SOUNDS OF THE SILVER MOON

PEETER VÄHI

An exciting dialogue between Western and Asiatic cultures. A subjective expression of musicians’ spirituality rooted in deep faith, which they contrast with a modern complex world and it’s actually intellectual and perfect, but often just as inexplicable and soulless contemporary music.

Performed by:
Krishna Kumar Kapoor – vocal, tānpūrā
Abhay Phagre – bānsurī, tānpūrā
Anup Roy – tablā
Peeter Vähi – keyboards, tānpūrā, śatatantrī vīņā, pūngī, kartāl, tāla, background vocal

Recorded at the Tallinn City Hall (Matrix Audio Studio)
Engineered by Jüri Tamm and Indrek Patte
Mastered by Enno Mäemets / EditRoom, Finland
Cover photo by Gustav German
Published 2002 by Erdenklang Musikverlag, Germany
Manufactured in Finland
1996 Forte Records
FD 0038/2
ADD, Stereo

 Download: Sound One, fragm, 3 min 55 sec, mp3, 3667 KB
 Download: Sound Three, fragm, 3 min 4 sec, mp3, 3454 KB

Although the music on this record is premordially based on Indian classical traditions, in essence it is a synthesis of Oriental and Occidental music. The base for the improvisations and compositions provide several North Indian melody patterns, including rāga Kaunsi Kanhara and the pentatonic rāga Hamsadhwani. According to indian traditions Kaunsi Kanhara and Hamsadhwani belong to evening melodies, therefore the meditative feeling of Sound One and Sound Zero should fit harmoniously into the evening-time atmosphere. Besides the common quadrate rhythms (Sound Five) some movements employ complicated 7- and 14-beat rhythm patterns (Sound Three, Sound Zero).

Sound of the Silver Moon was recorded in Tallinn Linnahall-Studio, where usually electronic or rock music is recorded. This time the process was in a way extraordinary. After a short period of meditation the musicians performed all pieces, including the nearly half-hour Sound One, once from the beginning to the end, without any interruptions and cuts. Why not use the facilities of cutting provided by the studio? To let the improvisational music develop logically and to keep up the feeling. So, the greater part of music was recorded at phenomenal speed (ca 60 min!), only sound effects, electronic background, nature voices, etc, were added later.

Performers:

Krishna Kumar Kapoor was born in Lucknow. For centuries Lucknow has been famous all over India for its brilliant art of singing. Krishna K Kapoor took the Master’s degree of vocal music at the University of  Kanpur and the Sangit Nipun degree at Bhatkhande Sangeet Vidhyapith Academy of Music. Besides concert tours and radio broadcasts Krishna K Kapoor works as the professor of singing at Bhatkhande College of Hindustani Music.

Abhay Phagre was born in 1961. At seven he began to learn to play the tablā at Ratlam School of Music, followed by systematic studies of flute-playing under Ravindra Garud. Simultaneously, he continued his tablā-training under Kiran Deshpande. In addition to his flute and tablā studies he found time and resolution to study khayāl-style singing. In 1987–89 Phagre went on to study the flute in Bombay with Raghunath Seth who is also a famous instrument maker. Today Abhay Phagre is a free-lance flutist and performs often with such musicians as the sitār player Ravi Sharma and  the singer Madhu Mudagal.
 

Anup Roy was born in Calcutta in a Brahman family of musicians in 1963. He had the luck to learn to play the tablā under the well-known guru Shankar Ghosh, and later under Anup Ghosh. When not giving concerts, he works as tablā instructor at Maharishi Gandharva Veda University in Delhi.

Musical intruments:

Bānsurī – a transverse flute made of bamboo, known as Kŗşņa’s main attribute. While bānsuri usually has 7 or 8 holes, the instrument used in this recording has 9, which makes the range of the instrument wider.  
Tablā – a set of 2 drums; the most common rhythm instrument in the North Indian and Pakistani classical music. The inventor of tablā is thought to be Tamira Husro (13th cent), but some musicologists believe tablā to have existed in the 10th cent already. 
Pūngī – a wind instrument that is known under different names in different parts of India. It belongs to the outfit of nearly every snake charmer.
Śatatantrī vīņā (‘hundred-string vīņā’) – a dulcimer-like instrument. It is evidently an archaic instrument, as it is mentioned already in the Veda literature. On this record the instrument is not used in the usual manner, but rather in the function of a zither, plucking the strings with a plectrum. 
Tānpūrā – one of the most important background instruments in Indian classical music. Usually a tānpūrā has 4 strings. The hellow neck gives the instrument an unique timbre.
Kartāl – rattle, consisting of a wooden frame with the attached chiming metal plates.
Tāla – gong, mainly used in temples on ritual occasions. 

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