

Sunday 25th October

Event: New Govardhana Maha Kirtan
Venue: New Govardhana Farm Community
Time: 3pm - 8:00pm
Location: 522 Tyalgum Rd, Eungella
Cost: Free entry

Monday 26th October

Event: Kirtan Concert
Venue: Byron Yoga Centre
Time: 6:30pm - 9:00pm
Location: 51 Border St, Byron Bay
Cost: $15/$10 presale at BYC

Wednesday 28th October

Event: Mrdanga Clinic with the Mayapuris
Venue: Sydney ISKCON Temple
Time: 3pm - 5pm
Location: 180 Falcon St, North Sydney
Cost: $25 suggested donation

Event: Maha Kirtan
Venue: Sydney ISKCON Temple
Time: 5:00pm - 10:00pm
Location: 180 Falcon St, North Sydney
Cost: Free Entry

Thursday 29th October

Event: Kirtan Concert
Venue: Mind Body Life Yoga
Time: 8:00pm - 10:00pm
Location: 55 Foveaux St, Surrey Hills
Cost: $20/$15 presale

Saturday 31st October - Sunday 1st November

Event: 24 Hour Kirtan
Venue: ISKCON Melbourne temple
Time: 4:00 pm Sat - 10:00pm Sun
Location: 197 Danke St, Albert St
Cost: free entry

Tuesday 3rd November

Event: Kirtan Concert
Venue: Urban Yoga
Time: 6:00 pm
Location: 123 Swanston St, Melbourne
Cost: tba

This is the fifth post in my series on Building a Krishna Conscious "Mega Church". See also the previously published Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5.

Note: Since I wrote this a couple of weeks ago, I've been thinking about various programs that we are doing here in different venues. In the case of the temple I think Children is Function 2 after sound. In the case of the Sunday Feast and Krishnafest at our house I think that Presentations is Function 2. This doesn't mean that one is more important than the other, it's just the order of implementation. In the case of the Sunday Feast, for example, Presentations is a low-hanging fruit. On the other hand there are not facilities for easily spinning up a Children's Program there. In the case of the temple, there are plenty of children, and potential facilities for a Children's Program, so there it's both easier, and a greater imperative.

Also, someone mentioned a kitchen in response to an earlier post, the one about Sound. I have put a kitchen in a separate category of functions, and we'll come back to it later. OK, on with today's show...

Function 2 - Children

I'm going to go out on a limb here and put Children as function 2, rather than Presentations. In places like Gaura Yoga [website] and the Loft [website] in New Zealand they focus on Sound and Presentations, and have no facility for children. That works fine as center for young, single people. But eventually those young, single people are going to become married couples with children, so they will need some facility.

That doesn't mean that Gaura Yoga and the Loft will have to transform, but the organization will have to build out its capability to service those needs in some facility.

Personally, in working within an existing community, I'm focusing on sound first, then children second, rather than presentations.

My friend Krishnapada put it like this: "If McDonalds have facilities for children I think we should too".

Think about this. Let's say that you have a facility to which 400 adults and youths will come at a time. Let's say that half of them are married couples. So that's 200 people, or 100 couples. Let's say that on average they have 1 child - some will have none, some will have two or three. That's 100 children for 400 people.

Of course you could have a facility that is not child-friendly, but that's hardly making it easy, is it?

Here are two other points:

1. People sometimes ask me why I am so enthusiastic in Krishna Consciousness. It's simple. When I was a kid my mother raised me reading the Bible, and then sent me every weekend and every school holiday to a Bible camp, school holiday program, or youth group event, where they poured resources, attention, and intention into the program and the children on it. If you want to influence the value structure of a generation of devotees then you have to look after the kids. If you want to keep recruiting first generation devotees who were raised as atheists, then don't worry about them.

2. If you want parents to come back, then you provide something for their kids. McDonalds understand this. Krishnapada told me that his 4 year old son Shyam points to McDonalds and says: "I want to go there", just from seeing it from the outside - he's never been in. It's so attractive. McDonalds understands: get the kids, and you get the parents. Now, if you can give the children a valuable formative experience based on solid moral principles and values, what parent is going to say no to that?

For children's facilities you actually need more personnel, energy, money, and planning than you do for the adults. Children require more diversity of activities and facilities. You cannot put 400 children together in a big room for an hour and deliver one experience for them all. They need to be segregated and provided with an age-appropriate experience.

