Music

WHERE THE MOUNTAINS ECHO

Published

8 years ago

August 19, 2016

fwd life Where the Mountains Echo main image

A journey to the silent landscapes of the north-east and discovering music that brings zen

As a music lover, and an avid traveller, I try to experience the musical aspects of the places I visit. Recently, I took a trip to the north and north-east parts of India, aiming to explore and engage in that region’s local melodies.

Monasteries of Ladakh

Have you heard of a singing bowl? I first heard them in the beautiful landscapes of Ladakh, where the winds whisper chilled secrets and the Zanskar river flows mellifluously through the Trans-Himalayas. Nature here is soft, incessant and capable of moving anyone to tears with their sweet symphonies. When in Ladakh, walk into any one of the Gompas or a Buddhist temple, to be mesmerised by the soft, stirring hum of the ‘Singing Bowl.’ The sound resonates across a dimly-lit room and will invoke a zen-like state of mind, with the mind merging with the resonance.

The monks, deep in meditation, is levitated by the resonance that the humming creates. The music was originating from the direction of two monks, who were sitting cross-legged, with their singing bowls – softly stirring a short rod around its rim, to make it sing. Getting a singing bowl to sing is an art. You require the knack to tap it just right on the rim, and then stir the originating sound rhythmically. The reverberations ensuing from the bowl mesmerises those who hear it, nudging them into a gentle meditative state with its hum. In high contrast to the singing bowls, is the Tibetan Horn, which is used by Gompa residents as a cry for prayer to gather the monk community. The horn’s powerful sounds reverberates across the vast silence of the mountainside.

The Wangala Festival of Meghalaya

fwd life where the mountains echo the wangala festival of meghalaya

As I made my way downstairs and across the fertile plains of India and crossed the north-eastern neck to Meghalaya, I was greeted with another distinct style of music – that of reed instruments and percussion drums dolling out rhythm in waves. I was in time to witness the Wangala Festival. It is a post-harvest winter festival, denoting the end of the farming season, celebrated by the Garo tribe, also a platform where Meghalaya’s music gets a boost. This annual gathering of tribes is hosted in Asananggre, near Tura. It awakens and energises the entire region, which also imparted much of that positivity into me. The days are filled with dance, music, and traditional games in which the locals wholeheartedly take part.

Festival of Native Instruments

The Garo tribals flock towards the locality, bringing along their ching rings, serenades, buffalo horns and flutes. The festivities are a treat to watch. The village chief, called as the Nokma, performs the day’s rituals with freshly-brewed beer, cooked rice and vegetables that are offered as an appeasement to the gods. The highlight of the festival is, of course, the music. The drums and flutes can put any orchestra to shame with their precision and melody, and they kick up a fabulous mood that even the spectators pick up on. The dancers, young and old, with their colourful attire, headgear (called do’me) and effortless moves sways to the beat of the instruments.

Charm of Buffallo Horns

What particularly stands out from among the festive music is the melody of the buffalo horns. The use of these instruments date back to ancient times, and their notes is enthralling putting listeners into a musical reverie. After the serenade of the horns, a contingent of 30 dancers with 10 drums performs a mesmerising routine, earning the festival a reputation as the ‘100 Drums Festival’. It is performed on the last day, with the tribals dressed in their traditional attire. Hornbill Festival of Nagaland .The north-east is a favoured destination of mine, especially during the winter months when the states are busy with cultural festivals that pay tribute to the land. Stepping out of the Wangala Festival reminds me of the famous Hornbill Festival of Nagaland.

Tribute To The Hornbill

The annual extravaganza happens in the first week of December in Kohima, Nagaland, and I make it a point to reach there a day in advance to catch the fever of festival eve. As is evident from the name, the festival pays tribute to the hornbill, a bird that enjoys spotlight in many of the tribal folklores in Nagaland. I make it a point to never miss the arrival of the Naga tribes, announcing it with war cries and warrior drums. I can feel the pulsating drum beats in my chest, with their rhythmic movements.

Unique in Variety

Each tribe has their own unique attire, distinguished by headgears, multicoloured and ceremonial dressing – which is fascinating! They each speak of their own stories and heroic lore that have been handed down through the generations. The vibrant colours, headgear and ivory armlets all lend a sense of mysticism to the festival that cannot be found anywhere else. Ancient Naga songs pervade over the whole atmosphere, blending the past with the present, enriching the onlookers with information passed on through mouth, from one generation to another.

