00:00 India: Sanai Gath (Raga Kaphi): The Indian instrument  most familiar to Americans is probably the sitar, a  large string instrument with movable frets. However,  there are many other sounds associated with  traditional Indian music. In this case, drumming  sounds which accompany most melodic instruments is  heard. The two drums used here are the tabla and the  baya. Drumming patterns in India are based on very  sophisticated rhythmic cycles called talas. A tala  varies in complexity from two or three notes to very  long patterns. The melodic instrument is the sanai, a  double-reed snake-charmer's pipe. Notice the sliding  effects between pitches. The notes for this melody  come from a traditional melodic pattern called a  raga. There are hundreds of different ragas on which  to base a performance. The time of day, and day of  the week and year, often govern which raga is to be  used. The octave in Indian music is divided into  twenty-two notes. Each raga is a scale of pitches  selected from this microtonal series. The chosen raga  and tala are used to build long and complicated  improvisations. Notice the drone which adds harmonic  support to the flowing melody of the sanai.
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