Sounds Of India (India): Ravi Shankar: Amazon.ca: Music

1. An Introduction To Indian Music

2. Dadra

3. Maru-Bihag

4. Bhimpalis

5. Sindhi-Bhairavi

Product Description

Amazon.com essential recording

This 1960s classic is a perfect introduction not only to Ravi Shankar's brilliant work on the sitar, but also to classical Indian music in general. Shankar offers brief, informative explanations of Indian ragas, scales, rhythms, song structures, and time signatures to set the stage for each spiritual piece he, Chatur Lal (tabla), and N.C. Mullick (tamboura) perform. Though Western listeners may not be able intellectually to pinpoint the subtle purposes of the various ragas' rhythms and movements, unconsciously listeners will feel them vividly. For instance, the plodding tension created by the 2/3/2/3 rhythm in "Máru-Bihág" well reflects the raga's poetic metaphor of separated, longing lovers. The loose, playful improvisation on "Sindhi-Bhairavi" mirrors the passionate romance of lovers. Overall, classical Indian music is diverse and complex, but The Sounds of India simplifies it beautifully for those interested in exploring it and its greatest ambassador. --Karen Karleski

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Customer Reviews

14 Reviews

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

4.8 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Sounds of India= Sounds of Hypnotic Psychedelic Excellence!, Jun 28 2003

By

Grey (LA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sounds Of India (India) (Audio CD)

This is a superb CD! There's only five ragas, but they're all very long, and you get plenty of really amazingly beautiful music. Many people tend to get into Ravi Shankar because of his connection to George Harrison, but don't expect this to be five "Within You Without You," cover songs. This is real Indian raga, which is like no other music on the planet. You could describe it as the classical (maybe even folk) music of India. It's an incredibly difficult form of music to master, but it's also one of the most beautiful.

One of the really great things about this album is that Ravi gives you a spoken introduction of each piece before it's played. he gives you basic overviews of basic themes like what a raga is, the various time signatures such as Tintal & Jhaptal, a description of each instrument you will hear & their role throughout the raga, the scale the raga is rooted in, and the differences between raga (and eastern music in general) and improvisational western music. It really helped me understand the music, and actually allowed me to listen with a greater sense of enjoyment. Everything Ravi says on the CD is written out in the CD jacket, plus, the jacket also includes the sheet music of the scales used in several of the ragas! How awesome is that?! I can actually play along with the album on my guitar thanks to the notations given in the jacket! Obviously it doesn't give you the song (because most of it is improvised anyway), but the short scales that Ravi uses as the root of his solos. Really great addition!

I highly recommend this album to everyone interested in Indian raga music. It's a classic album that should be in every music collection anyway, but especially if you're an Indian music enthusiast. Great music to relax into, fabulous for meditation, and the best music to play at a smoke session! You must hear this music when you're lit/fryin'! It's amazingly beautiful and psychedelic to begin with, but when you're high it's like... ;-)

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4.0 out of 5 stars The Sounds of India, Nov 11 2011

By

Marlyse Hofmann (Orleans, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sounds of India (Audio CD)

At the same time I can enjoy these beautiful sounds of music from India, this cd is also educational. With a better understanding of this music, I can appreciate it even more.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Ravi Shankar Sounds of India, Nov 15 2009

By

Ros (Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sounds of India (Audio CD)

A gift for someone else who is very pleased. As he had asked for anything of Ravi Shankar, I did not need any more info. than the disc title. The CD arrived promptly, and I found the transaction, one of my first on-line CD purchases, very easy. My thanks. Rosalind Robertson

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars RAVIshingly
I saw the Monterey pop festival on tv and was mesmerized by Ravi's sitar. Could not let the volume as it was, I had to put it at the max. Read more

Published on April 2 2004 by Guylaine Le Ber

5.0 out of 5 stars An introduction to Indian music.
I have been collecting rare vinyl albums for the last 15 years I have thousands of records from Nigeria '70: story of funky Lagos to Television's marquee moon to Donald Byrd's... Read more

Published on Dec 15 2003