Gat Vs Bandish

(Punyswar, 2011: A publication of Lalit Kala Kendra, University of Pune)

{Notation: I have used S, R, G, M, P, D, N for Saa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Da, Ni respectively; I have used *, ^ with the notes in the Mandra (lower) and Taar (upper) octaves respectively [no sign for the Maddhya (middle) octave]; I have used ' with the Komal Swaras (Shuddha Swaras
have no sign).}

First of all, let me confess that I am not good at English though I am presenting my thoughts in English. Another point is I am not going
to talk only about the instrumental music though this session is under the title 'Bandish in Instrumental Music'. I am not claiming that the thoughts presented by me are original; and, I will not call this a research paper.

Now, coming to the subject - I am not going to define the words Gat and Bandish; also, I am not going to tell you my definitions of Gatkaaree / Tant Anga / Gaaykee Anga / Dhrupad style / instrumental style, etc. (Actually, I think, we can explore much more areas of music if we do not take the stamp of a particular style / Anga.) There will be a sort of comparison between Gat and Bandish regarding their structure and their exploration in the performance. (At many places, it becomes a comparison between Gatkaaree and Gaaykee; at many places, it becomes a comparison between vocal chords and instruments.)

I will not talk about the common characteristics / features / qualities of compositions in general that we expect or that we come across; I will not talk about the similarities between Gat and Bandish; I will talk mainly about the differences.

Gat is necessarily a composition without words / without poem. [While saying this, I am not including Taraanaa under the title Gat.] It is to be played on the instruments and it is not meant for singing [sometimes, we take the help of singing while teaching a Gat]. Of course, sometimes, there is a possibility that one can convert it in the Sargam or Taraanaa etc. and then use it for the vocal performance (of course,
it will depend on the potentials and limitations of the vocal chords under consideration).

The word Bandish can be used in two ways, (1) a composition in general and, (2) a composition for vocal music having meaningful (or meaningless) words. Gat can be included under the title Bandish according to the first meaning; but, here, I am using the word Bandish as in (2). A Bandish can also be played on the instruments; sometimes, a particular Bandish can be inconvenient to play on a particular
instrument (it depends on the potentials and limitations of the instrument under consideration; it depends on some other factors also). For example, in general, when many consecutive syllables of a Bandish use the same note, it may sound uninteresting on the instrument.

Normally, a Gat is expected to be such that 'it can be played' like Lehraa when the rhythm accompanist is given (or he takes) a chance to show his talent; that is to say that, 'the first line' of a Gat (that can be of the length of either one cycle or many cycles of the rhythm) should be such that one can 'keep it' with any kind of exploration done by the rhythm accompanist. All the compositions in the Dhrupad style and
many Bandishes in the Khayaal style also have this quality. Of course, a Gat need not be as 'basic' as Lehraa (Lehraa should be according to the Taal structure, but, a Gat need not be like that). When the 'length of the first line of a Gat' is more than one cycle (say n number of cycles), the accompanying Tablaa player has to 'come on the first beat' after an integral multiple of n cycles when the main artist gives
him a chance to play with the 'Lehraa of the first line'.

I have observed one so called 'big' instrumentalist who is obstinate about playing Gaaykee Anga (or who has excessive faith in Gaaykee Anga) giving a demonstration of a line of a Gat that is totally rigid, without any grace notes, without any Meend; such type of a demonstration is certainly misleading. The same artist plays fast Zaalaa at the end of the so called Taraanaa which contains patterns like SPS^P,
N'*M'N'M', P*SPS, etc. that can not be a part of Gaaykee Anga (and this artist does not accept that it is a Zaalaa); the same artist while playing the Bandish (not the Gat) [or even while playing a Bhajan] cuts the phrases or cuts in between the syllables of a word in a very crazy / queer manner that can not be a part of Gaaykee Anga [I am talking about the extreme use of what is called as Kaakoo (volume
variation)]; the point is that, there is an inconsistency in the thoughts of that artist and the logic of that artist is very weak. I do not want to mention the name of that artist because the criticism that I am doing is not personal.

The next point is regarding the suitable range of the speed of the accompanying Taal / Thekaa. Many instruments have a capacity to 'go' faster than the vocal chords. Naturally, the Gatkaaree / instrumental style have their dimensions in the very fast tempo also. (Zaalaa on the instruments and the compositions in the very fast tempo are some of them.) Of course, when one plays a Bandish (on an instrument) an
exploration can go faster than the exploration of that Bandish in the vocal performance. On the other hand, many instruments are not suitable to play in the very slow tempo; so, we rarely come across the instrumentalists playing Gat or Bandish in Ati-Vilambit Lay (very slow tempo). We always observe that the Sitaar / Sarod players playing with the Gaaykee Anga do not play Ati-Vilambit Khayaals (Khayaals in very
slow tempo).

