This presentation contains photographs and recordings made in Jodhpur, March 1994, at the home and with the assistance of Komal Kothari, the eminent Indian folklorist.
Most of the musicians turned up unannounced at Komal's house during the six days that I was there; the coverage of Rajasthani musical traditions is thus random. Nevertheless my sample includes representatives of the two most prominent musician communities of Rajasthan - Langas and Manganiyars - and the principal instruments played in these communities. In addition there is a group of puppeteers; these were invited by Komal to perform for Nazir Jairazbhoy, who at the time was making video recordings of this genre.
The purpose of this presentation is to provide material for taught courses on the musical cultures of South Asia. It has been used mainly with undergraduate students. The questions suggested below may be found useful.
I have also included a number of pictures of musical interest taken at the former royal palace in Jodhpur Fort, and in the streets of Jodhpur.
The sound files in this presentation are in .aiff format and range in size between 200 and 450K.
No diacritical marks have been used in the text of this presentation.
2. What are the differences in construction between (a) sarangi and kamaica; (b) satara and joda pava? Can you tell them apart by their sound?
3. Which groups of musician play the dholak: Langas, Manganiyars, puppeteers, naubat musicians, wedding singers?
4. Are all musicians in Rajasthan male? If not, what do women sing and/or play?
5. Which of the following metres are used in the examples of Rajasthani music in this stack: binary (2/4/8 beats), ternary (3/6/12 beats), quintuple (5/10 beats), septuple (7/14 beats). Which appears to be the most common metre?
6. Four of the sound examples are in the rag Sorath. What are the characteristics of this mode? How similar are the various examples of Sorath to each other?
7. What is the function of doha singing, and how can it be distinguished from the song proper?
8. How does the Phul Mahal reflect the function that it served?
9. How are modern cultural forms enlisted to enhance traditional wedding ceremonial?