That One Weird Tabla Chakradar That Works in Every Taal

It seemingly defies math!!!

Bols: (“-s-” = 1 beat space):

{Dha ti Dha te Te
Dha ti Dha te Te
Twak te Dha -s- Twak te Dha
terekete Dha -s- -s- terekete Dha
terekete Dha -s- -s- terekete Dha
terekete
[(DhateTe DheteTe kataga digene
Twakte Twakte kataga digene Dha ) X3 -s- ] X3, -s- } X3

I wrote this Tabla Chakradar composition to work in every taal.
Each performance, I am playing the exact same notes.
The only difference is in minor changes to spaces in the composition.

This Chakradar works in every taal:
Tintaal (16 Beats), Jhaptaal (10), Ektaal (12), Pancham Sawari (15) as is;
Roopak (7), Dhamar (14), Shikhar (17) with one less beat space at end;
Chartaal ki Sawari (11) with one more beat space at end;
Jai Taal (13) Bedam (no space) at end, and Bedam between all internal tehais;
Matta (9) Bedam for all internal tehais, but the regular 2 beats space at the end.

[not performed:  Dadra (6) same as 12. Kaharwa (8) same as 16. 18 same as 13.]
Taals covered:  6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Some notes and observations:

Tintaal (16 beats), Jhaptaal (10), Ektaal (12), Pancham Savari (15)–the composition works in all of these compositions as it is.

Roopak (7)–End space has one less beat. The way “DhateTe DheteTe kataga digene Twakte Twakte kataga digene Dha- – -” lines up is interesting because it is 7 beats long, and gets pushed one beat later after every third repetition.

Dhamar (14)–With the same spaces, this lines up the same as the roopak version, but each cycle lasts 2xs as long as each roopak cycle. This composition also would work in a half-speed roopak taal.

Shikhar Taal (17)–In this taal, the spacing is the same as in Roopak and Dhamar, and the composition is a Farmaishi Chakradar, i.e. one where in the first repetition of the composition the first phrase of the tehai falls on sam, in the second repetition the second phrase falls on sam, and in the third repetition the third and last phrase of tehai falls on sam.
I didn’t have a 17 beat lehara, so I used the 8 & 1/2 lehara at half speed which is equal (8.5×2= 17).

Chartaal ki Sawari Taal (11)–End space has one more beat than original tintaal version. In this taal, the way “DhateTe DheteTe kataga digene Twakte Twakte kataga digene Dha X3 –(1)–” lines up with 11 is also interesting, as it is also 11 beats. All three phrases of tehai of 3rd repetition end on sam!

Jai Taal (13)–All spaces are converted to Bedam (without space) to work in this taal.

Matta Taal (9)–All internal spaces are converted to Bedam, and end space is restore to the original 2 beats to work in this taal.
Note: All tehais in taals divisible by 3 have 2 beats space to work (although this space can be of any beat division, quarter notes, eighth notes, or 16th notes).

These were performed at 168 Beats per Minute (BPM)
Randall Jamrok is a Chicago-based Tabla player who is a student of Pt. Samir Chatterjee. I thank him for leading me in my tabla journey. Mistakes are my own.

In a later post, I will explain the inner workings of this chakradar–the math of it.

 

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