Vasant Rai, fretless guitar: Alap in Raga Darbari Kanada, 1981
Until his death at the young age of 43 in 1985, Vasant Rai was one of the world’s most acclaimed masters of Indian music. Born in Unjha, in the province of North Gujarat, India, in 1942, he began musical education at age seven. He studied vocal music with his father, Govindji Brahmbhatt, and instrumental music with his elder brother, Kantilal. Vasant became proficient on sitar, violin, and flute, and appeared in his first concert at age 11. In 1958, after 13 years of musical experience, Vasant became the disciple of the incomparable guru Ustad Allauddin Khan, and was the last student to receive the Indian maestro’s complete musical training. He emerged a virtuoso on the sarod.
The sarod is a 25-string fretless lute. Developed during the Mughal period of India’s history, the modern sarod has a body of seasoned teakwood, a goat skin belly, a highly polished metal fingerboard, and is plucked with a plectrum made from horn or coconut. Like its relative the sitar, the sarod’s first four strings carry the melody. In addition to three chikari strings, which have drone and rhythmic accompaniment functions, there are three other support strings that serve a similar purpose. Fifteen additional strings, the taraf, act as sympathetic resonators. Like the sitar, the sarod is a delicate, highly sophisticated instrument that is extremely difficult to master.
Vasant studied and practiced under the strict guidance of Ustad Allauddin Khan, residing in his house, for eight years. He taught at the renowned master’s famed Music College in Maihar. Between 1964 and 1970, Vasant was given several important awards for musical excellence.
In 1972, Vasant became a visiting professor of music at Columbia University in New York City. He subsequently founded the Alam School of Indian Classical Music in New York, where he taught sarod, sitar, flute, violin, guitar, and voice. He lived in the Chelsea district of New York City infuencing many Western musicians, while carrying on the pure classical tradition of his guru. His son Satyam is an accomplished sarod player, and his daughter Sangita a Kathak dancer.
Vasant also explored new directions. “I am a musician,” he said. “I’m following the traditional ways, but I’m not orthodox to the point where I won’t do other things.” He appeared with electric guitarists Carlos Santana and John McLaughin (in 1974), and was perhaps best known for his remarkable series of “East-West blends” on the Vanguard label-compositions and improvisations recorded with members of the group Oregon. Towards the end of his life, Vasant experimented with the sur-guitar, a fretless sarod-guitar hybrid of his own invention.
IL: Can you describe the sur-guitar (fretless guitar) you have created?
VR: When I came to New York I had a student who wanted to learn guitar. Guitar and sarod are both from the lute family. When I first tried guitar I knew I could play Indian music on it. Sarod technique, both picking and fingering, lends itself to the guitar. I tuned the guitar to sarod tuning. The E and B strings are the same; the third string is lowered a half step to F#, and the fourth, fifth, and sixth strings are tuned B, F#, and B, respectively. Then I took off the fret board and glued a metal plate (fingerboard) in its place.
IL: Have you used this new fretless guitar on any of your recordings?
VR: Not yet, but I’m planning to record with two guitars; on the fretless guitar I will play Indian classical music, with Zakir Hussain-Alla Rakha’s son-on tabla; and on regular guitar I will play free improvisations-not based on ragas, but with western drummers and Zakir.
-Notes and interview extract from the Raga Records Vasant Rai CD by Ira Landgarten. Available at www.raga.com
Recorded live at the Alternative Museum, March 28, 1981. Recording courtesy of Robert Browning. Digital transfer Ira Landgarten, 2002. Photo circa 1981 by John Wilton.
Пікірлер: 124
one of the most overlooked musicians of that era. what talent he had! I have attempted ragas on a fretless guitar before and all I can say to this is wow!
@jensenlewis631
3 жыл бұрын
Yeah the reason he may have been "overlooked" is probably intention. The indian music scene is very clanish, if you are not from a "Linage" or a descendent people will intentionally discount you. It's usually musicians who come from linages who beat down on non lineage musicians. Vasant did not come from a so called lineage, hence he may have been intentionally sidelined by other jealous musicians. So yes criminally overlooked.
