Click here for Carnatic Flute and Tabla performance on You Tube
The audio is controlled by the buttons above. Press pause before playing videos. News
Group Course
There will be a new group class starting in March. The course will be designed to fit the needs of those who are attending. Register your interest asap so that a venue and schedule can be organised according to numbers.
Cost will be £75 for 6 weeks (reduced from £90). Each week there will be a one hour session at a fixed time. I will choose the time which fits everyone's convenience (if possible.)
The course will be a gentle introduction for beginners and will cover subjects such as:
-How to play basic strokes
-How to build phrases
-How to use the tabla language to learn composition
-Tuning and care of the instrument
-Playing of compositions (kaida)
-Concepts of the rhythm cycle (taal)
-Methods of practice
For more of an idea about the teacher please visit this page
I have lots of sets of tabla so don't worry about not having your own.
(I expect I will even have some for sale at rather reasonable prices too.)
Please tell me more about this class (opens email )
Performance
Tabla and Flute Performance booked at The Happy Cell, Hove for Sunday March 18th
Please come along.. details and tickets here.
It's a great place to relax and enjoy some South Indian melody meeting some North Indian rhythms for a cup of chai. or something.
(end of news)
What is mnm.co.in?
The Indian tabla outside of the Indian subcontinent is undeniably a niche interest and one which I have been enjoying since 1999. My journey into learning the art of tabla playing began back then and continues as a daily aspect of my life. I teach the subject at beginner/intermediate level in Brighton, UK and spend a portion of the year studying and practising in India.
Hoping to share information and expertise in this field I decided to make this site. I hope that this will work as a useful resource for others interested in the subject and will also help me to find musicians wanting to work with tabla!
If you are interested in starting to learn tabla please click the lessons link on the left.
I have recently met a great flute player, Lucy Hudson, with whom I've started working on a mostly Carnatic set for performance. I've studied only Hindustani music so this is a departure for me. Luckily we work well together and it has been really inspiring to work out a set together. The sound we have created is really a fusion of North and South Indian elements with our own original recipe. It's fun and sounds fresh... hoping to find somewhere to play out regularly. Our first performance was at the Brunswick Festival in Hove 2011. There is the You Tube video from this below.
Whilst in India, I play in a duo with a singer/song writer/guitarist named Junkerry and I produce her stuff and my own
You can hear samples of tracks I've recorded recently and not so recently through the player above right. You need to pause it whilst watching videos of course.
There are some useful links to tabla related resources here
January 2012
Lucy and I are still trying to find an ideal venue for small performances in the Brighton / Shoreham area. If you know of one we'd be very happy to hear about it.
September 2011
Just added the Brunswick Festival video from August 2011
September 2010 - putting the mic on the inside
Headless Bayan Shot
I've finally got round to trying the old 'mic-inside-the tabla' idea and I think it's going to work out a treat. I'll post much more in detail soon. In brief though, I fitted an AKG C418 condenser mic inside the bayan and it gives a strong low-mid tone with loads of resonance and a little bit of 'metallic ringing' which can of course be tweaked out of the signal. Great for gigs where mic-ing in the usual way presents too many problems.
LESSONS
For information on one to one or group tabla lessons please mail me at
Version 2 of Marc's Learning Tabla for Beginners Cd-Rom / Dvd is now available. You can get it direct from me or you can buy it at earthvibemusic.com. If you want to get it from me for just £12.50 please mail for details.
A free copy will be included in future tabla courses
More information on this product here
This site is an outlet for creative communication in the sphere of any music but I'm particularly interested in Indian folk and classical music. I'm really interested in anyone with a vision to perform the real thing or a form of fusion. I'm always looking for musicians to play with or record with. I'm based in Brighton UK now but I tend to spend a lot of time in India too.
It would be good to use this space to discuss ideas about practice, technique and all things baffling in the world of indian classical music as I'm sure anyone delving into this subject must experience the same problems. I'd like to pool some inspiring contributions here too. Click for forums.
To contact me, mail me through marc@mnm.co.in.
Cheers
