Krsna Kirtana Songs
est. 2001 www.kksongs.org
KKSongs
Articles
Welcome to the KKSongs Articles page. While the foci of this site is
dedicated to devotional songs and the study of Indian music, there are things
that is to be said that cannot fit with the song lyrics or the music pages of
this site. Therefore, original supplemental articles have been written from
time to time to make light of certain devotional songs, spiritual topics, as
well as musical concepts and ideas.
Profile of
Indian Musical Instruments (April 11, 2004)
Even though there is an interactive page on musical
instruments available in the Hindustani and Carnatic
pages of the site, this is a hypertext and profile on some Indian instruments.
The Thats vs. The Melas (
When people study world music, people often study
musical scales. When Indian music receives a glance, people are amazed to see
how there are a tremendous number of scales. In North Indian music, this is
called a that, while in the South Indian music, this
is called the mela. This article will discuss on the
formation of these as well as more scientific facts on scales..
A
Day in Krsna’s Life: A Musical (April 18, 2004)
In Indian classical music, a day is separated in
eight sections of three hours each called prahars. Vaisnava musicologists have studied these prahars and the ragas associated with them to understand
and see the day of Krsna glorified by the ragas. The
article is based on information from Rupa Goswami and Bhaktisiddharta Dasa.
Improving
Indian Instruments (October 30, 2004)
In receiving instruments from India, one out of
every ten instruments will be decent or superb quality. Besides the inevitable
shipping factors, there are also production values that are very important in
the instrument’s life. This article will explain on how to improve certain
features of Indian instruments without compromising the quality of the
instrument’s playing technique or tonal quality.
KKSongs: A
Retrospect (December 12, 2004)
On the December 14, 2004, it will be three years
since the songbook on my website has been up serving devotees worldwide. This
article not only looks back on the progress, blessings, and growth of the
songbook, but also about other facets of the website.
Approach To Teaching Tabla (
There are a variety of methods to teach tabla. However, just as tabla is
a vast instrument, there will be vast reasons why one wishes to learn tabla. Some will need it to help them play another
instrument. Others want to solely focus on the tabla.
Few may want to become percussionists and use tabla
as a medium. Whichever the reason may be, teaching styles will have to be
tailored to these fields. This article will explain about how to satisfy all
facets of music without compromising the skill and study of the tabla.
Ten Forms of Lord Krsna (December 22, 2004)
This article looks back at a song from Jayadeva Goswami’s book, Gita Govinda. The song discussed
is the Dasavatara Stotram,
or prayers glorifying the ten forms of Krsna. It
explains the philosophy behind avataras as well as
glimpses of the pastimes involving each avatara. This
article was originally written on April 11, 2004. Since the writing of this
article, a famous Carnatic singer, M.S. Subbulakshmi, passed away on December 12, 2004. She had
rendered this song, and her version became the most famous version heard
everywhere. As a tribute to her and to educate the students on her ragamala approach
to the stotra, I included the name of each raga heard
for each avatara. If you want to know more about each
raga entered, please check the Ragamala page
on this website. If you are interested in the lyrics of the stotram,
please click here.
Searching for
the Perfect Tabla (January 4, 2005)
If one is seriously interested in learning tabla, then one should be very careful in purchasing one. A
poor drum can be very discouraging for an aspiring student. Sometimes, the word
“professional” is rubber stamped on tabla sets which
are less than average quality. Understanding what to look for in a tabla set can help one avoid making a big mistake.
Singing in an Odd
Meter (May 6, 2005)
After recording one song from Matchless Gifts which
used a thirteen beat cycle, I wanted to write an article in attempts to educate
musicians on how to compose a song or fit lyrics into a rare cycle not common
to Indian musicians.
Matchless Gifts
Experience (May 20, 2005)
After not recording full-fledged albums in a while,
I recorded a set of eight bhajans which rare lyrics
by some of our lesser known Vaisnava Acaryas,
sung in rare ragas in rare talas. For the spirit, I
called it “Matchless Gifts.” This accounts for the memories that took place
while recording the massive project.
Approach to
Teaching Khol (July 17, 2005)
This is my opinion of a perfect method of teaching
the khol for students to benefit without having too
little or too much instruction. This article is a supplement to the tabla syllabus article posted earlier this year.