@roguegenesis7020
Жыл бұрын
@@jensenlewis631 He was the student of Baba Alauddin Khan(who was also the guru of Rabi Shankar) a very close one at that, his sarod was a gift fron him so he did belong to a gharana Half Knowledge is very bad
@jensenlewis631
Жыл бұрын
@@roguegenesis7020 Yes I know he did come from a gharana, but he was not blood related to his guru. From my understanding and from what I heard from a few indian musicians was that at least in the past you were shunned if I may if you were not blood related to the school. I don't want to publicly name a well known Sitar player who told me this.
when the sun does down darbari kanada shines bright like the moon
Probably the best rendition of Darbari Kanada ever and in any instrument. If he were alive today! I had tears listening.
@tripmonk0
5 жыл бұрын
You've never heard U Vilayat Khan's rendition of Darbari Kanada ?!!?!?
@andrewrai5752
5 жыл бұрын
Thanks so much for your kind words! I agree 100%
@maiharsarod8592
4 жыл бұрын
Yes this is the finest Darbari I've heard as well
@VISHUDDHATMA
4 жыл бұрын
Chitta ji. He is eternal through his sound in your heart.
@blenditlikethat9158
3 жыл бұрын
Huge statement! Although good, it is still not the best darbari in an instrument. The likes of Vilayat khan, Rais Khan, Shahid parvez and Nishat khan for example have dealt with this raag with far more authority and bhava. Also, if you listen closely the guitar is not in perfect pitch on many occasions but that's on account of the instrument I presume. I also understand that "best" is subjective so I respect your opinion but still can't ignore the fact that your statement was a very bold one!
As a music professor from Vadodara Music College I am authorized to give my professional opinion on this artist. Vasant Rai was completely on PAR or BEYOND with Ali Akbar Khan Saheb. On examining his approach to alap, the academics of the raga, the control over the instrument, tempo, tala, musical content, aesthetic sense, he was on the top, even beyond Ravi Shankar. His unfortunate demise was big loss to the music world.
@SSVplus
7 жыл бұрын
You're authorized? lol.
@chrisbasile
7 жыл бұрын
Wow, that is saying a lot, very high praise indeed. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and insight!
@akshaypuradkar1568
6 жыл бұрын
that rings true. within the first two plucks he shows almost the entire range of darbari. i couldn't help not wonder when i'd heard such a command on strings before!
@aricohen2171
5 жыл бұрын
Agreed!
@connorstewart4833
Жыл бұрын
@@SSVplus hes is simply saying that as a professional within music he has the right to make a professional opinion.I agree.
The finest Darbari Kannada I've heard in my 35 years of listening and studying this music. I first came to know about Vasant Rai when I saw his picture up in the Ali Akbar College of music and being the ICM nerd I am had to know who everyone was in all of the photos at AACM.
I'm sanding my fretboard now...just great!
Pt Shreedhar Parsekar, and Pt Vasant Rai Two huge losses to our classical music due to untimely deaths of both. Ultra Talented and unmatched skill.
So good - using a western instrument but because it's fretless he retains all the subtle beauty and meaning that is lost through the modern western tuning system that places practicality above beauty/purity
@neojohns2487
4 жыл бұрын
Work of "Meer" is magnificant
Phenomenal artistry and command over the Raga which is so beautifully presented here. All lovers of Raga Darbari will be amazed and filled with gratitude. His ability to make this come from a fretless guitar is his gift and learning form Baba Alauddin Khan. Thank you for sharing this.
@jensenlewis631
6 жыл бұрын
True the way he treats the raga, the maturity, the command is amazing.
@andreware6492
4 жыл бұрын
Video coming soon
@VISHUDDHATMA
4 жыл бұрын
@@andreware6492 Thank you Andrew.
this is the nearest heaven for a man :-).. touches ur soul..
Ive done somthng similar to a classical and electric guitar- replace the fretboard w a stainless steel plate, and will never go back to frets. One just cannot do the subtle pitch adjustments on a fretted instruments that are possible on an unfretted. And there is so much more i find it difficult to describe. Thank you Mr V. Rai for much great inspiration!
@antman2826
3 жыл бұрын
I would love to learn how you’ve done this. I am very interested in doing the same.
@anotheranon3118
2 жыл бұрын
@@advaitguje3370 You can just turn your guitar into a fretless by removing the frets, filling the spaces with wood filler and sanding the fretboard. Check out "fretless guitar conversion" either on Google or KZread for more details. Fretless guitars as such are also sold in the market but tend to be prohibitively expensive. Ah, also check out Cenk Erdogan for some of the finest fretless music out there.
