Thanks so much! Nothing to apologize for. The program is called ‘Chronotron’. I think it’s still only available on Windows though. I’ve also used Ableton, Amazing Slow Downer, Audacity, and even VLC has some features to help with studying. If you meant for the actual video though, I used OBS to stream to Zoom when I was teaching this class. I used the recording from OBS to edit for KZfaq. I hope that answers your question 🙏🏼

@@_manikkhan Many thanks! Just tried it and indeed it is a great program. (I'm in Europe and hence on Windows, so it's just the best for me). Eagerly waiting for your guided listening episode on Pt.Ravi Shankar, I'm his only European disciple having been learnt 32 years with him, so I'd be truly interested.

Hey there! Ahh, I’m sorry that I’ve been MIA on the video uploads. There is this one recording of Kirwani of my baba’s that I love dearly, and have been thinking to go over it again. I’m adding it to the list 🙌🏼

Thanks so much for letting me know. I had plans to release more within a couple weeks of this video, but somehow it’s been over a month. I had some more ideas about this particular recording I wanted to explore, mainly breaking down one of the taans. We have our big annual concert celebration of my dad this Saturday. After that, I’ll start recording again. Thanks for the support!

That’s incredibly kind of you to say! I really appreciate this 🙏🏼 More are coming - albeit slower than I had planned.

Hey hey, I’m using one called ‘Chronotron’. I love it because of their looping function and tempo adjustment for videos. The caveat is that it’s Windows only at the moment. I’m usually tuned to C, so often I pitch the recordings to that, but for this one I just tuned to C# to match Nikhil ji. For audio only, I also have ‘Amazing Slow Downer’ which I use on my phone pretty much every day for looping tanpura recordings. I’m pretty sure I could do this all in Ableton or another DAW too, but this is basically plug in and play, you know? Hopefully that helps 🙌🏼

You’re so welcome! I’m glad there are others who it resonated with. So many ways of going about listening. I’m switching up the class to focus on individual lines and deconstructing them for the next number of weeks. Hopefully they can be turned into videos for KZfaq. Let’s see. Thanks for letting me know 🌸

Yes! That was how we were introduced. Sweet family connections, since my father had performed with Thirakwa khansahib 🙏🏼

My baba would often tell us to “be like my shadow” when we were sitting and learning alap - following him note after note, line after line. I feel like that 100 times could easily become 1000, or 10000+ times 😮‍💨 Thanks for sharing this!

Seriously beautiful, right? It is pretty amazing that of that generation of sitar players, we have such distinct styles between them. We are truly lucky! And, it just goes to show the depth of the individuals within the oceans of this music. I really appreciate the support!

Thank you very much for listening/watching, and taking the time to share that 🙏🏼

From all the stories I heard from my baba, many of these great masters had an amazing sense of humour. I can’t remember if I mentioned it in this video, but in some of these I talk about how for us, it is this pivotal recording/concert, but for them it may have been like concert #1036. We potentially put so much weight on their every moment and choice, and they may have simply been experimenting or allowing the creative connection to lead somewhere else for that one evening of hundreds like it. There is a Jog recording I just went over of my dad’s from like the 90’s in France - it’s on KZfaq. The alap is Jog, but the gat is in a “different type of Jog” with Shuddh Dha. Fortunately baba mentions this before the concert. But like, if you just heard that with the Dha, it would have been like “what is happening?”! Anyway, this was much longer than I meant it to be, haha. Thanks for sharing this and for the support!

@@_manikkhan :) Thanks for replying as well.

Ahh, definitely. I think it may be in the Malkauns video, but baba had this really nice explanation about how the vadi is king/queen, and the samvadi is the minister. However, each kingdom is different where in some the king is old and not really listened to - the ministers ruling over everything. Or, there may be a council of elders deciding things, etc. He said these kind of characteristics were newer in the approach to understanding ragas within an organized system, and that the old style of learning didn’t focus on it as much. Definitely a shared sentiment! Thanks for taking the time to write this out 🌸

Thanks so much for the support! You’re welcome, of course. That’s a great question. There seemed to be a general tuning of those sympathetic strings that baba followed. From lowest to highest: [D S R g G m M P D n N S R G m] That’s a low D at the beginning up to high S R G m at the end. Then, depending on the raga, we would switch certain notes. So, in Bhairavi for example: [d S r g G m M P d n N S r g m] Baba definitely experimented with other tunings throughout his life, but I haven’t tried necessarily to figure them out each time. Chandranandan recordings sometimes I feel like have different tunings in those strings. Now, his jawari changed a lot! Like Jog maybe using: [n g G S] instead of the general [N R G S]. I hope this helps answer the question. I’m going stream o’ consciousness at the moment. Let me know if that doesn’t make sense. All the best 🙌🏼

Thanks for taking the time to share this. I really appreciate the feedback here. That is great to know!

You know, that’s an interesting point. I never learned that gat, and it also stuck out to me when he played it. I do not know if he composed it, or heard it somewhere else, or learned it from dadu. It definitely has a different swing to it. I ran out of time in the class for that part of the concert, but I would have liked to have gone over that too.

