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Recently, I spent time studying Carnatic music in Southern India.Upon returning to New York, I was eager to apply the Carnaticprinciples I had been taught to the drumset. In this article, I willfocus specifically on how to apply a Korvai by Tanjavur Vaidya-

natha Iyer to the drumset. “Korvai” is a amil word used in South IndianCarnatic music to designate a pattern or composition that is usuallyplayed three times. I initially learned this Korvai from Jamie Haddad, butI had the opportunity to study it further in Chennai with Ganesh Kumarand Erode Nagaraj.  Tis composition was originally composed for mridangam (a double-sided drum constructed from jackfruit with goatskin heads) and was written in quintuplets. However, it is somewhat more accessible when ap-

proached as sixteenth notes—and this is the way in which Jamie Haddadinitially taught it.

 raditional Carnatic notation would look as follows:

 Tom – ta – thom – – ta de ge na thom ta – thom – – ta de ge_______ _________ ___________ ________ ________

na thom thom – – ta de ge na thom ta de ge na thom ta de ge na thom_____________ _______ ___________ ___________ ______

  Each underlined group of four syllables or rests represents a beat, andeach syllable or rest, which is notated as a dash, represents a sixteenthnote. Terefore, in Western terms, the Korvai is two measures of 5/4.

 Western notation would look as follows:

  Tere is another way of thinking about the Korvai learning process. Tis would be to view the Korvai as a reduction. With this approach, one would play the main theme, which is three beats long, and then repeat

the theme but remove the first eighth note each time it is repeated. Tisprogression is best illustrated when the Korvai is written as follows:

  Tom – ta – thom – – ta de ge na thomta – thom – – ta de ge na thom

  thom – – ta de ge na thom  ta de ge na thom  ta de ge na thom

  When applying this Korvai to the drumset, I have orchestrated it tomimic the sounds of the mridangam. All of the “dums” are played by thebass drum. Te “teks” are played by the snare drum. Tis orchestration isa good starting point, as it provides one of the most approachable bases

Applying Carnatic Rhythmic

Principles to the DrumsetBy John Hadfield

 with which to assimilate and memorize the Korvai. Furthermore, onceone has committed the Korvai to memory, one can recite it internallyand begin to improvise variations. Below are a few examples written ina straight-eight feel, starting from the simplest and gradually gaining incomplexity.

One could also adopt a jazz approach in thinking about the Korvai.

By playing the Korvai half as fast with eighth notes instead of sixteenthnotes, one can create an interesting accompaniment. Tis developmentmeans that the Korvai will be played over four bars of 5/4.

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  One could also play the same material in 4/4 with a jazz approach.

  Because we are dealing with musical phrases that are five measureslong, another option would be to play three measures of time and thenone of the previous musical phrases. Tis interpretation makes it possibleto use the Korvai in eight-bar phrases and would look as follows:

  In order to obtain sounds and timbres associated with world percussionon the drumset one may employ implements other than sticks. A promis-ing approach might be to use a rute in the right hand, a soft yarn malletin the left hand, and tie ankle bells around the left leg as a substitute forthe hi-hat. Another option would be to use the previously mentionedimplements while substituting a large opera gong for the snare drum andusing small Chinese cymbals rather than hi-hat or ankle bells. Tese twoproposals are only suggestions, of course, which could be expanded andsubject to numerous variations, the possible combinations and re-combi-

nations being virtually endless.

 John Hadfield’s dedication to bending genres has taken him from the jungles of Indonesia to concert halls and clubs across the world. Tis di- versity has allowed him to perform with a broad variety of ensembles in-cluding Yo Yo Ma’s Silk Road ensemble, the Saturday Night Live  band onNBC, Bang on a Can, the Michael Gordon Band, the rock bands Aman-dla and Dead Heart Bloom, Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars, ComboNuvo, MAYA, Phil Kline, Te Bassam Saba Ensemble, Ethos Percus-sion Group, and Gamelan Dharma Swara. While performing with jazzgroups John has worked alongside Kenny Werner, Lenny Pickett, GeorgeGarzone, Gil Goldstein, Andrew D’Angelo, Bobby Watson, DominiqueEade, Ben Monder, Satoshi akeshi, Brad Shepik, Mike Richmond, andErik Friedlander. John lives in New York City and is on the jazz faculty

of New York University. PN