Artists

Tabla Triveni is a trio ensemble piece composed by Pandit Divyang Vakil, and performed by three tabla players, Loren Oppenheimer, Sejal Kukadia and Prasad Joshi. Tabla Triveni is played in a rhythmic cycle of 16 beats, known as Taal Tintaal. Taal is a meter-based cycle of beats, and the 16 bols (tabla notes) of Taal Tintaal are as follows:

Dha	Dhin	Dhin	Dha
1	2	3	4
Dha	Dhin	Dhin	Dha
5	6	7	8
Dha	Tin	Tin	Ta
9	10	11	12
Ta	Dhin	Dhin	Dha
13	14	15	16

The 16 beats of Taal Tintaal are represented throughout the duration of Tabla Triveni by a 16 beat melody played by the accompanying artist. This repeating, melodic sequence of notes is also called the lehra. By playing the lehra during a tabla recital, the accompanist is responsible for maintaining the constant framework of the taal.

This approximately hour long tabla presentation is made up of various traditional compositions, some of which are peshkar, kayda, rela, tukada, gat and chakradaar. Each of these compositions has unique and distinctive musical properties which set them apart from the others, and so Tabla Triveni is filled with a broad range of energetic and exciting elements. The challenging aspect in a tabla trio such as this, one that is packed with complex patterns and intricate fingering, is that it is not possible to step out of the beat even for a fraction of the second, and so a total concentration of the rhythm is necessary.

Another important component of Indian Classical Music is the tihai. Each individual composition of a tabla recital concludes with the tabla artists playing the closing piece, called the tihai, which is made up of three segments. The tihai must be designed so that the last note of the third segment lands on the sum, which is first note of the taal. The tihai of each individual tabla composition is always dramatic and powerful, as the tabla artists and lehra player end in unison on the sum.

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