At Buckhead Community Church, which has facility for 3000 adults, they have one auditorium for the adults, and four floors of facilities for the children.

Each of those floors contains age-appropriate facilities for children from toddlers through to teenagers. On the first floor for the younger children they have a small stage/auditorium area where they do a Wiggles-type presentation [wikipedia article on the Wiggles], before splitting the children into groups in rooms where they play with toys and do other activities. In this way they have both a large group experience and a small group experience each week.

You can see a bunch of pictures and a video that I took of the young children's facilities when I visited this church in 2007 here.

At Buckhead, which is one of Andy Stanley's churches, along with Northpoint Community Church, they understand that people have different needs at each phase of life, for example, as a child, as a new believer, as a newly-wed, as an adult, as a father, etc. They distill this down to three essential messages that they repeat the these people over and over again in a variety of ways. For the youngest children it boils down to: "God Loves Me. God Made Me. Jesus Wants to Be My Friend For Ever".

Taking a cue from this, each year since he turned 5, I've taught Prahlad an additional prayer that we recite each night before sleeping. We now recite four prayers together (actually 5, because I also taught him Our Lord's Prayer from the Bible). In these prayers I have encapsulated what I discern as the essential devotional philosophical underpinnings that are most appropriate for him to imbibe at that time.

The Maha Kirtan for Kids program [poster | program] here on September 13 is the beginning of this. We've got the sound system to a certain level now, and it's time to put some energy into our program for the children.

The current temple design that we are working with has zero, as in no facility for children. It's based on a design for a bunch of single people to cram into an ashram and go out until they flame out.

A purpose-designed facility has sufficient spaces to facilitate age-appropriate programs for the number of children who come based on the number of adults who are facilitated. The program that goes on in that facility needs to dedicate sufficient resources as in personnel and money to that program to make it work.

For the older youths there is a section upstairs, as mentioned previously, with their own sound system and stage, and also break out rooms for small group discussions. It's an expanded version of a Loft preaching center, like Gaura Yoga or the Loft in New Zealand.

Conclusion: Invest heavily in children's facilities and programming.

Next: Function 3 - Presentations.

Here are some mp3s from the weekend:

• Surfers Paradise - 12 Sep 09 - Sitapati.mp3
• Surfers Paradise - 12 Sep 09 - Bachhu 1.mp3
• Surfers Paradise - 12 Sep 09 - Bachhu 2.mp3
• Surfers Paradise - 12 Sep 09 - Bacchu 3 Vrajadhama.mp3
• Maha Kirtan 2 Part 1.mp3 (Ruchira; Lila Kirtan; Prema Yogi; Varsana Radhe; Janna; Radha Kanta; Maha-mantra)
• Maha Kirtan 2 Part 2.mp3 (Maha-mantra; Prema Vati; Tina Hirani; Bachhu)
• Maha Kirtan 2 Part 3.mp3(Bachhu; Vrajadhama; Janardana; Rasika Seva; Krishnapada)

These mp3s are all recorded from the live stream that was played on Kirtan Radio.

We're working on making a CD-quality listening experience for you for the 24 hour kirtan in Melbourne on Oct 31 - Nov 1.

Bachhu Krishna Shrestha

Tina Hirani

Maha Kirtan ki jay!

The photos above were taken by Ananta Vrndavan. There are a bunch of good photos from both events. I'll post a selection later.

Here's the final, stand-up kirtan of the Sunday Feast, ably lead by Maha-mantra das.

It's a simple four mic affair: a Shure WH-30 condenser headset mic for the lead vocal, a Behringer C2 condenser for the room, and a couple of Shure SM58s - one for the backing vocal (Param Satya and Prahlad), and one for Sridhar's saxophone.

If I'd had time to set up (this is just straight after the "stage" kirtan), I would have set up two additional mics - another C2 for a stereo image, and an omnidirectional condenser for more of the room, which would have helped to put more drums in it - I could have taken all the top end off that one and boosted it up to put more bass in the mix.

I've mastered this one really hot, and left the cartals in their full glory (I usually put a low pass filter on the room mics to bring them down). The vocal is so high that it's still the most prominent element, and that's the most important thing - the chanting.

• Maha-mantra Sunday Feast Kirtan (mp3, 30MB, 21:48)

Enjoy!
- Sitapati "That's me playing the chimptas" das