This article is very much a work-in-progress, feedback is welcome!
Konnakol is a South Indian, Carnatic practice involving the recitation of vocal patterns while clapping the tala. This article aims to be an informal introduction to certain aspects of Konnakol patterns from the perspective of algorithmic music, where Konnakol is itself considered to be an ancient yet continually innovative algorithmic art practice. I will share examples in code form, using the strudel free/open source live coding platform that I helped create. For more general Konnakol resources, please see the Konnakol thread on the algorithmic pattern forum.
The above performance with V Shivapriya and BR Somashekar Jois demonstrates the Konnakol artform very well. They are performing groups of syllables which are non-lexical, or in other words syllables which do not have a dictionary definition in the conventional sense. They are however partly based on syllables used in South Indian (Carnatic) percussion and dance, and are strongly associated with the Mridangam drum.
The syllable groups are traditional, and known as Solkattu. Below I show some of the more common basic solkattu phrases, with the number of syllables indicated. Note that that examples 5 – 9 use the same syllables, but with gaps added, indicated by a dash.
1: Tha
2: Tha ka
3: Tha ki ta
4: Tha ka di mi
5: Tha di gi na thom
6: Tha dim – gi na thom
7: Tha – dim – gi na thom
8: Tha dim – gi – na – thom
9: Tha – dim – gi – na – thom
As mentioned, these syllables are related to articulations of the Mridangam drum, but this is not a straightforward mapping. The following strudel code uses sound samples of the mridangam to demonstrate how these solkattu phrases might actually be played on the drum.
Press play to listen to the above code, noting that the sounds might not be audible at first, while they load in your web browser.
Listening to the performance by V Shivapriya and BR Somashekar Jois, you will hear sections in which the same phrase is repeated at different speeds. This is done relative to the underlying tala, which you can the artists clap throughout the piece. In particular, they clap the 7 count (or 7 akshara/beat) misra chapu tala, starting with two counts on the back of the hand, then a two claps separated by gaps. This could be notated “wave wave – clap – clap -“, where the clap with the back of the hand indicates a ‘wave’ and a hyphen is a gap. Note that at some point, V Shivapriya claps two talas at once on her knees, one hand still maintaining misra chapu tala.
The following example demonstrates this reduction and expansion. The Ta dhi gi na thom (or on the mridangam, dhi ta dhi na thom) is played first at 3 counts per syllable, then 2, 1, 1, 2 and back to 3. The synthesised ‘high hat’ cymbal sounds indicate the tala, which in this case is the 3 (12?) count rupaka tala – “clap clap wave”.
Crucially, the whole pattern fits the tala, in there are 60 counts (3 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 3, multiplied by the phrase length of 5), which is divisible by the tala length. Indeed, this is true of any phrase length. Here is the same example but with a four-step solkattu phrase:
That any phrase length placed in this structure will fit the tala, is a simple mathematical fact. Nonetheless, the results are rhythmically fascinating. The gaps (known as karve) within the solkattu phrase create lively syncopation, especially when you are able to recite them while clapping the tala (although I recommend starting with an easier phrase). The sense of resolution at the end of the pattern is strong.
To hear this example with a different phrase length, you can edit the code above directly, for example deleting one of the gaps denoted by ‘
-‘ in the"dhi - ta - dhi na thom"phrase. Click ‘play’ to hear the result of your change. If you mess up the code, simply reload the page to get back to the original.
(work in process – to be continued..)