Thinking about music that will put you to sleep with U-zhaan and Takako Inoue. ~North Indian Classical Music~

Many people may not be familiar with North Indian classical music (*1), but it is a form of long, improvised performance primarily featuring string instruments like the sitar and percussion instruments like the tabla. Some people find the mystical, spiritual tones and repetitive rhythms pleasing, and may even find themselves dozing off while listening.

I've been to countless North Indian classical music concerts in India, and I can't even begin to count the number of times I've fallen asleep while listening. There are a lot of all-night live shows in India, and when a slow-paced piece starts in the middle of the night, it's a battle against sleepiness. No matter how wonderful the performance, my eyelids inevitably droop. And that feels good, too. No one scolds me for falling asleep, though it's not something they actively encourage.

I saw a performance by the legendary sitar player Nikhil Banerjee (*2) in Delhi in the late '80s, shortly before his death. I thought it would be a rare opportunity, so I went, but I fell fast asleep while he was improvising a raga (*3) (laughs). What's more, after his sitar solo, a tabla accompaniment comes in, and the first part is a slow-tempo part called a villainous (*4) that continues at the same tone for a long time, which made me fall asleep deeper, and before I knew it, an hour and a half had passed.

But falling asleep while listening to a performance you really wanted to hear is the most luxurious experience. I too have felt incredibly sleepy while listening to a performance by a talented musician. Also, sometimes I find myself fainting when the performance suddenly picks up at the end, when the jarring part starts.

Yeah, that's where I wake up all the time (laughs).

However, one of the main reasons why Indian music is thought to be meditative or sleepy is the sound of the tambourine (*5). Most people mistake it for the sound of the sitar, but it is subtly different.

The unique, vibrating sound of the turnpuller has a lot to do with calming people and putting them to sleep. I think it has something in common with the sounds of waves and rivers in nature. A string is placed between the bridge and the strings of the instrument and adjusted to resonate well.

Indian music isn't all chill-out. It's actually quite elaborately structured, with technical and mathematical details. It's not just music with a slow tempo that lulls you to sleep. But that's a big part of the general impression. Even when listening to North Indian classical music on CD or record, it starts off slow. No one expects that a few minutes later, the BPM will reach over 500 BPM by the end of the song, creating a frenzied state.

In Indian music, there is a fair amount of music that was created to be dedicated to the gods, but I believe that in Hindu thought, the barrier between the world of gods and the world inhabited by humans is low. Ragas reflect time, seasons, and emotions, such as waking the gods in the morning and inviting them to sleep at night, or ragas for spring and the rainy season. The gods also spend their time listening to the same sounds that humans use. That's why music is sometimes played according to daily and seasonal schedules. However, whether it actually has the effect of helping you sleep is another matter (laughs).

That's right. Also, I'm not sure how it relates to sleep, but...at live performances, there's a part called 'alaap' where the lead musician plays alone for about 40 minutes before I come in on tabla, and I've often nearly fallen asleep while listening to that when I was younger.

I also slept more when I was younger, but as I studied Indian music, I began to listen to the performers' intentions and methods of expression with a more analytical ear, and gradually I found myself less sleepy.

I see. I've been analyzing various things and my interest in the technical aspects of music is only deepening, but there's still "something" that makes me sleepy when I listen to it. But if there were only two types of music, music that makes you sleepy and music that wakes you up, I would prefer "music that makes you sleepy."