After Pharmacologist Dr Vidayadhar Oke retired as President at Nicolas Piramal at the age of 52, he set out on a quest to pursue intensive research in the Indian musical traditions.
Dr Oke is a third generation Harmonium player and pursued his learning with Pt Govindrao Patwardhan and was his student for 25 years. Oke has accompanied many famous artists including Vasantrao Deshpande, Sudhir Phadke, Kumar Gandharv and even Asha Bhosle.
Through his research, Oke discovered insightful revelations in the Indian Classical Music system that is potentially revolutionary.
In an interview, Oke explains the 22 Shrutis used in the Indian Classical Music and the difference between it and the European Equi-tempered Scale.
Read an excerpt:
22 Shrutis
It is known that the Indian Classical Music system recognises 22 shrutis. A combination of these shrutis create the raagas. Dr. Oke’s research began with trying to accurately point the position of individual shrutis. The obstacle he faced was that Classical music isn’t taught scientifically but through tradition.
“Most don’t even know that each note can be measured. In 1930, the world learned how to measure musical notes in terms of hertz. And somebody had to measure the Indian Classical scale in hertz.”
He took up the task himself and discovered that the sequential progression of the notes can be plotted mathematically. That is to say while playing a note on a string, it is possible to play the precise note every time without difficulty.
The discovery of this difference has led Dr. Oke to create new instruments such as the 22 Shruti Harmonium, 22 Shruti Veena, 22 Shruti Tanpura etc. Musical notes can now be standardized and musical instruments can be calibrated according to these standardised notes.
You can read the complete article about Maadal's musical journey here.