The capacity of many instruments to 'go' faster than the vocal chords implies one more important aspect in the exploration of a Gat / Bandish on such instruments; most of the instruments can divide a beat / Maatraa of the rhythm into more number of sub beats as compared to vocal chords. Naturally, the Gatkaaree contains more intricate Laykaaree of divisions. The capacity of the instruments to produce
accents more frequently (as compared to the vocal chords) also contributes to this kind of Laykaaree.

One can get more designs concerned with the divisions of the beats / Maatraas / Taal. One of the implications of these factors is more freedom / weightage given to the accompanying rhythm instrument that is capable of 'giving Jawaab (answer)' to all those things. It creates a different kind of competition in the Gatkaaree (of course, the competition should be healthy).

Many instruments can use the range of octaves more 'freely' than that of the vocal chords. This factor can add a different flavor to the Gatkaaree. Now, let us think about the lengths of the musical statements / lengths of the phrases / lengths of the pauses (gaps) / Dam Sans. In the case of vocal music, the logic regarding all these factors depends (partially) on the breathing; in the case of the instruments, it depends on the other factors. [Sitaar / Sarod / Santoor have 'practically infinite' Dam Sans though one has to give the strokes very frequently; Harmonium, Saarangee, Violin have 'practically infinite' Dam Sans; Dam Sans of Bansuree is approximately equivalent to that of vocal chords.] These things definitely contribute towards the structure of the compositions. The structure of a Bandish is so adjusted that the gaps at suitable places are there for breathing; that kind of thinking need not be there while composing a Gat. [As an extreme case, a Gat on an instrument can be 'breathless'.] If a Bandish contains a lengthy phrase without any accents in between, then it is not possible
to follow exactly the same phrase on the 'stroke instrument' (because one will have to give the strokes in between the phrase).

Now let us think about catching the Mukhdaa after an exploration (after Vistaar / Aalaap / Taan).

In the instrumental music, many times, it sounds good if the ending note of the exploration and the starting note of the Mukhdaa are different; also, in such a case, it is easier for the listeners to understand that an artist has properly come to the Mukhdaa. It need not be so in the case of vocal music; here, the two notes under consideration will appear in different forms; the first one as an end of the exploration, and, the second one with the first letter in the poem used for the Bandish. I am not laying down any hard and fast rules; I am just talking about the conveniences.

The manners of playing with the Mukhdaa (or parts) of a Gat can be different from those of a Bandish in a vocal performance. For example: In the vocal performance, even if a vocalist changes (occasionally) the notation / length of the Mukhdaa, the listener still feels that the vocalist is catching the Mukhdaa (because of the words in the Bandish); in the instrumental performance, if the player changes the notation of the Mukhdaa, the listener does not feel that he is catching the Mukhdaa.

In the vocal performance, a vocalist can occasionally use a part of the Mukhdaa as a Mukhdaa; but, there are some limitations while doing this (because of the words in the Bandish) (one can not use a partial word). On the other hand, while playing a Gat, an instrumentalist has a lot of freedom to do so (as compared to that in the Bandish singing) because there are no words.

In some situations, the words are advantageous in Bandish singing; For example: same words can be pronounced in many ways to generate a variety of flavors in the rendering; or, an exploration without words can sound different from the 'same' exploration with words, and, both of them can sound different from the 'same' exploration with notation / Sargam. The disadvantage of the words is that, one has to take
care of the words / one can not or should not break the words / one should use at least meaningful portions of the Bandish while exploring Bol-Aalaaps or Bol-Taans; and, that is difficult in some situations.

On the other hand, the absence of words gives lots of freedom in the exploration of a Gat. Sometimes, one can think of some words with a Gat / one can plant some words on a Gat (of course in the mind) temporarily and explore with the help of that. One can play an unknown Bandish on the instrument (that is known to the player only) and treat it in any manner. As far as composing the Gats or Bandishes is concerned, I feel that, to compose a Gat is easier than to compose a Bandish with words. I suppose, I need not explain this.

