Umayalpuram Sivaraman - Old mridangam solo recording

[Ahiri1982]

Could you please tag the beats ? BMK sir has kept it loud enough to be heard but it would make it more enjoyable, if you did.Thanks

[Sud0514]

@sonofthedestroyer - Which is more common Kutchi or Kappi???

[sonofthedestroyer]

@Sud0514,

Kutchi

[humankind2004]

U r Greeat sir

[astrohari25]

Tremendous grace due to unwavering devotion towards Guru's teachings & incredible hours, months, years spent on tapasya (meditative austere practice)....a sagely incarnation of this century on the instrument that ecstatically pleased the Gods & celestials alike :)

[astrohari25]

Probably boils down simply to the tremendously unwavering devotion to Guru's teachings (resulting in great grace & siddhi) ; & hours, months & years of tapasya in the form of meditative practice....no doubt an incarnation of the century on this marvelously divine instrument that used to please even the Gods & the celestials :)

[kumaranraven69]

I recently asked my mridangam maker in chennai. He told me that UKS uses Kutchi and the awesome tone he gets from the mridangam is a result of the SKINS that are used. He said the skins that UKS uses are very specific and can result in the amazing tone but only HE seems to have perfected the ability to play on them (many others have allegedly tried and not been able to produce the sound). Those particular skins are also said to not last very long. It was quite an interesting insight.

[sonofthedestroyer]

@kumaranraven69,

Thanks for sharing this. I didnt know about the skins. But i do know that UKS used kappi mootu many decades ago. Why he changed to Kutchi is a mystery to me.

[kumaranraven69]

@sonofthedestroyer

You're welcome. I have a feeling it was simply because spent a long time experimenting with various skins, kutchi, kappi and EVEN copper! He was trying to find the perfect tone! I tried his idea of using copper....interesting results!

[sonofthedestroyer]

@kumaranraven69,

Please if you have a copper mootu, can you upload a video of it to youtube?

If you have kappi mootu also can you please upload?

[percussionmania]

Have seen innumerable discussions, explanations and arguments on Kappi and Kutchi mridangam concepts.. Is there any solid, authentic, unbiased objective delineation on which is right ?, which is wrong?, How many schools are there?, who is maintaining the chastity of school today?, who were there before Tanjore Vaidyanatha iyer or Manpoondiya pillai after Narayanaswamy appa (which school did he belong to!?) Nothing... Those who can talk, are ego centric, those who can listen to are clueless!

[sonofthedestroyer]

@percussionmania,

My objective is not to find out which is right or wrong. My own personal quest has been to find out why two different sub-instruments have been created like this. And as you pointed out, too many contrasting opinions from the top people on this.

[sslkeshav]

this is a kutchi mridangam can make out from the chaapu in the beginning itself

[sonofthedestroyer]

@sslkeshav,

Im not saying it is not kutchi. Just that i also think it is kappi. It sounds like both. I guess the only way to know is if UKS himself tells us. But remember that UKS can produce a chaapu even on a kappi. He has that ability.

[jagadeeswaranj]

@sonofthedestroyer,

This is Kuchi mridangam.At no point I see this resemble Kappi mootu.

[vjbalaji]

amazing clarity of sollus... 2:23-2:30 is simply out of the world!

[rohitprasad2008]

Amazing video hatsoff for the person who uploaded

[dbadagna]

Can you please explain what are Kappi and Kutchi mridangam, and what is the difference? Those of us around the world who don't know Carnatic music as well might not understand the difference you are illustrating here without a little bit of explanation. Thank you.

[sonofthedestroyer]

@dbadagna,

Kuthi mridangam - Has thin strips of reed inserted between the skin layers on the treble side.

Kappi Mridangam - has small pieces of iron granules inserted between the skin instead of the reed strips.

Result is two types of mridangam that sound different and even slightly different playing techniques as a result.

Trichy Sankaran uses kutchi mridangam. Karaikudi Mani and the late Palghat Raghu use Kappi mridangam. You can hear them on youtube

[RamLakshmanan]

Impeccable clarity and layam! Of course, the patented chappu sound ... hmmmm what a delight!

[pollywarrior]

Love this

[astrohari25]

Hate to be biased to say that he's the best mridangist the modern world has ever seen,heard or better still had his presence felt :)

[sonofthedestroyer]

@astrohari25 ,

He is certainly within the topmost percussionists on the planet for sure.

[pcarnatic]

beautiful, thanks for sharing. powerful and nuanced kappi mridangam sound by the master.

[astrohari25]

Sometimes i believe the difference in sound btw a kappi n kutchi mridangam goes down a thin wire...probably because even each artist's particular fine-tuning of a kappi mridangam n a kutchi mridangam is different..many kappi-like kutchi mridangams n vice versa..nevertheless if he manages to produce this kind of a chappu sound using a kappi mridangam, then prob. he's the only 1 after the revered PM iyer..

[sonofthedestroyer]

@astrohari25 ,

You have a good point

[manicrhythm]

Thanka for this post - incredbile thani...would be great to hear more of this recording. I do believe this is a kutchi Mridangam, epecially given tthe sound of the "num" also..I know Sivaraman sir used to play on kappi a long time back but also given that this is from the 80's, more reason for it to be a kurtchi

[sonofthedestroyer]

@manicrhythm,

I just found out. It is from 1963.

[FutbolFanatic90]

i love this playing...just pity that it lacks quality, if it didn't...this would damn good. not that it already is, especially his trademark style from the beginning 0.15 to 0.35

[sonofthedestroyer]

@FutbolFanatic90 ,

This is a very old recording. I have other ones that are even worse for quality and even older. But being mridangam, the rhythm is there which is most important

[sankagan234]

This is kutchi mridangam.

[sonofthedestroyer]

@sankagan234 ,

From my experience playing both, i am certain this is a kappi mridangam.

Ill clarify this with my guru as soon as he comes back from India

[FutbolFanatic90]

Yes, im afraid i have agree with sonofthedestroyer...the way the instrument resonates