In this clip I sing a Hindustani-style vocal alap in Rag Marwa, accompanying myself on tanpura. Marwa is a difficult raga to sing as phrases often avoid sa (the home note) and seem to establish dha or re as an alternate tonic. When the true sa is finally heard, the experience is more of a surprise than a comforting return home. In the recording here I’m attempting to sing with the specific intonation I learned from my teacher. The tanpura sometimes takes me an hour to really get in tune, as does the voice, and the raga should be sung at dusk, so it’s taken me many evenings of practice to get a usable recording. This one is far from perfect but it felt good to make and I hope you enjoy listening.
[audio mp3=“http://rudiseitz1.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/marwamay4-2014-1.mp3"][/audio] ■