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From: Wesleyan
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  • OMG !!!

  • whoa. these are western folk? they are amazing! i am proud to see that great indian heritage and culture is being appreciated by all types of people. great work! :)

  • People who like this, look up Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan... he is a legend :D

  • Feeling proud to see this video !

  • Music is the divine tool binding our minds and souls!

  • wow....amazing

  • THANK YOU! . No other words. I learned classical music from a most respected Guru here in Trichy, Tamil Nadu twenty-five years ago when this region was the fertile ground for Carnatic music. So, with all authority, I can say , well done, keep up the good work  and a BIG THANK YOU!!

    Regards,

    S.Suresh,

    Trichy.

  • great!! never thought western people would sing so well in carnatic!!

  • girl voice is so good

  • Amazing.....Amazing..hats off to their dediction towards Indian music and it's tooo difficult for them to sing like this..If we don't see their faces and just listen to the music..we feel like some professional Indian singers are singing....Especially the girl's voice is too good.Indians should learn a lot from it........

  • Exellent. This reminds me that the great souls can remember the excellent knowledge acquired in their previous birth !!!. Wow .. Its not easy for many indians and these singers all possess divine skills . Appreciated ...No words of praise can match your dedication and focus to learn this..

  • I really admire these musician students. It is not easy to switch to singing an entirely different musical style. (Hey, I can't even sing western pop songs, and I am a pretty good Indian film music hummer!) And too, Carnatic music is an accretion of culture, religion, etc. It is a mind set. Kudos to these students.

  • Amazing ! Thanks for uploading a wonderful presentation , Like to hear more of your fabulous work soon....Thanks

  • @ichikuchi: Thanks for your soothing words. I did my Evening Music College (Vocal), in 1984 when I was in school. Just reminded of those days when I heard to these students rendition. These days difficult to find people who correct our mistakes. That is why I thanked @nandagiri.

  • Overall just a pretty good piece of music, but the first 50 odd seconds have got to be one of the most spell-binding things on YouTube, difficult to locate music of that quality.

  • @nandagiri: Thanks for correcting my mistakes.

  • @rangany : It is common in Indian culture and its musical tradition for senior and experienced persons to point out mistakes of young and promising performers. You do not have to regret it.

    @nandagiri: It is definitely not Indian to retort by pointing out typing errors. Both sync and synch have for long been part of the English language, both by usage and by acceptance, as equivalents of synchronisation and its variants. Please see entries in the Oxford English Dictionary. It is just silly.

  • @rangany You missed my point of my comments. I was simply saying that there was no need for the comments and criticism from the original poster. I can see that I am not able to criticize them but they are able to critisize others. I can see sarcasm is lost in this group.

  • they did an excellent job! i don't know much about Carnatic music in detail but i have developed much affection for it in recent times and this video really makes me to admire their work regardless of some corrections that they required as suggested by a dear friend! i have no knowledge so i can say i just listened to a wonderful piece! carnatic music is really very beautiful

  • To the folks singing and performing here: As an American born Indian male who studied classicial music in America from the age of 8, I am pleased and gratified to hear your rendition. And to think you are studying this to such a level is fantastic. I think you all are the hallmarks of our great society and not to mention, your talent is unmistakable. Thank you for making me grateful to my parents for pushing this ancient art to me.

  • Regardless of if they are white, they are playing very well.

  • Sung well. Some small corrections.

    1. Shruti - Voice is strained, due to too much practice. 2. Mandolin - Ends abruptly, without giving proper Sriragam touches. 3. Mridungam should be set to Shruthi. 4. Over all performance - really perfect sync between singers and instrumentalists. I am sure they will come up in flying colours, that day is not very far.

    All the above are just few suggestions. I am sorry if I had said anything wrong.

    .

  • @rangany : Written well. Some small corrections for you.

    Overall is one one word. You use of the word sync should actually be synchronization and its "the" singers and "the" instrumentalists. In addition, your next sentence should be written as "I am sure they will showcase their flying colors" or I am sure they will improve to the point of showcasing their flying colors. That day is not very far off"

    All "of" the above are just a few suggestions. I am sorry if I "have" said anything wrong.

  • @nandagiri... you are really eccentric...trying to teach English in this and making mistakes yourselves there... crazy!