@@_manikkhanBhai It is an amalgamation of Ustad Enayat Khan and Ustad Mushtak Ali Khan Sahab. As I, had the rare opportunity to learn both the bandish from two different masters of Yesteryears Respectively Acharya Kashinath Mukherjee and Netai Bose

Ayyy, the algorithm seems to be doing its thing, so that is a major positive. I really appreciate you taking the time to share all of this. On the soul side, my dad would talk about this being “food for the soul”. We don’t question that we need to eat. So, you just tapped into the intuitive side. Beautiful! With all that is available to us, we have like a never ending feast available. I’m still not that fast with editing these videos. I’ve had concerts these past weeks, but I want to have another video out either next week or possibly the week after. Anyway, thanks for the support. If you have particular questions, please feel free to let me know. I can look at including the concepts in future classes/videos 🙏🏼

That was part of the hope, so I’m glad it came across this way to you too. This was very much the kind of thing I wanted to be able to explore when I was younger. The goal was to help others practice the tools for their own listening for whatever recordings they’re going through - tips, techniques, pitfalls/traps, etc. I really appreciate the support 🙏🏼

@@_manikkhan Your father was such a genius, he could tell the whole story with his very first note keeping the listener mesmerized till the end. He had a quality and depth to his music that is very rare to find these days.

Oh no! Wait! Steven ji, is the account I linked in the description a different Steven B? That’s not you??? That’s crazy… I’m going to pin your comment, so others can hopefully see what you wrote and support your hard work. Thanks so much for helping this recording come to light. It is fantastic! This one is incredibly special, so 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

Ahh.. I knew it was you Steven... who else could it be! Once again heartfelt thanks, maybe this is the alaap I want to hear before breathing my last in this life.

Ahh, thanks so much! Yah, this recording is 👌🏼 (*chef’s kiss). Advanced enough or no, at least the listening side can help with what kinds of things to practice, and what we can aspire towards. I reeeeeally love Nikhil ji’s taans in this one, and I want to sit with one of them for another video - breaking it down, and looking at how we can practice it in parts, and apply it to our own playing and possibly other ragas. This recording has so much to study and learn from - and just straight up soak in. The kind words and support are super appreciated. That’s really helpful feedback for the vibe of what you’re enjoying. Much love 🙏🏼

That’s really helpful to know. Thanks for sharing that! You’re welcome, of course 🙏🏼

That’s super helpful to know! I would really like to get into a two-week per video timeline. I’m working on getting faster at editing, but let’s see. I absolutely appreciate the feedback. Thank you! 🙏🏼

Greetings!!! Belatedly though… Thanks for taking the time to write on here. It’s much much appreciated 🙌🏼

Thanks so much, bhai! Cheers 🙌🏼

You’re most welcome! Thanks a lot for watching, and sharing that feedback. Please just call me bhai, haha 🙏🏼

Wah! That’s super supportive, bhai. I’m just stoked that these are resonating for others like they do for me. It feels like a sweet way to extend what my dadu and baba sought - the continual spreading of this music to everyone, yah? Anyway, your words mean a lot, so thank you for the support.

Ji, I’m actually heading your way for a ‘Terrace Concert’ event on June 23rd. It’s an afternoon program - I think like 1-6 pm. I’ll have more details soon, but something to keep in mind. I should be out there in a few months. Would love to hear more 🙏🏼

Haha 😂

Right? He is incredibly special. Blows my mind every time that we can just sit and listen to pure magic at will. Thanks very much for the support, bhai 🙏🏼

@@_manikkhan 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼 pranam

🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

Wah! Exactly. This was the main reason for starting these classes. I sit and study the recordings like this anyway, yet it is something I always wanted when I was growing up - examples of how to study the recordings and avoid the traps/pitfalls as a student. Are you finished with your study of raga music? Genuinely curious! Any favorite recordings?

Namaskar 🙏🏼

Thanks so much, bhai! I really appreciate it, of course. I’m glad it’s coming through nicely. So much information to try and process - let alone go over. I mean, at the end of the day, it’s Nikhil ji, so it’s just super enjoyable to explore his performances no matter what.

Haha, we all must embrace being a noob at some point. I love it. I mean, my baba never stopped learning, so I suppose it’s all a spectrum anyway. I may start recording these outside of the classes. I haven’t done afternoon ragas in a long time, since the class is in the evenings. It’s one of my favorites, so that would be sweet. Thanks for the support, bhai 🙌🏼

You are most welcome! I mean, there are way too many things to talk about with Amir Khansahib. Piece by piece 🙏🏼

I really appreciate it! Thanks so much for the support. We are all in this together, right?

Cheers! It’s definitely an important process. Baba, my older brothers, etc - everyone kept repeating throughout my life to listen and study these recordings. It was essential to my development, absolutely. One goal with these was to make available the kinds of resources I wished I had more of when I was younger - how to help focus the study, listening together.