Indian Carnatic music (classical music form from Southern India) is an art form that speaks to one’s soul! An art so intricate and elaborate, it takes years to master. The 'atoms' of this 'matter' are basic calculations of time and beats. Permutations and Combinations of these atoms can create a whole Universe of Sound. The Carnatic Clock here takes up the most fundamental elements of ‘Rhythms’ and ‘Beats’ known as Talas and creates an unconventional clock out of it!



Turn on the audio. Try clicking on the sketch in case it is not on.

In Carnatic Music, Tala (also pronounced in many different ways) is a pattern made up of a combination of beats or claps. There are 7 Talas in Carnatic Music, which are translated here to form the different rows of clock.

Understanding the Carnatic Music System:


The p5.js sketch of the clock is derived from the above highlighted criteria on the left and the visual key on the right.

For the final layout, above key has been used. The specific pattern for the semicircles and circles is based on how these beats are counted in the Traditional manner.
    For I(3), first beat is a clap (semi-circle); other two beats are figure touch (small circles)
    For O, first beat is a clap (semi-circle); second beat is a tap with the back of the hand (inverted semi-circle)
    For U, the beat is a just a tap with the back of the hand (inverted semi-circle)

 The speed of the Talas may vary depending on the performance. Here, taking use of the inbuilt clock, the measure of seconds is used as a time frame.

The clock here is a cycle of single Anga, in Tishra Jaati, for the 7 different Talas. This can be further extended to encompass all the 5 Jaatis, in all the 7 Talas and curate an unconventional timepiece having various permutations and combinations. Imagine the potential of all the other systems that can be designed based on this, having order in chaos!

Inspiration

Over a decade of training and practice in Indian Classical Dance form known as Bharatnatyam, which is performed on Carnatic music, has been the inspiration behind this timepiece. In this Dance form, it is so crucial to adhere to the calculations of the beats, that if you miss or lag by a beat, and the performance goes off-balance. Over a decade of rigorous training has had my mind imbibe the rhythms of taps and beats so well that it is second nature to me, and a way to measure the passing, or rather experiencing Time.

Design Process

The process of drawing seemingly arbitrary pattern repeats and assigning respective audios, based on the passing of time, were the most difficult calculations for this project. Different layouts and formats were experimented with to create the timepiece. However, a simple approach was settled with considering the complexity of arbitrary Tala patterns.


Various Time based functions and variables such as setTimeout() and frameCount were discovered and explored. The initial idea was to create a timepiece with all the 7 Talas, and 5 Jaatis (35 Rows), however, I’m in the process of exploring different illustrations to better represent these cycles than mere rows.