• Raag Chandramadhu •

S-g-M-P-n-S


An angular pentatonic form conjured up by vocalist Amir Khan only a short time before his untimely death in a 1974 car accident – indeed, it is unclear if he ever formally named his new creation (I’ve seen it referred to as ‘Bhushwati’ and ‘Amarpriya’, and at least two posthumous releases just list it as ‘Untitled Raga’). A detailed RMIC thread discusses several plausible origin theories, generally linking the raga’s genesis to an intricate murchana process involving Chandrakauns and Madhukauns: it is prakriti with the latter, and Khan may well have made no practical distinction between the pair – however, given the general sparsity of information, it is unclear which recordings count as ‘true’ renditions. Bewitching in its oddities (‘Dhani tivra Ma‘ / ‘Minor Pentatonic #4‘) – also compare to his nearby Amirkhani Kauns (the same scale with shuddha Ga), as well as Amiri Todi (composed in his honour by Amjad Ali Khan).


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—Amir Khan (~1970s)—


[khayal, e.g. 1:01] PS(nSP)nP (n)S, g(gSnS)gMP, PgMPn P, PMP(nPSnSnPMP…), (P)n SgS…

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• Classifiers •

Explore hidden inter-raga connections: swara geometries, melodic features, murchana sets, ragangas, & more (also see the Full Tag List):


Swaras: -4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10+

Sapta: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

Poorvang: SRGM | SRG | SRM | SGM

Uttarang: PDNS | PDS | PNS | DNS

Varjit: Re | Ga | Ma | Pa | Dha | Ni

Double: rR | gG | mM | dD | nN

Thaat: 10 | 32Enclosed | Inexact

Chal: All-shuddha | All-komal | Ma-tivra

Gaps: Anh. | Hemi. | 3-row | 4-row | 5-row

Symmetries: Mirror | Rotation | Palindr.


Aroha: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

Avroh: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

Jati: Equal | Balanced | Av.+1 | Av.+2

Samay: Morning | Aftern. | Eve. | Night

Murchana: Bhup. | Bihag | Bilaw. | Charu.

Raganga: Bhairav | Malhar | Kan. | Todi

Construction: Jod | Mishra | Oddball

Origin: Ancient | Carnatic | Modern

Dominance: Poorvang | Uttarang

Prevalence: A-list | Prachalit | Aprach.

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• Prakriti: Madhukauns

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–Swara Geometries–

Core form: SgMPnS
Reverse: SRmMDS
Negative: 2-1-2-1-3-1-2 (e.g. Nat Bhairav)
Imperfect: 3 (Ma, Pa, ni)
Detached: 1 (Ma)
Symmetries: none
Murchanas: Chandrakauns (on Pa)

Quirks: ‘tivra Ma, komal ni‘ (rarest pairing)

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–Global Translations–

Carnatic: ~Samudrapriya
S-G2-M2-P-N2-S
Jazz: Minor Pentatonic (#4)
1-b3-#4-5-b7-8
Pitch classes (‘fret-jumps’):
0-3-6-7-10-0
(3–3–1–3–2)

o • • o • • o o • • o • o


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• Tanpura: Sa–Pa
• Names: Chandramadhu, Bhushwati, Amarpriya, (Madhukauns?)

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—Sultan Khan (1988)—

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George Howlett is a London-based musician, writer, and teacher (guitars, sitar, tabla, & santoor). Above all I seek to enthuse fellow sonic searchers, interconnecting fresh vibrations with the voices, cultures, and passions behind them. See Homepage for more, and hit me up for Lessons!

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