Today, we have a guest post from Sameer Gupta, a long time Pandora Music Analyst and professional musician living in Brooklyn, NY. Sameer has helped translate Indian Music into the language of the Music Genome Project. Thanks to the hard work of Sameer, you can now discover Ragas on Pandora.
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Indian Classical music is known across the world for its melodic beauty, rhythmic complexity and meditative mood. Even though this music is as complex as it is old, it is possible to deeply enjoy Raga Music without knowing the technical details and terminology. I invite you to experience this beautiful and dynamic genre through four new stations.
In North Indian classical music, Ragas are assigned to a particular time of day, which is a system known as Samay Raga (Sum-May / Rah-Gah), because they capture the mood of that time. With this in mind, we have created four curated stations that will correspond to the listeners’ “time of day”:
- Morning Ragas, – This station is perfect for the pre-dawn hours into the late morning, with Ragas that fall between 4am – 12pm. You can find Ragas like Ahir-Bhairav, Bilaskhani Todi, Jaunpuri and Jogiya performed by legendary artists like Rashid Khan, Nikhil Banerjee, Kishori Amonkar and Hariprasad Chaurasia.
- Evening Ragas, – This station is ideal during the pre-sunset up to the late evening hours, with Ragas whose time is ideally between 6pm – 9pm. You can hear Ragas like Yaman Kalyan, Puriya Dhanashree, Marwa, and Hansadhwani performed by Maestroes like Ali Akbar Khan, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Mallikarjun Mansur and Vilayat Khan.
- Night Ragas – This station captures the mood of the night hours when the moon is out and the stars fill the sky, with Ragas to be heard between 9pm – 4am. You can hear Ragas like Bageshree, Bhoopali, Darbari Kanada and Jog performed by India’s finest artists like Amir Khan, Bhimsen Joshi, Shahid Parvez and Vishwa Mohan Bhatt.
- Anytime Ragas – This station features the Folk melodies of India, and is
perfect for listening to throughout the mid-day hours – or anytime whatsoever. You can find semi-classical Dhuns, Bhajans and Thumris as well as Ragas like Khammaj, Mishra Mand, and Piloo performed by world-class artists like Ulhas Kashalkar, Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande, D.V. Paluskar and Shivkumar Sharma.
Raga Music is handed down, generation to generation, through an oral tradition. The relationship between teacher and student, or Guru and disciple, is sacred for many students. My own teacher, Tabla master Pandit Anindo Chatterjee, has enlightened me on countless musical levels, as well as the great sitar master Pandit Krishna Mohan Bhatt, who has helped me find clarity in understanding the details of this complex musical history. Thanks to the guidance of generations upon generations of diligent teachers, this ancient and complex form of music remains a cornerstone of Indian culture.
We hope you’ll enjoy discovering Ragas on Pandora, no matter what time of day you listen!