  • @devadasrv @rangany You missed my point of my comments. I was simply saying that there was no need for the comments and criticism from the original poster. I can see that I am not able to criticize them but they are able to critisize others. I can see sarcasm is lost in this group.

    And I simply missed an "R" in my comment. I was not trying to teach anyone English, however, I surely can if you wish to understand the use of wit and sarcasm in said posts.

  • Sung well. Some small corrections.

    1. Shruti - Voice is strained, due to too much practice. 2. Mandolin - Ends abruptly, without giving proper Sriragam touches. 3. Mridungam should be set to Shruthi. 4. Over all performance - really perfect sync between singers and instrumentalists. I am sure they will come up in flying colours, that day is not very far.

    All the above are just few suggestions. I am sorry if I had said anything wrong.

    .

  • what is the song they are singing?

  • And my condescending prejudiced friend once said carnatic's gonna die off as only a particular "community" gets a chance to learn it!! this is simply brilliant!

  • booooringg

  • Great use of the guitar replacing the sitar

  • @benjOM100 i believe it's the veena

  • Are Vah!!! Kyaa baat hai!!!

    I am REALLY amazed with how clear the voice, pronounciation and everything is!!!

    I mean this is just extrodinary!!! The mrudangam, guitar, singer. I am out of breath!!!

    This should be on world television.

    I am not a carnatic singer I am a hindustani classical singer and I am a student of Pt. Jasraj.

    I must say you guys are very very very good.

    Great Job!!!

  • Wonderful dedication. Just appreciate the devotion of the singers and the pronunciation which is way better than man of our kids raised in US and who attempt to sing Carnatic music.

    Great effort.

  • Where there is a will there is a way. The efforts put in by the students is commendable. The raga is also quite difficult.I can remember Prof Higgins who has become immortal with his Karanatic music concerts in Chennai after learning the classical style. His records are played even today by All India Radio. Today there are many students learning Classical south Indian music. The basic differences from that of west are the scales, chromatics & the Bhakti Bhaava which are new to the Americans..

  • Where there is a will there is a way. The efforts put in by the students is commendable. The raga is also quite difficult.I can remember Prof Higgins who has become immortal with his Karanatic music concerts in Chennai after learning the classical style. His records are played even today by All India Radio. Today there are many students learning Classical south Indian music. The basic differences from that of west are the scales, chromatics and the Bhakti Bhaava which are new to the Americans..

  • Amazing!!! If one is interested he/she can do anything. This is a very lively proof of it.

  • girl has great voise. perfecto.

  • Very very pleasant....... wish you all best!

  • Guys , if you interested in it do it, else listen to the great music and enjoy. don't say wake-up to the guys , may be you are sleeping , and you woke up when white guys , did it , listen to this and comment

  • Comment removed

  • nice to hear

  • O Great! Perfect pronunciation! Incredible!

  • I dont have anywords to say. The real love towards music is evident here. Its beyond everything. I request my Indian friends to look at this and learn

  • Great singing, nice music.

  • Bravo!! Priceless!! 100000* You are awesome!! Hats off. Good for you!!

  • Salutations form 1.2 Billion Indians. From North, South, East & West. God Bless.

  • Just goes on to show that with dedication and practice humans can learn anything.

  • Actually., many of us have ben studying for years. I myself have been a student of carnatic music for ten years. Improvised forms like alapana can not be acquired within 1-2 semesters of training by even the most talented of musicians.

  • Just brilliant!

  • I'm so impressed...I imagine that most of you have only been learning for a semester or two. This kind of skill--especially being able to improvise any alapana--is typically displayed after several years of exposure. Congrats!

  • excellent work!

  • i am speech les oh! god bhart walo kuch seekho nalayko inse

  • @MrAmitveer dude we hav learnt tell to those who r still liking dat jumping red ass songs lik bagal me juta and all fucking shit

  • Oh god Unbelievable

  • This is just plain unbelievable. John Higgins Bhagavathar all over again?

  • His "Chakkani Raja" is immortal.

  • Where can I find Chakkani rajamargamu by Jon Higgins? Thanks

  • thank you soo much

  • OMG, when she (in the violet sari) started to sing, i started to cry. wow. what are they singing about?

  • It's a Classical/traditional south indian song which praises the some of the Hindu Gods.

