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Sing Sing Sing
I am bliss!
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2022
Ranjit Makkuni. Sitar
When ONE DOOR CLOSES
ANOTHER OPENS
Ranjit Makkuni, solo sitar
A musical exploration of scales on a sitar, accompanied by pads and Gyuto monks' choir.
The sitar guides us on a meditative journey, as if an aging musician has snapped out of his 'illusions' and squarely facing the transience of life, recalling all the hardships he has endured. This journey through the challenges of life is expressed through various scales, some of which are dissonant with the original base of minor key.
The scales twist and turn around the most difficult passages, leading the meditator back to his ‘spiritual’ home, to reveal that joy remains waiting for him at the end.
Mahamaya Experience transcends genres, weaving Southeast Asian mysticism with Modern jazz rock vibrancy. Ranjit Makkuni's sitar sings soulfully amidst pulsating rhythms, painting sonic tapestries that prepare you to be enchanted.
Review
"A Sitar's Meditative Journey: A Musical Exploration of Life's Transience
The sitar's introspective melody is further elevated by the backdrop of base pads and synthesizers, which create a magical aura reminiscent of a starry night sky in Chiang Rai, with meteors streaking across the horizon. This cosmic landscape adds a sense of awe and wonder to the already introspective mood of the composition.
As the musician plucks the strings of the sitar, the dissonance between the scales and the original minor key creates a tension that mirrors the challenges and hardships endured in life. However, the backdrop of the base pads and synthesizers, with their ethereal and otherworldly quality, offer a sense of comfort and solace, reminding us that there is beauty and hope even in the midst of difficulty.
This composition is not just a musical masterpiece but also a profound meditation on the human condition, inviting the listener to reflect on their own life's journey and the transient nature of existence. The magical backdrop of base pads and synthesizers serves as a reminder that the universe is vast and full of wonder, and that our struggles are just a small part of a larger, more mysterious whole.
"A Sitar's Meditative Journey: A Musical Exploration of Life's Transience"
The sitar's introspective melody is further elevated by the backdrop of base pads and synthesizers, which create a magical aura reminiscent of a starry night sky in Chiang Rai, with meteors streaking across the horizon. This cosmic landscape adds a sense of awe and wonder to the already introspective mood of the composition.
As the musician plucks the strings of the sitar, the dissonance between the scales and the original minor key creates a tension that mirrors the challenges and hardships endured in life. However, the backdrop of the base pads and synthesizers, with their ethereal and otherworldly quality, offer a sense of comfort and solace, reminding us that there is beauty and hope even in the midst of difficulty.
This composition is not just a musical masterpiece but also a profound meditation on the human condition, inviting the listener to reflect on their own life's journey and the transient nature of existence. The magical backdrop of base pads and synthesizers serves as a reminder that the universe is vast and full of wonder, and that our struggles are just a small part of a larger, more mysterious whole.
When One Door Closes, Surely Another Will Open – Mahamaya Experience (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
July 15, 2024
Mahamaya Experience and Ranjit Makkuni, the person behind it, often make music that feels like it works on an epic scale, not just regarding the scope of the music but also in the message being broadcast. It is the music of ancient mysteries and enlightened states, of the search for wisdom and the hidden meanings of life. When One Door Closes, Surely Another Will Open operates on more personal and intimate levels, and the brevity and understatement of the music reflect this more delicate sonic pursuit.
And, as instrumental music, it is down to the playing itself to reflect the story being told here. The more dissonant notes being drawn out of the sitar represent the challenges that we face as we navigate life’s complexities. Over a long musical evolution, this dissonance is slowly honed into more beautiful resolutions. Slowly, these more difficult sounds are submerged by harmonious tones, the more meditative sounds of the Gyuto monks’ choir, and sweeter sounds being drawn from the sitar. Melody and meditation going hand in hand.
Ranjit posits one meaning for this sonic story as being that of an ageing musician snapping out of the illusions that many artists surround themselves with and waking up to the realisation of the true transient nature of life, and indeed of the life of a musician, especially when looking back and realising how far they have come and what mountains they have overcome. But, as always, that message has a broader application, and this slow transition from slightly off-kilter sounds into more pleasing and melodic forms, that transition from harshness to harmony is a metaphor that works for all of us.
(c),2015-present, Mahamaya Experience.
