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In Arabic, Kaida means "rule" or "regulation."  In the context of North Indian drumming, it is a compositional form that is the bedrock of the study and performance of the ubiquitous North Indian drum, tabla. 

This kaida is set to a 7-beat rhythmic cycle known as Rupak Taal.  It has a relentless energy like the feeling of navigating the chaos of a busy street in Mumbai or Kolkata where one must move quickly and stay very alert or risk injury. One feels part of a dizzying dance -  at times off balance, but very, very  alive.

Featuring Jim Santi Owen on Tabla and Vocal

Carnatic music, Karnāṭaka saṃgīta, or Karnāṭaka saṅgītam, is a system of music commonly associated with southern India, including the modern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, as well as Sri Lanka. It is one of two main subgenres of Indian classical music that evolved from ancient Hindu traditions.

Featuring Ananya Ashok on vocals and Sruti Sarathy on violin

Khamas (or Khamaj) is a ragam in Carnatic music (South Indian Classical). It is a janya ragam (derived scale) from the 28th melakarta scale Harikambhoji. It does not have all the seven swaras (musical notes) in the ascending scale.

Featuring U.P. Raju on Electric Mandolin and
N Ramakrishnan on Mridangam

Gujari Todi is a very common morning rag. It is said to produce a mood of thoughtfulness that reaches deep into the heart. The name Gujari suggests that it could be a melody of the Gurjar tribe inhabiting the Gurjar region, now known as Gujarat.

Featuring Sabir Khan on Sarangi

In Carnatic Music, Kalpanaswaram is a raga improvisation within a specific tala in which the musician improvises in the Indian music solfege (sa, ri, ga, ma, pa, da, ni) after completing a composition.

A lot of compositions dedicated to Lord Shiva are based on this raga.

Featuring Rithvik Raja on Vocals and K. Sivaraman on Violin

Muwashshah is a popular Classical Arabic Music form set to a ten beat rhythmic cycle known as "Samai."  This particular melody is said to have been composed by a tenth century musician who escaped slavery in Baghdad and then made his way to Cordoba in Moorish Spain where he established a music school. It is heard here on the Middle Eastern lute, the oud, accompanied by Middle Eastern percussion and tabla.

Featuring Yair Dalal on Oud and Faisal Zedan on Percussion

A unique track fusing the feeling and I IV V progression of Delta Blues Harmonica with the rich drone of the tanpura, which also very uniquely, follows the I IV V blues progression. Finally a Cajon lays out a groove in Jhaptal (10 Beat cycle) tying the track together while providing a suitably off kilter downbeat.

Featuring Aki Kumar on Harmonica and Jim Santi Owen on Cajon

A dhun (literally "tune" in Hindi) is a light classical melody usually played at the end of a long classical concert, leaving the audience with something mishti  ("sweet") in their ear to hum on their way home.  

This dhun is set to the North Indian raga, Patdeep, and features the evocative sounds of the sitar, with percussion accompaniment from the  tabla and kanjira, a South Indian lizard-skin tambourine. Its mood is at a times romantic and lilting and, at other times, more brooding and intense.

Featuring Arjun Verma on Sitar

A Dhun (literally "tune") is a light instrumental piece in Hindustani classical music. Although it may be played in a raga, or mode (often light ragas such as Khamaj), it is more freely interpreted and may incorporate foreign notes (vivadi). A dhun may be based on a folk tune or a religious, bhajan-type song, or even a filmi song.

Featuring Jay Ghandi on Flute and Selva Ganesh on Kanjira

A Tillana or thillana is a rhythmic piece in Carnatic music that is generally performed at the end of a concert and widely used in classical indian dance performances. A Tillana uses tala-like phrases in the pallavi and anupallavi, and lyrics in the charanam. Some have theorized that it is based on the Hindustani tarana.

Featuring Rithvik Raja on Vocals

This track features the Middle Eastern lute known as the Oud, an ancestor of the guitar, accompanied by the North Indian tabla and multiple Middle Eastern percussion instruments including doumbek, riq, bendir, and frame drum.

Featuring Yair Dalal on Oud and Faisal Zedan on Percussion

This unique, Raga-inspired track features the clarinet played in the style of the North India Shennai (an oboe-like instrument) with shades of the timber and tonality of the Armenian wind instrument known as  Duduk. We hear two clarinets weaving mysterious, otherworldly tapestry of sound invoking the solitude of midnight.

Featuring Steve Gorn on Clarinet

Rasa in Indian classical music is understood as the mood of the raga. Miyan Ki Todi is mostly pervaded by a pensive, mournful mood which is then relieved in the drut (faster tempo) part, by a festive piece, possibly to alleviate the heavy pathos in the earlier stages of rendering, though not always. The composition is such as to afford an artist of high calibre to mould it in either the inherent pensive mood or to entirely present a festive mood.

Featuring Suvendu Banerjee on Harmonium and
Indranil Malick on Tabla

This track combines two instruments from two different cultures in Ghana: the Seperewa, a harp played by the Akan people and the Gyil, a xylophone played by the Lobi and Dagara people. The song is an original composition in the Twi language which simply says, "My sister, my brother, Relax. Take your time."

Featuring Osei Karankye on Seperewa and
Aaron Bebe Sukura on Gyil

In Hindustani classical music, the jor is a formal section of composition in the long elaboration of a raga that forms the beginning of a performance. It comes after alap and precedes jhala, the climax.

Jhala is a term in Hindustani classical music which denotes the fast-paced conclusions of classical compositions or raga. It is often characterized by the overwhelming of the melodic component by the rhythmic component.

Featuring Nirmalya Dey on Vocals

Traditional yet Modern Carnatic composition based on Konnakol - the art of performing percussion syllables vocally. This composition follows an 8-beat cycle and make use of a variety of percussive instruments including glass bottles, shakers, sticks, tabla, kanjira, and vocals to achieve its unique sound.

Featuring Selvaganesh on Kanjira and Vocal and
Jim Santi Owen on various percussion and Vocal

Raga Megh is commonly associated with the monsoon season. A late night Raga, this Dhun is a folk melody played on the Jal Tarang - a melodic percussion instrument which originates from the Indian sub-continent. It consists of a set of ceramic or metal bowls filled with water.

Featuring Pandit Dulal Roy

An evocative piece meant to evoke the feeling of walking through the deserts of the world - from the arid climate of Rajasthan to sprawling regions lower Israel. Lead by Violin and various Middle Eastern Percussion.

Featuring Yair Dalal on Violin and Faisal Zedan on Percussion

South Indian Composition by composer Tyaagaraaja.

This track is in aadi taal (8 beats cycle)

Featuring U.P. Raju on Mandolin and K. Sivaraman on Violin

Bageshri is a popular raga of the late night, which is meant to depict the emotion of a woman waiting for reunion with her lover. It is said to have been first sung by Mian Tansen, the celebrated court singer of Emperor Akbar in the sixteenth century.

Beautifully rendered here on Sarod, the instrumentation and mood brings the listener back to the royal courts of an ancient time period.

Featuring Alam Khan on Sarod

This song is a Mhande song, meaning the dance and drumming is called Mhande. Mhande is a ritual sacred dance which was originally played by the Karanga people in Masvingo and Midlands provinces of Zimbabwe. Its purpose was to appeal to the rain spirits and to appease the mermaid spirits (njuzu). Two drums are played by two people for this rhythm. The dance is usually performed with leg rattles (magavu) playing a variety of rhythms that go with the drumming.

Featuring Lloyd Manzi on Vocals and Mbira and the Munzwa Mbira Ensemble