    These songs have a rich voice modulations and require years of training under a qualified music Guru to be able to perform like this

  • PRICELESS!! BRAVO!! EXCELLENT!!

  • Excellent, Amazing!!!!!! OMG, I couldn't believe my ears....it was so beautiful so deciplines....hats off. Keep it up.

  • could someone rate the performances by these children in Malaysia , in a small town called Kuantan...... we hope to keep our cultural heritage alive....we want to improve.thanks for all your comments.

  • A great performance.

  • i m thrilled.. no words can speak for my emotions!

  • shilpa

    What an Awesome performance. It's unbelievable!.Simply Great! Good Luck!

  • i am so pleased to see a white person singing indian music who isnt a wanabee loser, she is amazing

  • Great Melody, Great Dedication, Great effort by singers. Godess Sarswathi with them blessing, This is the example great vedantic life, which is the only life like all rivers joining in ocean, Indians please wake up, let us be fine examples of leading peaceful and rightful life.

  • Wah wah...I see mata Saraswathi sitting there.....i am getting goose pimples when I am hearing this mother do the aalapana...wonderful team...great job.

  • omg... great job guys.... wow thats a lot of effort put in...

  • I respect everybody's opinion, but this is a bit hipish

  • this is an awesome performance. unbelieveable!!!!! congrats to the members of this concert for showing so much dedication and doing a perfect job at it..

  • These kids are unbelievable!  If I just heard the music, I would have never known that these were not native speakers. Keep at it.

  • excellent,mind blowing.God bless them.Thanks for uploading such a great video.

  • Wow u guys are good

  • wow,can't believe.They can perform better than indian so called bollywood musicians like headache Himesh Reshamia.great.Bravo.

  • Incredible...great job! :)

  • Tats Garret Field on the guitar

  • Great!!!!

  • Wow! unbelievable. what a great rendition. I can only imagine the effort behind this great performance! very unusual.

  • HOOLY COW!!! Good work!!!

  • Awesome!!!Who has taught them in connecticut???!!!!

  • its time for Indian youngsters to look in to what we have instead of going being the western music.

    Please guys wake up!!

  • indeed...its sickening how all that bhangra-hopping nonsense and fusion bollywood music has hijacked indian culture!!! watever happened 2 the ancient and classical carnatic and hindustani music that reigned supreme for centuries???

  • @vraghavan24 you are 100% right about this!

  • @vraghavan24 That's not the right attitude. People should do what ever they are interested in. I think that's the point of this performance. You focus on whatever you like. One kind of music is not better than the other. All it requires is vak-shuddhi and concentration.

  • @vraghavan24 YES! I also believe the same is true for other countries, like Japan. The world is caring too much about western music.

  • @vraghavan24 I agree very much......if they really reconized their divine culture....they will find so much peace

  • Ooops!!! incredible!!! however , I afraid its manipulated or not.... he..he..Haunting in Connecticut!!!!!!!!! Cheerz Guys...

  • nice whose the blondy :D

    (joke)

  • its amazing......great work guys!!!!!

  • Amazing and Awesome!!! Great work guyz!!

  • haha I'm not even Indian but I really like it. This sounds really nice.

  • Shame.. shame shame ..( I mean on the youngsters in india.)trying to ape the west.

    Sad that west is coming east and vice versa.

    am very happy to know that indian music is being appreciated in the west. Keep it up.GREAT EXCELLENT.. GOOD LUCK 2 u all and GOD BLESS..

  • unbelievable performance...excellent job...music is universal !!! All the very best !!!

  • chaala bagundi.....

  • What an excellent effort and demonstration of how American younsters can sing the difficult form of Carnatic music with such perfection and ease. Great you guys - Visit me in Bangalore and I can teach you more. Krishnan S.M Iyer from Bangalore, India

  • wow !

    what else can i say?

  • Very nice.

    Good to see westerners performing so well. all honors to the teachers.

  • 0 _ 0

  • dont know really what to say... i desperately wish to see you all once live ...and convey my gratitude and regards.... otherwise its worthless living as a musician... GREAT GREAT....god bless you all

  • unbelievable!! wow. so inspiring!

  • Beautiful rendering.

  • AWESOME

  • great!!!

  • you succeded in letting us know where you live! Clever that!