Mridanga Abuse (
Mridanga is the form of Lord Krsna’s
flute in Kali-yuga. As this drum sounds so
mellifluously and enchanting, devotees made it a point to study the drum in
such a way that they can please the Lord. From controlled sweet rhythms from
the past came to excessive noise and banging in the present. Even though it can
lift the “ecstasy” of kirtan, it can become
cacophonic, offensive, and cause potential threat to the life of mridanga or ears of devotees. This article exposes improper
mridanga playing.
Glorification of
Lord Ramacandra (
On the appearance day of Lord Krsna’s
incarnation of the ideal king and ideal and most moral personality, Ramacandra, glorifying the Lord through songs is a great
way to remember the pastimes and glories of Sri Sri Sita Rama, Sri Laksmana, and Their devotees. The article includes links to
devotional songs found on various parts of KKSongs.org.
Myriads of Tongues;
One Name
(
This article examines devotional songs through which
languages they have been sung in. This article will explore the Indian
languages as well as the non-Indian languages used to render glorification of
Sri Krsna, His forms and His devotees. This article
also brings out the appreciation of Krsna
Consciousness as a worldwide movement. KKSongs links are provided for the song
references throughout the article.
“Unreleased
Works” and “Unsung Songs” of Prabhupada (August 17, 2006)
Today is the Vyasa Puja or the appearance day of Srila
Prabhupada, founder and acarya of ISKCON. This
article is a special offering to Srila Prabhupada on his one hundred tenth Vyasa
Puja from KKSongs. Srila Prabhupada has written so many books of Vedic literature
and Krsna Conscious philosophy, given so many
lectures, and led a lifetime of perfect example. Despite all this, his
devotional songs haven’t been remembered too well. This article focuses in on
the songs written by Srila Prabhupada, as well as
songs devotees have written about Srila Prabhupada.
Music with
Higher Taste (December 11, 2006)
“Prasadam” or the remnants
of food offered to Lord Krsna is a celebrated aspect
of devotional life in Krsna Consciousness. This
article looks at songs that talks about prasadam and its glories.
Ataraxis and Sandhya Sadhana (December 30, 2006)
The two KKSongs recordings of 2006 were Ataraxis and Sandhya Sadhana. The former, which had the entire soundtrack
completed in one day, was completed on May 8, 2006. Ataraxis
was a meditative recording treating each instrument as a character that spoke,
sang, or chanted. The esraj was the main performer,
along with the guitar-vina, mayuri
vina, and santoor. They
were accompanied by the tabla, khol,
and pakhawaj. The tunes featured on this track were
based on tunes of bhajans and regional chants. Sandhya Sadhana was a collection
of rare bhajans and instrumentals recorded to fit the
evening mood.
KKSongs Guitar
Project: The Fusion Between Guitar and Sitar (
Many attempts have been made to make Western
instruments resemble or even mimic Indian instruments. One such instrument was
the guitar in attempts to produce Indian ornamentation, as well as the electric
sitar to get a minimal attempt to resemble the sitar buzz. This article focuses
on the KKSongs Guitar Project in order to make a guitar sound like a sitar.
Glorifying
Lord Sri Nrsimhadeva (April 30, 2007)
Of all incarnations of Sri Krsna,
the man-lion incarnation known as Lord Nrsimha is one
of the fiercest incarnations. While sinners and non-devotees fear His terrific
form, His pure devotees have nothing but love that is not due to fear, but due
to devotion. This article encompasses His pastimes from the Seventh Canto of
the Srimad Bhagavatam and
looks at various songs written by devotees which are found on KKSongs.org.
Why Sing
Devotional Songs? (June 4, 2007)
KKSongs.org is based on Krsna
Conscious devotional songs. In such a grand website, a discussion on the
devotional song would be the ultimate supplement and the underlying purport for
all of the songs found here. This article, inspired by a web viewer’s inquiry,
discusses on the importance of a devotional song and the various types of
devotional songs.
Appreciating the
Pastimes of Sri Krsna (August 28, 2007)
This is the time frame where the auspicious month of
Bhadra begins. The month of Bhadra
starts off with Balarama Jayanti
(appearance day of Krsna’s elder brother and
expansion, Balarama). A week later,
Krsnastami (better known as Janmastami,
the appearance day of Lord Krsna on earth), Nandotsava (celebration of receiving Krsna
by Nanda Maharaja, foster father of Krsna), and Srila Prabhupada Vyasa Puja (appearance day of Srila Prabhupada). To give a good background to Balarama Jayanti, Krsnastami, and Nandotsava, a
brief description on the advent of the lila
is given here in this article.
Glories of the
Greatest Vaisnava (
On