| Nabhi
swara
|
A
kind of vocal production that is layered with harmonics and seems
to originate at the navel of the singer.
|
| Nada
|
A
mystical concept that has several connotations, one of which is
the Nadabramha, which is an esoteric understanding of the silence of the spheres.
On a more physical level, it refers to the basic vibration that
enters the audio level and can be heard as sound as it impinges on
the consciousness - the matrix of sound. It can be subdivided into Ahata
nada (the heard sound) and Anahata
nada (the unheard sound).
|
| Nada
roopa
|
Is
the embodied form of nada.
|
| Nadaswaram
|
See Nagaswaram
|
| Nadopasana
|
It
is the practice of nada as a meditative exercise that cleanses one's musical perceptions.
|
| Nadopasika
|
Refers
to one who meditates on the swaras of music and obtains the power
of nada from the exercise.
|
| Nadayoga
|
It
is a Sanskrit term used to describe the meditation on a swara as a
kind of yoga where the swara is understood to be the fundamental
sound and the raga, secondary.
|
| Nadayogi
|
Is
a musician who practices music as part of yoga, a kind of rigorous
discipline that involves the gathering of one's faculties and
focussing on the Art.
|
| Nagaswaram
|
An
ancient Carnatic wind instrument, similar to the Western Clarinet.
|
| Navaratnamala
|
It
is a garland of nine kirtanas composed by Swati Tirunal on the theme
of bhakti. There are nine kinds of bhakti - sravanam (attentive listening), kirtanam (singing religious songs), smaranam (mentally imagining the deity), padasevanam (worshipping at the feet of the deity), archanam (making an offering), vandanam (paying one's respects), dasyam (offering one's services to the deity), sakhyam (constant companionship) and atmanivedanam (self-enquiry).
|
| Navaratri
kriti
|
Refers
to a set of nine kritis in praise of Goddess Devi, specially
composed by Swati Tirunal to be sung during the Navaratri festival.
|
| Navavarna
kritis
|
Refers
to a set of nine kritis in praise of Goddess Devi, to be sung
during the nine days of the Navaratri festival. There are two such
sets, one composed by Oottukadu Venkatasubbayyar and one by
Muthuswami Dikshitar.
|
| Nibaddha
|
It
refers to a composition that is set to a tala. It is the opposite
of Anibaddha, which is the unbounded area of a raga, i.e. alapana.
|
| Nindastuti
|
Refers
to that form of worship (Bhakti)
in which the faults of the God/Goddess is highlighted as an
indirect act of adoration. There are many compositions based on
this form of Bhakti.
|
| Nishada or Ni
|
It
is the seventh note of the Indian scale.
|
| Nisabdha
kriya
|
It
is the act of reckoning rhythm without sound.
|
| Niyama
|
Sanskrit
word that means rules. There are various niyamas (rules) by which
Ragas, Talas and Sahitya are bound.
|
| Nyasa
swara
|
It
is the final note on which a phrase or an alapana rests.
|