Any raga the Maestro touches becomes gold.
One of the best in darbari
I absolutely adore this. From the moment it begins you are there . But I bet some will be sitting waiting for "something to happen"
Thanks for sharing this. I have only just been introduced to this amazing artist and rendition of Raga Darbari. I have never heard a guitar played like that before. Thanks for sharing.
extraordinary, unbelievable and very soothing.
Beautiful. I've been listening to indian music here and there over the years but this is on another level.
This is fantastic! for the past 20 years I've been hooked on Vasantjee music. I was a student of Ashish Khan back in the 90s and I came across Vasantjees recordings, after that I stopped taking lessons from everyone else and just have been learning from recordings of Vasant Rai.
@metalforlife4ever
4 жыл бұрын
Wow that is amazing! Could you please share from where I can download or buy these recordings?
@andreware6492
4 жыл бұрын
@@metalforlife4ever Video coming very soon :)
This is really beautiful. My friend who is studying with Ashish Khan at CalArts introduced me to this. What I like about this is it's he's technically playing a "indian raga" but the way he's executing it does not sound foreign to me as when I hear other Indian music. Any more recordings?
Absolutely beautiful.
This is amazing! I've been listening to Vishwamohan Bhatt and Tarun Bhattacharya but this is just so much more organic, deep and earthy. Any more recordings of him?
@gauravsimha
7 жыл бұрын
Jensen Lewis It's beautiful because striking at the heart of ICM, melody. There is no attempt to infuse unnecessary elements to make it sound fancy to please unread audiences, while all Vishwa Mohan bhat does is that.
@jensenlewis631
6 жыл бұрын
Yeah I agree! I'm also astounded by the alap he's playing here.
@VISHUDDHATMA
4 жыл бұрын
Vasant Rai's fingers are matchless, on any stringed instrument. You will be pleased with the recent upload of Gavati at kzread.info/dash/bejne/nqGHl9GuZc_bpMY.html Kind regards
@jensenlewis631
3 жыл бұрын
@@VISHUDDHATMA Thank you so much for the Gavati, I heard it and am thrilled. He is my favorite Indian musician.
thank you from bottom of my heart for uploading this music
Nice experimental assimilation of sarod and Spanish Guitar techniques.
Wow. Found this on 'Gita Jayanthi'.
what a rendition in darbari kannada ❤️🙏❤️
Vasant Rai and Ali Akbar were in a category of their own. Although they studied from the same teacher they could not be any more different in their approach to the music.
Souly beautiful............if could hear the original live sound.
Wonderful. Just speechless. Will any music lover upload jugalbandi of Pandit Ravishankar and Pandit Vasant Rai, since I have seen the photograph together on stage performing.
@TomGoldsmithguitar
6 жыл бұрын
Harshad Joshi yeah!! 😯
Gr8! Tnx 4 sharing this Gem!
Amazing talent. Beautiful gamakas , so perfectly played.👍💐
Thanks for uploading this superlative. video. I did not know anything about Vasant Rai until today. I will find out now.
love it. he was from the same village " Unjha", I am from.
@jigggro
6 жыл бұрын
Dr. Vishal M Bant kem cho?
@andreware6492
4 жыл бұрын
Video coming very soon
Very very Nice
Wow, what a gem ❤
It's extremely beautiful!
Wonderful!
kya baat!!
Sounds like me when I’m restringing. Haha!! Just kidding, he’s obviously amazing. Beautiful phrasing and feel.
@Mahesh_Meghwal_12
3 жыл бұрын
First line and LOL..
Magnificent
tempo...relaxd enjoyd this thx!
Superb 👌
Fantastic.
what an exemplar of darbari!
Ah starting ei Mon vore gelo
if there is any haven, it is more than that
cool sound.
@billsims56
6 жыл бұрын
Steve Baughman Guitar
Video coming soon!
Can only assume that the 2 thumbs down were made in error !
@vicentegomes9640
3 жыл бұрын
...or due to bad taste and lack of sensibility!
Holy s*** don't mess with this guy
This is cool, like it a lot!
