Let us consider a simple fact. While there are hundreds of music systems in the world revolving around melody and rhythm, only a few enjoy international acclaim. Why? It may sound commonplace, but is nevertheless true that for anything to be successful, people should perceive it to be worth investing their time and money in. Specifically, for a music system to be successful, the foremost criterion is public acceptability. The degree of success may be defined as the rate of acceptability and could be measured by the formula:
Number of acceptors/Success Percentage x 100 = Total population
The more communicative a system is to the public, the greater its degree of success. Most successful systems make use of certain extra aspects besides melody and rhythm to cater to the masses as well as the classes. Carnatic music is no exception. Here, the melodic expansion is mainly horizontal; the vertical element of harmony is seldom found. The stress is on permutations and combinations based on successive rendition of mostly one note at any given time, as opposed to chord-based development. In spite of this basic difference, if Carnatic music is still able to enjoy the admiration of those well used to chords and harmony, it is because of techniques such as ornamentation that include rendering the notes with grace or force as and when required, dynamics and so on.
Ornamentation (Gatnako) : Several systems in the world make use of ornamentation and graces. Glissando and trill are often used in Western classical, while Hindustani music is full of delectable glides {meend). The concept of graces and gamakas is extremely old in Indian music. The Sama Veda refers to vikarsbana and prenkhana as examples of some add¬ons found in the vedic chants. Present-day Carnatic music uses at least fifteen different kinds of ornamentation. Some of the more striking ones are:
Kampitam — well-defined oscillations about a given note. There are several ways in which a note can be moved back and forth by varying the amplitude, speed, and frequency of oscillation. Kampitam is probably the most striking gamaka in Carnatic music. It would be no exaggeration to state that certain types of oscillation seen in Carnatic music are quite distinct and not found in parallel systems.
Sphuritam – rendering the same note twice, with a stress from the previous note of the raga the second time (SS RR GG MM etc).
Ahatam — rendering pairs of successive notes in ascending order with a stress on the repeated note (SR RG GM MP etc).
Pratyagatam (or pratyahatam) – rendering pairs of successive notes in descending order with a stress on the repeated note (SN ND DP PM etc).
Andolam – a swinging effect developed around a small group of notes (SRS G,G SRS M,M SRS P,P SRS D,D etc).
Instrumentalists make use of some chords, but only as an occasional gamaka called tribhinnam. The nature or manner of rendering these gamakas determines the character of a raga and also establishes the distinction between allied ragas. Many a time, the same variety of gamaka appears with varying intensity in different ragas. A keen awareness and mastery of the subtleties of gamakas takes Carnatic performance and appreciation to a different plane altogether.
Strictly speaking, the term gamaka refers not merely to embellishments added to the notes but more to the inherent characteristics of the notes themselves with reference to the context of their rendition. In a place value-based system like Carnatic music these gamakas contribute to the different shades of a raga. In fact, they determine the degree of what may be termed as Carnaticity of a given scale, i.e., the strength of its Carnatic characteristics.
For instance, ragas like Shahana, Begada and Mukhari depend so much on certain characteristic gamaka-oriented phrases that their very existence depends on these phrases. They cannot even be conceived, much less survive, as mere scales (as a combination of a set of notes in a particular sequence). This is the primary reason behind the unique and unparalleled standing of such ragas in world music.
Ragas like Kalyani, Mohanam and Keeravanilend themselves to different styles of rendition and, consequently, are used by musicians of many systems. However, when rendered with certain kinds of ornamentation associated with Carnatic music, they emerge with a totally different flavour. Ragas such as Karnaranjani and Bindumalini sound adequate even if rendered as scales. As a matter of fact, their tolerance for gamaka is minimal.
These gamakas, considered the lifeblood of Carnatic music, grow on a listener. The more one listens to them, the greater one’s enjoyment and craving for it. But it is to be remembered that Carnatic music gives adequate importance to plain notes too. The ratio between plain and ornamented notes would roughly be 45:55, and this keeps alternating frequently by way of contrast.
Repetition and Contrast : Life would be boring without variety and bizarre without the element of repetition. Repetition and contrast play a major role in every walk of life. Certain themes are repeated to emphasize either the melody or the lyrics. The human ear can very easily perceive repetition even when it occurs with minute variations or in an incomplete manner. So also, it can pick up any striking change in the music. Without this element of contrast, music could become rather monotonous, and perhaps a bit irritating as well!
In Carnatic music, contrast can be of many types. There could be a striking change in the mood (often with a change in the raga), and there could be a change in the tone or timbre. The contrast could also be rhythmic – a shift in the tempo or tala, or in the lyric, with compositions of various composers, languages or themes. Whatever be the -system of1 music, repetition gives it a basic organisation, while contrast helps to keep the audience interest alive.
Dynamics : Any music lover would have noticed that the intensity of sound keeps changing during a concert. Sometimes the music is soft and, at other times, loud. The transition from soft to loud or vice versa may be gradual or sudden. Dynamics, the effects created by contrast in the intensity of sound, are one of the most communicative tools of music. In a concert, dynamics are more apparent as a peak is approached, but one will have to train oneself to identify the subtle shifts, especially during solo improvisation. It is interesting to note that in Carnatic music, there are no separate indications for dynamics in the notation system, and performers rely on their own sense of dynamics even while rendering compositions.
Suggestion and Dramatisation : There are three ways of communicating anything: (a) by stating it, (b) by suggesting it and (c) by dramatising it. Science tries to state facts as straight as possible. Art makes wider use of the second and third methods. A reader of a novel may have noticed this often. In music, the overstated is generally more obvious than the suggestive. But suggestive art is considered art at a superior level. With greater exposure, a listener may be able to perceive and appreciate suggestive art better. If there is one aspect more essential than all these, it is soulful presentation. This is what makes good music great.