It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 5:20 am




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 5 posts ] 
 commitment/surrender to the instrument 
Author Message
Member
Member

Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 3:41 pm
Posts: 44
Location: Cahuita, Limón, Costa Rica
Post commitment/surrender to the instrument
I don't know if this topic has been explored before but I was lying in bed the other night and was reflecting on a memory i had from long ago. I was, for a short time, a student at the Ali Akbar Khan College of Music (before my money ran out) and studied Sitar there. The 3-part relationship between student, teacher and instrument took on a dimension of such a great depth, such as that of guru, disciple and meditation. I wonder how many Stickists out there have experienced that element of total surrender where one becomes one with the instrument. For a good example of this see S Balachander on Youtube. He and the veena are united. His muscle memory is so developed that he seems to be playing from some deep meditative state.

Hopefully my Stick will come soon (making down payment sometime in the coming month)

_________________
pura vida,

Alberto
Bamboo Grand #6865


Sat May 27, 2017 11:07 am
Profile
Online
Site Donor
Site Donor

Joined: Mon Dec 24, 2007 10:06 am
Posts: 3226
Post Re: commitment/surrender to the instrument
Good post. I've experienced this from all angles.
Teaching of course but also an exploratory student of music forever. Much practice time unlocking the secrets within The Stick and creating expressive sounds with the results
Good luck with your new Stick

Steve A


Sat May 27, 2017 1:20 pm
Profile My Photo Gallery
Site Donor
Site Donor

Joined: Wed Jan 02, 2008 11:50 am
Posts: 882
Post Re: commitment/surrender to the instrument
Because of the Stick I took up the sitar :geek:. I know it is an odd thing but long before I ever
got a Stick I used to belong to a group of Indian music lovers called the "Indian Music Circle" in Los Angles.

Being a donor to this group I was on the list to be invited to to all the Hindustani 'north' Indian
classical music performances, and there were many, usually held in a church and lucky for
me, I guess, the events were under attended by westerners and mostly just local Indians came
to the shows.

Numerous times I got to sit at the feet of Ravi Shankar and one time he played a duet with
Ali Akbar (for those who don't know Ravi Shankar was a sort of step brother to Ali Akbar Khan who played an instrument called a "Sarod")

One time when Ravi Shankar was playing and these concerts were very long, he played
something that was so amazing that I had this insight that both western classical music
and jazz were concentrated inside of the raga he was exploring. I was very young
at the time 21 or 22, and I was stunned, hit by a musical landslide. I am not really sure what I understood but it was something that has lasted.

Years later I had a similar epiphany about the Stick, that so much music and musical power is concentrated into it's design that you can continue discovering new musical ideas forever.

But it was after picking up a sitar and playing it for a while that I fell into the space
that you mention :

Quote:
"...instrument took on a dimension of such a great depth, such as that of guru, disciple and meditation. I wonder how many Stickists out there have experienced that element of total surrender where one becomes one with the instrument."


I am not sure if you meant this or not but for me with the sitar and not having a teacher I realized that the instrument itself becomes the guru. This is true of course with the Stick and
The Stick prepared me for the sitar. So when this "meditation" happens both the
sitar and the person disappear! The "oneness" is just the music and then the
dimension of the story the music is describing. I can't always "make" it happen
but it does happen.

So yes some of us experience this kind of stuff ;).

jRj
*j*
.~

_________________
Dreams are set to blossom courage.

http://jrjwhatifthepaintingshadsongs.tumblr.com/


Sat May 27, 2017 4:52 pm
Profile
Member
Member

Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 3:41 pm
Posts: 44
Location: Cahuita, Limón, Costa Rica
Post Re: commitment/surrender to the instrument
Thank you JRJ!! I love the idea of surrendering to the instrument, the instrument itself becoming the teacher. The Stick is indeed, in my belief, one of the most potentially limitless instruments ever invented.
Thank you Emmett Chapman. Not since the development of the organ, piano, and other keyboards has there been an instrument with the orchestral capabilities of the Stick. The Sitar, Sarod, or in as in South India, the Saraswati Veena are in another dimension of focusing on single string melody and improvisation constructed on the framework of Raga.

_________________
pura vida,

Alberto
Bamboo Grand #6865


Mon May 29, 2017 11:46 am
Profile
Elite Contributor
Elite Contributor

Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2010 12:42 pm
Posts: 2530
Location: Jersey
Post Re: commitment/surrender to the instrument
The Stick has it's own "voice". No matter what material or pickup, try playing unplugged. The Stick has it's own voice. Fascinating.

_________________
Peace, Marty
"The present day composer refuses to die" -Edgard Varese


Wed May 31, 2017 10:24 pm
Profile My Photo Gallery
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 5 posts ] 


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 12 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  

board3 Portal - based on phpBB3 Portal Powered by phpBB © phpBB Group. Designed by Vjacheslav Trushkin for Free Forums/DivisionCore.
Heavily modified by Stickist.com. Stickist.com is an authorized Chapman Stick® site. The Chapman Stick® and NS/Stick™ and their marks are federally registered trademarks exclusively licensed to Stick Enterprises, Inc., and are used on Stickist.com and NSstickist.com with SEI's permission.
Click here for more information.