Yoga Music Blog

I was watching Living in the Material World, the Martin Scorsese HBO documentary on George Harrison the other night, and it reminded me how strongly I responded to the sitar when I first heard it on the early Beatles tune, Norwegian Wood. (And George Harrison didn't even really know how to play the sitar at that point) There was an instant knowingness that there was something special about this instrument, and also something that seemed to resonate out of a deep inner recognition. It was new to me, yet there was something timeless there as well.

If I was given the opportunity to choose my musical path over again, the sitar would be my first instrument of choice, followed by the sarod.

I recently became aware of someone who was able to change musical paths, and take up the sitar, after starting as a singer songwriter and guitarist. His name is Prosad (pronounded pro-sahd), and we talked recently about his musical journey and the passion he brings to both classical and what he calls trance sitar music.

Prosad has recorded classical sitar ragas on his 2006 album Mystical Sitar, but it's the Trance Sitar world fusion album that got my attention. Prosad's sitar on this album is downright tasty, melodic and heartful. I appreciate artists who are confident enough realize that it's not how many notes they play, or how fast, but that playing the right notes in the right timing are what makes for music that can speak to the soul. (Prosad's musical sensibilities remind me a lot of the Yoga music created by Chinmaya Dunster, a long time favorite of the Yoga Music Blog.)

Tance Sitar is full of great music for Yoga, dance, movement and just listening to as you go about your day. It ranges from the downtempo (but lively) Byron Bay to more danceable, tracks such as my favorites, Om Namah Shivaya and Jungle Sitar, but all the tracks maintain a coherant musicality and heart.

Prosad was a guitarist in high school and college rock bands that toured Canada. Little did he know when he was given a sitar in 2001 that it would alter his musical direction in such a huge way.

He was instantly attracted to the hypnotic sound of the sitar and began to study faithfully. At first he believed it would remain a hobby, but as time went on it became clear that he had an affinity for sitar and people began to take notice when he played.

Prosad’s first sitar teacher was Shambhu Das, a life long student of Ravi Shankar. "It was an amazing experience to study with Mr. Das as he had taught sitar to George Harrison while the Beatles were in India in the late 1960’s," he said. Prosad later went on to study classical sitar with the great sitarist Ustad Irshad Khan.

Currently Prosad is studying Indian music with Alam Khan, son of the legendary Ali Akbar Khan Sahib. He is also studying how music can affect consciousness and aid in meditation with his spiritual teacher, Maestro Tulshi Sen. He is now seeking to create music that will not be only for the purpose of entertainment, but will also uplift and raise the consciousness of the listener.

I spoke to Prosad recently from his studio in Toronto, Canada.

Bram: Thanks for taking the time to speak to the Yoga Music Blog. Tell us a little about the upcoming album. (release date is December 2011)

Prosad: I'm really excited about the new album. It will be more upbeat, more dancy, with a world music/reggae influence... a lot more vocals and a lot more song driven.

I think the difference between my music and some electronic artists is that I play almost all of the instruments myself. So the only things that are electronic are the samples and some of the beats. Real tamboura, real sitar, real didgeridoo, and vocals.

Bram: What do you mean by song driven?

Prosad: If I have a theme, or a motif, or some feeling in my heart that I'm trying to express, and instead of grabbing some random samples that repeat and sound good together, I'm actually writing melodies and choosing instruments based on getting across a message or a theme… it's a feeling that I have in my heart rather than just trying to be clever putting cool samples together.

Bram: How will this differ from say, your Trance Sitar release?

Prosad: This will take everything I've been studying for the last 15 years of my life and make it into one unique sound.

I think with this album I've captured the sound that I've wanted to find. I think every musician throughout their life is always searching for their [unique] sound. And I feel like that with this album I've found it.

Bram: You mentioned earlier that the study of the Sitar is spiritual for you, are you able to put that into words?

Prosad: Indian music is an incredibly spiritual pursuit. One of the quotes on your Homore page, I loved it, you say that music itself is a form of Yoga for Indian musicians, and it's a form of Sahdana where they try to become one with the vibration of music. Doing the sahdana of music is completely and totally a form of Yoga. They say nada brahma… sound is God, sound is the creator.

The purpose of meditation is a way to quiet the thoughts of the mind, and Nirvana actually means "no wave," so there's no wave in your mind.

When you're studying these ancient ragas that have been passed down for hundreds of years, and really the origin of the music is three thousand years old, from Vedic times… and it's been passed from master to master to master for three thousand years, you're not only playing the music, but you're actually, in a way, tuning into the thoughts of all of those masters.

Because the tradition is oral/aural they never wrote it down. So each master had to memorize the music, internalize it, make it part of his being, and then transfer that music to his disciples, who would then internalize it, become a master and transfer it to the next generation.

So when your'e playing these compositions that are sometimes 500 years old, and the actual music itself is three thousand years old, you're inheriting not only the music, but the vibration of the master that held that music. Every master that held it and passed it on is passing some of his essence along to you through those melodies. And if you practice long enough and hard enough, you can imbibe that spiritual aspect into your own being.

Ultimately, they say that you can't have music without silence, and if you follow the note as it fades into the drone you actually follow it into the silence, and when you go deep enough into music you reach silence, and silence is God. It's the same place that you can reach when you meditate. So the fact that Indian music is a spiritual path, a sahdana is absolutely true.

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Give a listen to Prosad's music, including his newest release, Infinite Ocean, which is more of an ambient, meditative kind of experience with Prosad on bansuri. It's excellent World Fusion that would find a welcome place in anyone's Yoga Music collection.

More info on Prosad can be found at: BeyondBordersMusic.com

Recommended Tracks: Jungle Sitar and Om Namah Shivaya