"Red Shift" featuring Emily Williams

Recording

Sheet Music

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzqNzl6eyl0MMlllbUdtTUJuUVU

Rhythms aren't perfect. I added guitar tablature for the sitar part in case anyone wanted it.

Notes

I've always enjoyed Hindustani music, and after traveling in northern India last December I've become passionate about it. Therefore I am learning all I can about the subject. Furthermore, I am incorporating these ideas into my own work. I consider it "cultural exchange" rather than "cultural appropriation" since I am making every effort (but not necessarily succeeding) to respect the contexts of the ragas I employ.

Anyway, here is a composition I wrote for the sitar that combines Western and Hindustani ideas. The technical details:

The Hindustani ideas I use are:

1. Melody in the sitar.
2. Used the Yaman raga in the bass. However, I'm not sure I used the motifs and dominant notes of the raga properly.
3. I intended to use the Yaman raga in the melody, but made a mistake that I thought sounded good, so I went with it. Essentially, I mix use of the perfect and augmented 4th, and use of the major and minor 7th. Similarly, I mix use of the major and minor 3rd.
4. The interplay between the sitar and bass was inspired by the interplay between the sitar and tabla that you hear in Hindustani music.

The harmonies and backbeat are fundamentally Western.

I really hope you like it!