Whoah.. incredible.
Incredible to do this with no chikari
Brilliant!
Vasant Rai died too early, unless he would have been one of the stalwarts of Indian classical music. Though he is still great.
Sruthi box instead of tanpura..unusual
That's how it sounds like when you practice 40hrs a day.
woah it almost sounds better on a guitar!
@TomGoldsmithguitar
6 жыл бұрын
Leonidas Diamandopoulos yep
@VISHUDDHATMA
4 жыл бұрын
His guru Baba Allauddin would have cried with tears of joy, upon listening to this Darbari on the fretless guitar.
do you have more archives of Vasant Rai?
Sounds like me tuning my old acoustic
@jensenlewis631
2 жыл бұрын
That's because when you are tuning a guitar you hear the notes in a glissando fashion. In indian music, the travel from one note to another is not done in a staccato manner but in a glissando manner, so your statement makes sense in a very basic sense.
can somebody please help an enthusiastic newbie... did this fella just fit a piece of steel to the fretboard of a guitar to give it more of a feel of a sarod? and what tuning was he using? such beauty in the music and the sound!!!
@peterforrest3424
6 жыл бұрын
If you google alternative tunings for frtless guitar you will find tunings there
@peterforrest3424
6 жыл бұрын
B f flat b f flat b e
@jensenlewis631
6 жыл бұрын
His genius is that he's physically on the go transposing what he would play on the sarod with the tuning CGCF and playing it on a traditional western guitar tuned to guitar tuning. He's doing it in live time.
@jamesha175
5 жыл бұрын
@@peterforrest3424 f flat = e
@DoctorDoom619
3 жыл бұрын
check the description for the tuning
Vintage
I don't know much about guitars.... Is the fretless guitar he playing the Hindustan e sliding type or a normal Spanish guitar ?
Any videos of Vasant Rai?
Unusually fine playing! I only regret the presence of that dreaded shruti-box which pollutes the sound! Had he use a good tanpuri here, it would have been more enjoyable!
Beautiful. Does anybody know what kind of guitar he is playing? Nylon strings or steel strings? Or did he put sitar strings on the guitar?
@pep25pin
4 жыл бұрын
on my ears sounds like nylon!
@veetguitar
3 жыл бұрын
For sure steel strings.
@jensenlewis631
2 жыл бұрын
Nylon, I saw a picture of him holding his guitar up close, for sure they were nylon.
@FuerstMykisch
2 жыл бұрын
@@jensenlewis631 thank you!
I am going to attempt converting one of my old guitars to a sarod-style metal fingerboard. would ideally also like to add at least a few sympathetic strings but if that's too much of a risk/process, oh well. it looks like his guitar in this picture is converted from a classical guitar (based on the headstock/wide neck/body shape) but I have always heard "never ever put steel strings on a classical guitar it can't take the tension" so now I'm confused. should I convert a steel or classical guitar? very amateur at this, any tips/insight would be appreciated!
@billsims56
5 жыл бұрын
zbr inz I converted a classical guitar ala vasant rai over a year and a half ago. the fingerboard plate is stainless steel and the nut is aluminum. did not convert strings to steel. it sounds good. i had had a little experience on the upright bass and violin but never the frtlss guitar. went on to convert a frenandes fake strat to frtlss. lack of sustain and volume are always an issue w frtlss.
@billsims56
5 жыл бұрын
zbr inz grow left hand fingernails for a more exact tone when fingering notes and electric guitar can be amplified. fretless is almost all i play except for bansuri! its a challenging ear-stretch!
@antman2826
3 жыл бұрын
I would love to know how you did this.
@adamedmour9704
2 жыл бұрын
Nylon will work much better. Even with a metal finger board steel strings won’t sustain well on a fret less acoustic guitar. If you don’t want to grow out the nails of your left hand like a sarod player, you can still produce a beautiful oud like sound by playing with the pads of the fingers(ie normally) on a fretless nylon string guitar.
@tangobayus
Жыл бұрын
If you do an open tuning like DADGAD you'll get good sympathetic vibrations. Not as much as purpose-built, but better than standard tuning.
Same as playing a Sarod.....
@andreware6492
2 жыл бұрын
Very different- Tuning of a sarod is CGCF while the tuning of the guitar is EADGBE.
🤔