  • Awesome! I wish I could sign up for this program at Wesleyan. Too bad I'm in Oklahoma! I find it very inspiring and uplifting to hear people create musical harmony across all cultures.

  • it is not easy to sing a cranatic music song but they did it and it was excllent and appriciatable

  • i like how, when non-indian people sing carnatic music at this level it is considered extraordinary, and when indian people sing the same music at the same or at even higher level it is considered average or subpar.

  • Its all relative, the comparison is not absolute. This level of performance by an Indian kid of 8 or 10 years would be considered average. Indians are awed that people from the west can even perform carnatic, leave alone in public.

  • I guess it's a good thing that people take interest in other cultures outside of their own....I mean, it is obviously a lot harder to start something that you have no exposure to in your childhood.

    Take starting a musical instrument for example. It would feel more natural for a child in a musical family to take up a musical instrument, becaues he/she is constantly surrounded by music from a young age.

  • (that was a response to dazzlegirl0220)

  • @dazzlegirl0220

    carnatic music IS good carnatic music.

    the problem isn't whether one ethnic group gets more praise for the same level of talent, it is that people act as tho ethnicity has anything to do with it.

  • @dazzlegirl0220 you have a point there! I guess people pay more attention when something is not expected.

  • @dazzlegirl0220 Well, its not exactly that. The fact is she really did sing well and she might have had a profound interest in the Carnatic music else she would never have come this far. As a matter of fact, I would have thought the same even if she was from an Indian origin.

  • It is a beautiful delivery by these young students!

  • good job guys!

  • Excellent rendition. Learning music from a different culture and presenting it in a wonderful way. Hats off to each and everyone of the participants. Bid kudos to the teacher (guru). Mandolin player needed a microphone near him.

    Bharath

  • Wonderful rendition. I loved the Namaskar done by all artists at the end. WOW ! Thanks for the upload :-)

  • I LOVE IT! Keep it up!

  • Amazing. Just flawless recitation

  • Awesome video. Here voice is really great

  • This is wonderful and wish all the artists best and good luck to continue this great tradition. Yes, it is relaxing as well as a great food for the mind.

  • i love indian music it is so relax

  • Lady your voice is just awesome.. you got it all right..i am highly surprised....Perfection at its best

  • Admire the dedication of foreigners learning Indian music ...Inspired !!

    If a south indian carnatic fan listened to this without watching the video, she woudnt believe that foreign students have sung this !!

  • Admire the dedication of foreigners learning indian music...Inspired !!

  • wow this is great! i am doing a history day project on mohandas gandhi and i need some music to go on in the backround of my speaking. would you mind if i used this?

  • so beautiful, thankyou

  • Excellent work and dedication.

  • Wonderful!!! I bow my head to all the musicians who have rendered this composition in Sri raga...May The Almighty continue to shower HIS GRACE on these great musicians.

  • What a performance!! Hats off to you Americans! What pronunciation!! I am very happy that the Indian music culture is spreading all over the world!! I hope you give many more carnatic music performances!! If you do, please tell me!

  • Definitely words can't describe this performance. This is transcendental stuff. This is almost metaphysical. Mind you, I normally listen to rock from the 60s (Grateful Dead, The Band, The Allman Brothers Band, The Who, Cream, Jethro Tull, Led Zep, and so on).

  • Sorry, Banavathi. You are contradicting yourself. On the one hand you say one should focus on the music and not the singers. On the other hand, you go on about following proper etiquette (to be followed by the singers). I have listened to this scores of times (I rarely watch the video) over the past few months and it gives me goose bumps & leaves me speechless every time. Definitely words can't describe this performance. This is transcendental stuff. This is almost metaphysical. Continued..

  • I think it's beautiful, even though I don't understand the language and know nothing about Carnatic music.

  • Kudos to the university for celebrating diversity in music.

    I think their diction (if that word can be applied to singing) is way better than the group Shanti Shanti (also from the States).

  • great and great and great...nice performance guys .. hi5 for u guys...

  • Great

  • these are really light skin indian people

  • Wonderful performance! Very authentic pronunciation, incredible.

  • I feel like sting is about to bust out

  • beautiful

  • Garrett Field's effort is commendable!

  • Am awestruck... This is incredibly beautiful and touching... Hats off to these kids and their mentors!

