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Lesson 15 B: Eight Mātrās Cycles in Drut Lay: Prakars 3 and 4

 

This lesson introduces a concept that will be discussed in detail. Up to this point, all of the rhythmic cycles took one cycle to complete what it needed to express. There are instances, however, where you will need more than one cycle to complete what you want to express. They are known as cyclic sets. This lesson examines cyclic sets of Prakar 1 and 2.

 

PRAKAR 3:

 

X

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

dhin

 

tā

dhā

ti

 

tā

tā

X

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

kat

 

tā

dhā

ti

 

dhā

tā

 

 

If you look at the cycle set of Prakar 3, you immediately noticed how you needed two cycles to accomplish the effect you are trying to produce. The reason why you needed two, is because either one by itself could not be played independently in the context of accompaniment. (How to tell which can stay independently and which cannot is beyond the scope of this course. In addition, it’s almost always an aesthetic reason, rather than math/scientific one).

 

If you heard this cycle, you would immediately notice that it sounds very similar to Prakar 1. Let’s examine it closely.

 

For the first cycle, Matra 4 has a “dhā” as opposed to the closed baya counterpart “Tā.” Matra 7 has tā as opposed to the original “dhā.”

 

For the second cycle, the bol “kat” is used, instead of its open baya counterpart, “dhin.” Finally, Matra 4 has “dhā” as opposed to “Tā.”

 

So what’s the key theme? The key theme is that each vibhag changes baya use. For the first cycle, the first vibhag had more open baya use, the second didn’t. For the second cycle, the first vibhag had less open baya use, while the second had more baya use. When played through a fast kirtana, it produces a different feel, even though the rhythm itself is essentially the same.

 

✇AUDIO CLIP 15 B – 1: Drut Kaherva Prakar 3

 

PRAKAR 4:

 

X

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

dhin

 

tā

ka

ti

 

tā

 

X

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

kat

 

tā

gha

ti

 

dhā

 

 

 

Prakar 4 is very similar to the vibhag and baya format as indicated in Prakar 3.

 

UPDATED: December 20, 2010