A call to explore sounds of nature.
I was very much intrigued by the sound of the instrument. I realized that while I was listening to the sound there were no other thoughts lingering in my chaotic brain. It was just this meditative yet dark resonating sound coming from the mouth of this man. After he was done playing we left and the discussion about what instrument was he playing begun. A very close friend of mine, Nirmal Patel, from Ahmedabad told me that this instrument is very similar to what is called as 'Morchang' in north India also knows as mouth harp. I was so excited to know about the mouth harp. Soon enough Nirmal got one mouth harp for me from his hometown and thus began my journey to explore new sounds with this pocket sized instrument which basically makes sound using resonance.
November 20th 2012 , 6.22pm is the exact time when I was pulled towards a mad sound coming from a dark patch on the banks of river Tungabhadra, somewhere in Hampi, Karnataka, India.
The sound had a very unique quality to it. It was deep and dark for my perception, almost like some creature is trying to communicate with us. I quickly turned on my EOS 550D and put it on video mode and walked towards the sound. From what i could figure out in the darkness, a silhouette of a man sitting on a rock, playing this weird mouth instrument from which the sound was originating. Me and my friends walked and stopped once we spotted the man. I recorded on my camera, but hardly anything could be seen, most importantly the sound was captured well. A friend of mine clicked a photo of the man while he played the instrument, thankful to the bright flashes firing from the flash guns, that was the only time I could see the person playing.
Here is the post processed video of the same man, I had to boost exposure to see how the man actually looked:
I was very much intrigued by the sound of the instrument. I realized that while I was listening to the sound there were no other thoughts lingering in my chaotic brain. It was just this meditative yet dark resonating sound coming from the mouth of this man. After he was done playing we left and the discussion about what instrument was he playing begun. A very close friend of mine, Nirmal Patel, from Ahmedabad told me that this instrument is very similar to what is called as 'Morchang' in north India also knows as mouth harp. I was so excited to know about the mouth harp. Soon enough Nirmal got one mouth harp for me from his hometown and thus began my journey to explore new sounds with this pocket sized instrument which basically makes sound using resonance.
So for everyone who knows me as a mouth harpist, this is how it all began! In next few posts I will write about my journey with this instrument and how I went on further exploring Jews harps from different countries and meeting beautiful people, all this in my beautiful India.