  • This is the first time in life am listening classical song sung by a pop/rap singing people. This is truly amazing video, hats off for those western students who showed their interest to sing INDIAN classical and sung really well and good with proper use of pitch along with backgroud musical instruments.

  • amazing!!

  • Incredible!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Sankar

  • No words to express my feelings..

    Excellent..

    Great effort by all..

  • oh my god!!!! Amazing.....hats off to them!!!

  • any of you in this talented group, when in l.a gimme a call. i'll take you to the best south indian food. my treat.

  • I'm levitating.

  • magical....

  • I am super impressed!

  • Awesome...simply brilliant!!!

  • Soon, hoping to see vellakara kuttis wearing madisaar and doing the streets of mylapore

  • The classical music has the ability to touch the soul when sung perfectly and these students have gotten to a flawless start.

  • Nice to see this. Music transcends physical limitations. After all, it's the expression of the heart. Immaterial whether it's Indian, Western, Eastern, etc.

  • This is simply a superb and amazing performance by the Wesleyan University student. My personal compliments to Mr.Balu. For a moment I thought I am listening to Grade A Sounth Indian classical music concert in Chennai. The range, pitch and the diction of the main singer is beyond words. She is truely gifted. Equally the the perfomance and coordination of the violinist and the rest of the team made this as one of the enthralling concerts.

  • I appreciate the artists for what seems to be their great interest in Carnatic music. I sincerely request them to spread the word about the great art form of Carnatic music to the western world.

  • white mans answer to us playing rock , metal etc ... good job!

  • awesome work done by white people ! hats off to Mr.balu and Mr.David Nelson.

  • Incredibly talented!!! Impressive stuff...please keep up the tradition...

  • I am glad that Westerners are learning to appreciate Indian classical music and I was amazed by their performance. Good job!.

    Charlott Nair

  • Beautiful - Well done - Congratulations - Leela Menon

  • Amasing - Just cant believe its being sung by non-indian students. Once again hearty congrates - Leela Nambiyar

  • Awesome, completely amazed

  • Awesome performance...great job...

  • One of the best performance I have seen from a non - Indian group.. wow.... soooo good... I added this video as my favorite...

    Thank you again.... for this !!! I love you all ....

  • That was a phenomenal performance! The skill and determination and PRACTICE it must have taken to perform is unimaginable, espescially for these college students! Well done!

  • Mind blowing performance! Great effort on raga,diction,tala and synchronisation Amazing effort by these students and appreciate Mr.Balu for training them beautifully. Looking forward to more performances.Good wishes.

  • Wonderul, excellenct. This vedios to be seen by most of south indians especially who are fantic about western songs. This may help them to appreciate our music.

  • I watched it, then listened to it without video, to wear off the 'shock'. The quality of the perfomance is more that of sincere imitation than organic fidelity. Nothing requires that males wear a western style shirt on a lungi, for example. This is a partial concession to modernity among actual South Indian males - not unique or traditional to Carnatic music. Trying to get these trivialities 'right' is silly. Instead, focus on the music, but also innovate, and experiment with stylistic fusion.

  • I find that there is a higher degree of attempt to perfection and synchronization than one usually finds in India. That is the virtue of this video. Wish all of them well and the blessings of Devi Kamalambika.

  • whoa! 113 comments? tm krishna!?

    The sruthi was right and the gamakas were well done, but there is absolutely no need to blow this performance out of proportion! and whoever said they did a better job than indians doesn't have a clue about what he/she's talking about.

    I think we have had about ENOUGH giving praise to the westerners to sing our compositions (averagely). I wonder how many indian or chinese western violinists got that kind of recognition just because they were brown!

  • Wow! Amazing. My best wishes to Mr. Balu and his students for many more such accomplishments.

  • Superb!!!

  • That's incredible guys! Keep up!

  • Hats off to all the young artists and Mr. Balu. Unbelievable performance and this is the most wonderful display of cross-cultural knowledge transfer I have seen. Keep it up.

    Sree

  • Hats off to these great artists who recognized the language of music has no boundaries or barriers. There seems to be a phenomenon now-a-days that western acceptance of anything can help it get more recognized or popular among Indian mass. Hopefully artists like these will help classical indian music become more appreciated & popular among Indians.

  • amazing. hats off. brilliant stuff from wesleyan u. such purity in sound.