NAVDEEP SINGH 12204266

 GAMAK 

 The term gamaka itself means "Ornamented Note" in Sanskrit. Gamakas involve the variation of pitch of a note, using oscillations or glides between notes. On the other hand, it can be understood as any movement done on a note or in between two notes. It is used in the performance of North and South Indian Classical Music.  

               

Type of Gamak in Indian Music

There are two opinions on the number of gamakas (10 and 15). Some accept the no. as 10 and some 15. Some opine that the number comes to 15 due to the subdivisions within the 10 gamakas. The 10 gamakas are called Dhasavidha Gamakas.

Dhasavidha Gamakas -:

Aarohanam : singing the swaras in the akara brigas according to the aarohna krama of the raga.

Avarohanam : singing the swaras in the akara brigas according to the avarohana krama of the raga.

The aarohana, avarohana are generally referred to as brigas.
AROHANA : is a series of notes in the ascending order of pitch.
AVAROHANA : is the descending scale of notes of a raga.

Dalu : Starting from the base Shadja and basing on the raga bhava jumping to the higher notes. e.g., sm, sp, sr

Spuritham : Repeating the same swara wice. While doing so, the second time the swara is said with force. e.g., sasariri

Kampitham : Oscillating the same swara without mixing with its preceding or succeeding note.

Aahatham : Singing the swaras in the aarohana krama, giving the stress on alternate swaras.

Prathyahatham : Singing the swaras in the avarohana krama while stressing the alternate swaras.

Thripuchcham : The swara above will join the two swaras below in the same sruthi. e.g., risasa - gariri

Aandholam : Generally associated with combination of swaras which produce swinging movement. It involves jumping in a swinging manner. e.g., Sarisapapa Sarisamama Sarisagaga

Murchchana : For delineating the character of a raga the arohana, avarohana are successively delineated in a regular ascent from a swara through seven notes and a descent back to the starting note. e.g., Sarigamapadani Rigamapadanisa Nidapamagarisa

The 15 gamakas according to the other school of thought :

Thripam, Spuritham, Kampitham, Leenam, Aandholitham, Vali, Thribinnam, Kurulam, Aahatham, Ullaasitham, Plavitham, Hoompitham, Mudhritham, Naamitham, Misritham.

• Gamak in Carnatic Music are mentioned in various treatises and compositions including Arohana (ascending patterns), Avarohana (descending patterns), ahata & pratyahata.

•  "Why Gamak is most important factor in  Indian Classical Music?" 

"The gamaka has come to occupy a vital place in our system of music. It is not simply a device to make melodic music tolerable, and it is not its function merely to beautify music. It determines the character of each raga, and it is essential to note that the same variety of gamaka appears with different intensity in different ragas". The function of the same gamaka in different ragas varies subtly and establishes all the fine distinctions between kindred melodies by an insistence, which is delicate but withal emphatic, on the individuality of their constituent notes. The gamaka makes possible the employment of all the niceties in variation of the pitch of the notes used and is therefore of fundamental importance to our music. If the personality of any raga is to be understood it cannot be without appraising the values of the gamakas which constitute it.

Features of Gamaka

There is no equivalent of Gamaka in Euro-American music. Musical notes are so produced as to touch upon the lower as well as the upper adjacent notes by resorting to a vibratory mode of vocalizing. The reproduction of Gamaka is critical on most musical instruments as it is a specific vocal sound. It is produced by a very fast back-and-forth oscillation between lower and upper pitch, during which the diaphragm rhythmically contracts and relaxes. An alternative could be a trill or other ornaments that focuses around the centre pitch.

Gamaka in Different Musical Instruments

It is obvious that the vocal template most closely resembles with the sarangi part. The sarangi indeed "shadows" the voice, and since the Gamaka effect can be emulated fairly well on a sarangi, reproduction is not a problem at all. On the other hand, the harmonium player cannot alter the pitch of the sound that he is producing, after striking the key once. Therefore, it is not possible for him to inflect pitch, let alone step-lessly glide back and forth between two pitches. Instead, he employs appoggiaturas and quick returning notes in order to demarcate the narrow framework of the tonal spectrum that he is covering. By subdividing beats into rhythmic units that are interlocking with, the Sarangi's melodic line, he thickens the heterophony music texture and at the same time intertwines the harmonium's part with the remaining parts. In doing so, he in one aspect achieves an overall effect that is not too far from that of the vocal lines gamaka: rather than proposing a horizontal melodic line, he seems to produce a sound band, saturating the overall musical texture

• How to sing Gamak? you can see in this vedio. (Tap me)

Reference-:

Reference 1 -  Viswanathan T (1977). "The Analysis of Rāga Ālāpana in South Indian Music". Asian Music. 9 (1): 13–71. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamaka_(music)

Reference 2 - Powers, Harry S. (1958). "Mode and Raga". The Musical Quarterly. 44 (4): 448–460

Reference 3 -  https://www.indianetzone.com/60/gamaka_hindustani_music.htm

reference 4- https://www.indian-heritage.org/music/gamaka.htm

Reference 5 - Ragas of Carnatic music by N S Ramachandran, University of Madras, 1938, CHAPTER V. Gamakas and the Embellishment of Song, pp. 112-158

URL: https://archive.org/details/RagasOfCarnaticMusicByNSRamachandran