Forum - Week 8 - Sensing Sensual Incense in Senses

A sensuous Indian extravaganza awaited
all who dared to enter the EMU space on
Friday, complete with incense, sitar and
personable Indian native. Dr. Chandrakant
Sardeshmukh (1) is possibly the best guest
we’ve ever had, as I was absorbed by his
expansive knowledge and quick wit. His
personality was only transcended by his
instrumental skill, which was demonstrated
through his osteopathic sitar playing. He
presented us with the basics of traditional
Indian sitar improvisation, none of which
I remember, and proceeded to initiate the
improvisation with the unsuspecting members
of Group 2.

As a whole this was a great success- of particular note was
the chemistry between the Dr. and Vinny on tabla, where a certain
musical (perhaps ethnical) connection was perceivable. Surprisingly
beneficial to the sound was Poppi’s (Poppies?) ethereal vocals wandering
around the heavens and delving to great depths, unleashing a powerfully
organic emotion almost spiritual in its role. have to agree with the young
John “Squarepants” Delaney with his views on improvisational restriction.
This session was far more successful than last week’s, and I believe the
constraints of ‘allowable notes and rhythms’ was the cause of such a
result. The entire improvisation spanned for about 40 minutes or so,
which I believe was the necessary time for the piece to fully develop. To
top off a great forum, David “Dr. D” Dowling and I had a 2 hour
improvisation of our own in Studio 5, where I discovered some funky
bass line vocals that complimented the groove laid down by the Doctor
himself. It’s a shame our performance will probably be nothing like this,
as the members of our group that actually need the extra sessions lack
the initiative to participate. Once again I suppose we are only being
graded on our participation in the final performance, so truancy to such
extracurricular sessions is not a real issue.

1. Dr. Chandrakant Sardeshmukh. "Who Needs The Kwik-E-Mart?"
Presented at the Electronic Music Unit, University of Adelaide. 14/09/2006