S-R-G-m-P-d-n-S

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A barely-documented morning raga created by Ali Akbar Khan sometime around the 1970s – named in honour of his mother (‘Malaya’) and father (‘Alam’: also the name of Khan’s son, born in 1982) [n.b. the Tamil-derived Dravidian language family of the same title is of a separate etymology, derived from ‘mala+alam’: ‘the land near the mountains’]. Prakriti with Charukeshi in its basic form (compare and contrast with Khan’s renditions of this raga), Malayalam also draws from Megh, Asavari, Tilang, and Kukubh Bilawal – with a relatively sparse melodic character predominantly focused on exploring the mid-scale GmPd space. Thus far, I can’t trace any recordings aside from the 1977 album by its creator, and a scratchy but powerful rendition from an Alauddin Khan memorial concert held circa 1986 (as ‘Malayalam Smurti‘). Compare to other Khansaab ragas including Chandranandan, Gaurimanjari, Prabhakali, Medhavi, and Suha Todi.

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राग मलयालम

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—Ali Akbar Khan (1977)—

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[refrain, e.g. 20:15] G G, n\dPmP, (G)m, (mPG)m, G, GG G\R, S n\d…

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• Classifiers •

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

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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

Thaat: 10 | 32 | Enclosed | Inexact

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

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

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Aroha: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

Avroh: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

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

Samay: Morning | Aftern. | Eve. | Night

Construction: Jod | Mishra | Oddball

Origin: Ancient | Carnatic | Modern

Dominance: Poorvang | Uttarang

Prevalence: A-list | Prachalit | Aprach.

• Prakriti: Thaat #27, Charukeshi, Charukauns, Gunakauns

–Proximate Forms–

Khamaj = ‘Malayalam shuddha Dha‘

Nat Bhairav = ‘Malayalam shuddha Ni‘

Darbari = ‘Malayalam komal ga‘

Basant Mukhari = ‘Malayalam komal re‘

Gangeshwari = ‘Malayalam no Re‘

Imratkauns = ‘Malayalam no Pa‘

Zeelaf = ‘Malayalam no Re/ni‘

(n.b. these are just ‘scalar similarities’, with nothing particular implied about phraseological overlap)

–Swara Geometries–

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• Core form: S–R–G–m–P–d–n–S

• Reverse: SRGmPdnS (=itself)

• Complement: SrgMDNS

• Imperfect: 3 (Re, Ga, dha)

• Detached: 2 (Ga, dha)

• Symmetries: mirror (S—M)

• Murchanas: Charukeshi set

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• Quirks: ‘palindromic‘ (same intervals forwards & backwards) • ‘maximal‘ (swaras are optimally ‘spread out’)

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–Global Translations–

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• Carnatic: Charukeshi (mela #26)

S-R₂-G₃-M₁-P-D₁-N₂-S

• Jazz: Major-Minor

1-2-3-4-5-b6-b7-8

• Pitch classes (‘fret-jumps’):

0-2-4-5-7-8-10-0

(2–2–1–2–1–2–2)

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o • o • o o • o o • o • o

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• Tanpura: Sa–Pa (+Ga)

• Names: Malayalam, Malayalama

• Transliterations: Hindi (मलयालम)

—Ali Akbar Khan (1977)—