Biography - Sreevatsa:

-> Shanmukha Sreevatsa is a final year undergraduate student from KL University Hyderabad, majoring in Electronics and Communication Engineering. -> He is currently working as a Research Assistant at the International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad, and is working on Historical Document Image Analysis. -> He is a violinist, trained in South Indian Classical (Carnatic) music for the last 15 years under Shri Ashok Gurjale. -> He is a National Scholarship holder from CCRT, Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India. He has pursued his Certificate-level and Diploma courses in Carnatic violin from Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University with distinction grades. He has participated in several National-level music competitions | to highlight a few: secured first prize in Baalotsav - National-level Music Competitions (Kothagudem) for 4 years | first and third prizes in Navya Nataka Samiti (Hyderabad) for 3 years. -> He has performed over 100+ live concerts all over India. To highlight a few: Naadaneerajanam, Tirupati | International Children’s Fim Festival, Hyderabad | World Steel Conference, New Delhi -> He loves experimenting with Carnatic music with other genres and styles of music and has also been a part of several independent music albums and short films.

Biography - Suswara:

-> Suswara Pochampally is a high school student pursuing Senior Secondary education through the National Institute of Open Schooling. -> She is undergoing vocal training in Carnatic music from her mother Dr. T. K. Saroja and Hindustani music from Satish Kashikar ji. -> She holds a certificate in Carnatic music. -> She is also learning tabla from Uday Kumar Nari, and has finished certificate equivalent course in it. -> She is interested in exploring multiple genres of music and performing them.

Authors: Violin: Sreevatsa# Ukulele & Vocals: Suswara#

DISCLAIMER: #Equal contribution

The Carnatic raga Sankarabharanam and the major scales of Western music share same note variety. We have considered Cmaj as the base scale. The charanam line (Neerajakshi Nee Pai) from the Varnam ‘Saami Ninne Kori’ in Sankarabharanam is the reference line and is sung after each song for scale reference. The three modes Mixolydian, Aeolian and Dorian of the major scale are chosen, and parts of the western songs based on these modes are taken up for performance. The modes above correspond to the Carnatic ragas Harikambhoji, Narabhairavi and Kharaharapriya respectively.

In Carnatic music, the aforementioned ragas are the outcomes of grahabhedam applied on Sankarabharanam notes with Panchama, Dhaivata and Rishabha as graha swara (tonic note) respectively. The main task in this experiment is to present a different version of the chosen songs by converting their notation to Sankarabharanam and applying gamakas of the same to it. This is clearly presented on violin where the gamaka rendition is presented first with Cmaj chords on the Ukulele, followed by the original western song by the vocalist with chords of that mode on the Ukulele.

The first song in Mixolydian (Harikambhoji) mode, ‘Sweet child of mine’ is shown in the Sankarabharanam perspective using grahabheda by considering Panchama of Sankarabharanam as the graha swara. The other two songs ‘Counting Stars’ (Aeolian), and ‘Boulevard of broken dreams’ (Dorian) are also presented in the same way by considering Dhaivatha and Rishabha of Sankarabharanam as the graha swaras. The corresponding swara of Sankarabharanam is played on the violin, and colors and visual prompts have been used to represent the change in raga and demonstrate the Grahabedha concept.

It is the play of Gamaka and Grahabheda that blends and differentiates Carnatic and Western styles of music.