Faraway Melodies

The mountains and the faraway regions like Meghalaya and Nagaland have their very own music emanating from nature. These soul-stirring melodies are to be experienced firsthand, to learn and absorb, rather than having to read about it. My search for the unknown has led me to these places, gifting me with music born from centuries of culture, music that I can cherish even in the farthest corners of the world.

Words by Satish V Photographs from Various Sources

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Checkout his music on Spotify and his latest single Story In A Nutshell.

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The Musical Journey of Adheef Muhamed

Published

3 years ago

August 27, 2021

Contributor

The 15-year-old boy, who won first in Urdu recitation at the 47th Kerala State Kalolsavam from Trivandrum, is now waiting for his upcoming Tamil movie track release, mesmerizing many.

Playback singer, Adheef Muhamed with his new release ‘Vidhooram’, found his passion at a very tender age through various school curricular programs like singing Mappila pattu and Urdu recitations. Later the baby steps he took as part of having fun during school days, turned to a passion driven career with his magical voice behind many songs mumbling on many lips.

Adheef came into limelight with his viral cover of ‘Mukkathe Penne’ which was released in the year 2014. The friendship bond between the friends and culmination of talents has made the cover happen along with the band ‘Elayappam’ featuring Nipin, Vishnu, Ebi, Sanu, Ramkumar. ‘Pazhamthamizh paattu’ was the first cover from the band, with an entirely different mood with Arabic arrangement. Their cover songs were more captivating to the audience during that time, and that paved the way for many other opportunities for them.

“During break times, we used to go to a nearby tea-shop to enjoy our tea break in between the jamming sessions along with discussions, and ‘Elayappam’ was the snack we all used to order unanimously which later became the name of our band. It was also a realization of how food and music were connected,” he said, reminiscing the initial days.

Adheef being the first person to suggest this name for the band had a genuine connection to the title, as it was closely knitted to their friendship and life.

His last independent work named ‘Goodman’ was an experimental track which was released before the pandemic as a visual treat. He gives the credit to the amazing crew which consisted of the lyricist Vinayak Sasikumar, DOP Venu Sasidharan Lekha and the wavelength they have in terms of unique output of the track.

Talking about his works he says “The future is all about independent music, which I knew right from the beginning, and I was always interested in collaborating with different talents and that’s how the beginning of my official YouTube channel happened. ‘Muthu Nava Ratnam’ is a song which is closely gelled with my family since it was the song my mother used to sing for me to sleep. And I always wanted to do a cover version of the song as it’s very much relatable to us”.

“I don’t compromise on video as I believe it’s an important element in every track of mine and I give 50-50 efforts to both audio and video. I strongly believe that the visual element was one of the main reasons the song has got its reach, although the song itself has its essence of magic no matter what the visual was.” he added.

‘Maraigirai’, a Tamil track released in the year 2019, is a familiar track with 12 million views in YouTube trending even now with a huge fan base. When asked about the success of the song Adheef says.

“For me success is the impact the songs have on people who listen to them. I happened to talk to a person who was a survivor in life, who told me once that ‘Maraigirai’ helped him throughout his healing process which made me happy, and I think responses like these are the true definition of success for me.”

He says, the places or people surrounding him were not into a professional music career and he is grateful to himself and to the evolving process along with the band, in trying out new things and this drive was the push for stepping onto the next opportunity.

“I never dreamed about becoming a playback singer and I’m very content with whatever I have right now and I’m grateful for all these opportunities I got, and the path I have come across.

I have seen both the phases of Malayalam cinema, where becoming a playback singer was a difficult opportunity, and the current scenario where many talents are finding opportunities in movies and they are growing through different digital platforms in the social media.”

Adheef has sung in many different languages. “The pulse of Malayali audiences are different from other industries in terms of acceptance” he remarks.

The fast phase of the growing Malayalam music industry with upcoming talents can be seen everyday with many drastic changes. As time goes by, I think there might not be typical song sequences in the Malayalam movies. As a drift comes in the making of the movie the growth of independent music can also be seen evidently” he says.

Sharing about ‘Vidhooram’ and its happiness

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A post shared by Adheef Muhamed (@adheef_muhamed)

“This is the first time I’m approaching something like this track which is very much ambient, and I’m experimenting with a low base tone in my singing. I’m getting many positive responses for this track” he said while talking about his recently released Independent track ‘Vidhooram’ by Ryan Biju Sam and mixed by Abin Paul.

Out of the box thinking and understanding the pulse of the audience is what makes Adheef Muhamed different, and drives him to go ahead with his passion.

Check out his new Tamil track from the movie ‘Lift’ named ‘Hey Bro’ starring Kavin and Amrita Iyer, Music by Britto Micheal.