Nadaka Geet-Taar, Rāga Darbari on Guitar, 22 shruti

This post and videos are primarily directed towards musicians, yet I warmly welcome anyone fortunate enough to possess the admirable trait of curiosity to take a glimpse as well.
The spirit of Rāg Darbari
Aided by a visual frequency sensor displayed in the lower section of the video, We explore microtonal shifts in greater depth. These subtle variations in frequency are analysed for each note or Shruti, represented here in cents ( percentage ) one semitone being 100 cents.
Over the years, I have immersed myself in some of the more enigmatic aspects of Indian music, the subtle intricacies of rāgas, and their audible frequencies. While I do not consider myself a classical musician in any way, I have relished the opportunities to connect with exceptional Indian classical musicians whenever possible, engaging in discussions and experiments in this very specific area of musicology. Fortunately these explorations have also taken me beyond the conventional boundaries of classical music as I strive to assimilate these invaluable insights into my own eclectic playing style.
In the early 1980’s, I went from Guitar to Veena, opening my ears to classical Indian music, then back again to Guitar, I could not anymore find satisfaction in playing in the standard way. But still, Guitar felt the most natural to me. Thinking that "after all Veena or guitar, in essence, they remain plucked strings stretched along a wood section". I set my goal to gradually adapt and transform the guitar into something that could play the music closest to my heart.
The first and most obvious in a series of transformations, was to tune the 6 strings differently than the normal guitar into what is called an open tuning of CGCGCG which I have been using ever since. A few years later, my meetings and great admiration for the Veena & Tanpura maker, Musicologist, Rāmji of Trichy in Tamil Nadu, and his references to ancient writings on Rãgas with the 22 tones, called Shrutis, intrigued me. I was also inspired, hearing that originally, Veena players would often change their frets positions - I knew this was also true of the Sitar. So I embarked on the design of a new kind of guitar, a Geet-Taar, with a mobile fret system that would allow me to slightly shift the note positions, up or down. I learned to adjust the frets completely by ear and to my surprise, I found their position would change quite drastically according to the different musical modes, Minor, Major, Lydian, Dorian, etc.
Why do guitars normally have fixed fret positions?
In the recent History of music, the discovery of the equal temperament scale, first documented in 16th-century China and later widely adopted in 17th century Europe, was primarily used as a way of achieving seamless harmonic progressions. A convenient compromise to say the least! Convenient in that, all the chords would follow uniform structure across all keys, Compromise, in the way that chords would remain thereafter set in stone, and tolerebly? out of tune.
Indian classical music being modal in nature (Melodic based rather than Harmony based), until recently, remained rather untouched by this 12 note equal temperament system, but unfortunately, despite the inherent inclination of most Indian classical artists to utilise unequal variations, there has been a gradual departure from the traditional 22 shruti system due to the introduction of Western musical instruments, mostly the keyboard, with its 12 fixed semitones. I am not referring here to Glides (Meend) or shorter stretches (Gamaka) which are still inherent to all Indian music but more, to the exact frequencies, from which these tones move and rotate.
Who is Dr. Vidyadhar Oke, MD & Hindustani Musician?
Among all the encounters I've had with musicians throughout the years, the ones with Dr. Oke truly stand out. His cheerful demeanor, brilliant intellect, and eagerness to share his treasures are both inspiring and contagious. As an exceptional Harmonium player, he recognised the limitations of his own instrument, especially when accompanying some of India's greatest vocalists. This realisation led him to develop the 22 Shruti harmonium as a part of his search for the holy grail of the ancient Indian music system and perhaps even, the long-lost formula of the 22 Shruti system. He has ingeniously devised a precise system for Indian modes and Ragas, using the ancient 22-note system that divides the octave scale into 22 intervals.
This which can significantly impact the performance and the finer audible perceptivity of Rāgas. For that matter, even other forms of music.
The application of this notion to any instrument or voice can indeed be challenging at times. Some musicians may look at this peculiar approach with a degree of skepticism. But I have found this practice to be worthwhile and this pursuit into the more subtle levels of music, to be most rewarding to both the mind and the heart.

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God! Thank you all!!!

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🙂 "promosm"