Now, the last point that I am going to talk about is concerned with the Raag Bhaav and Kaavya Bhaav / Raag Rasa and Kaavya Rasa - According to my opinion, the poem is not an integral part of the Raag Sangeet; the poem-composition is not necessary for the existence of a Raag; the poem is an external / complementary factor that we attach to the 'music'. Any particular Raag can create infinite types of feelings / Bhaav / Rasa. Different Raagas create 'different' feelings / Bhaav / Rasa; of course, any two particular Raagas can have some common feelings; they can have a non empty intersection as far as the feelings are considered. A major part of those feelings is abstract; one can not name it or explain it in the words; one can not define it. Actually, any particular Raag is very much beyond the so called Rasa (one
of the nine Rasas - Shringaar Rasa, Veera Rasa, etc.) attached to it. I am using the term 'Raag Bhaav (or the Rasa) of so and so Raag' for the 'full' spectrum of the feelings that can emerge from that Raag (the subsets of this 'full' spectrum of the feelings regarding any particular Raag can have names and concrete meanings). [To attach one of the nine Rasas to any particular Raag is a very mediocre idea. I
suppose the canvas of the Rasas / feelings is infinite and it should not be / can not be divided into the finite number of compartments.] The Rasa or the Bhaav attached to any particular Raag is not a hard and fast component (it can not be a part of the 'definition' of that Raag) but can change according to the style / treatment / Gharaanaa / Paramparaa / mood of the artist / the limitations or potentials of the artist / the
mental state of the artist / the situation in the concert / etc. On the contrary, any particular poem has a definite limited concrete meaning and the feelings in the poem can be explained in the words (rather, the poem is more on the concrete side, though not fully concrete). If the 'nature' of a particular Raag (in connection with the Rasa / Bhaav / feelings) is accepted to be 'so and so' then the poem of the Bandish
that the vocalist sings should be of that 'nature'. It has been always a point of dispute in the vocal music that how much importance is to be given to the words / poem in our Raag Sangeet while performing a composition that has a poem. If the performer has to give justice to the poem and the feelings of the poem, then, one can not express the full feelings of the Raag, Raag has to be used in a limited sense, one has
to restrict the compound of the Raag; in such a situation, somebody may feel that it is an injustice to the Raag. If the performer has to express the Raag as he wants, then there will be injustice to the poem because some of the abstract feelings expressed by the Raag may be 'inconsistent (in some sense)' with the feelings of the poem. Actually speaking, we impose two different things on each other and the
possibility of giving justice to both of them becomes rare. If one wants to give justice to the poem then one has to do the following - one has to decide the degree of attack, smoothness, calmness, etc.; one has to omit some musical ideas, one has to avoid some of the types of the ornaments that can be used in that Raag, one has to decide where to use Meend / Gamak / direct notes, one has decide how to
approach the notes (Lagaav of the notes as we call it), one has to compromise even with the form of presentation also [for example, one has to think whether or not the use of the Taan is compatible with the poem], one has to limit himself in many ways. Mostly, in the Raag Sangeet, a performer wants to keep the Raag at the centre place [in my opinion, the Raag should be kept at the centre place]; a performer
wants to share his 'musical' feelings through his medium (throat or the instrument) with the help of his knowledge about the Raag and the system of Raagas (and about the music in general), with the help of his command on his medium, with the help of the different musical ideas, with the help of the form of presentation, with the help of his training and the thought process done on that, with the help of many
things in our Raag Sangeet; one has to do all this by keeping himself in some kind of a frame of constraints [the borders of the frame are not well defined, but, the freedom to be taken should be within the limits].

The presentation of any particular Raag with different compositions can create a variety (it is one of the ways of creating the variety!); 'this variety' can be created because of the variety of feelings in the poems of the compositions and / or because of the variety of structures of the compositions [Laya/speed, Thekaa, starting point, phrases used in the composition, the personality of the Raag in the composition,
the potential of the composition in connection with exploring the Raag, Mukhdaa, length of the Mukhdaa, length of a composition, joining to the Mukhdaa at the ends of Asthaaee / Antaraa and so on - many factors regarding the structure of a composition can be listed]. If one has to use the variety of Rasas / feelings in different poems to create the variety in the presentation of any particular Raag, then, as discussed in the previous paragraph, he should really restrict the exploration of the Raag every time according to the Bhaav / feelings in the poem and should restrain himself with the presentation of the Raag in general. (In fact, one can present the same Raag with different feelings without the help of the compositions also; every time one has to be in a different subset of the 'feeling-spectrum' of that Raag. Of course, while saying this, I am not saying that compositions are unimportant; compositions add many factors to the performance.) Any particular Raag is 'above' all the known compositions in that Raag (anybody, who knows the process of creation of Raagas and who understands the system of Raagas very well, will be able to comprehend this statement). When an instrumentalist plays a Raag with the help of a Gat, he has the abstract 'Raag-Bhaav' in his mind that is not as concrete as a Bhaav / feeling in a poem; and he does not have the restrictions regarding the presentation of the Raag as mentioned previously. (Even, when a Dhrupad singer does the Aalaap in the beginning, he has that abstract 'musical' Raag-Bhaav in his mind for which the poem is not necessary.)

Copyright © 2011 Punyaswar, Lalit Kala Kendra, University of Pune. All Rights Reserved