R Akshay Ram with his mridangam Trimukhi
| Photo Credit: PRINCE FREDERICK
R Akshay Ram’s duplex flat on AGS Colony First Main Road has a quaint little open den at the top landing. This space would pause the most hurried strides, leaving even visitors who have no acquaintance with what he does, a definitive understanding of his universe. It sports stacks of mridangams, each set arranged contrastively.
Consisiting of nine mridangams, one set is rested horizontally on a tall mridangam stand that can accommodate ten. A set of three mridangams stand upright, much like how those adorable meerkat manors do, atop a short rack that leans against a wall. Languidness defines the only other set: Mridangams (with what resembles a djembe being thrown into an aesthetically untidy mix) are carelessly plonked on a table, and also around it.
And then, there they are: One mridangam along with two “half-mridangams” staying away from this madding crowd of instruments. Literally, and metaphorically as well.
Primed for performance, they take centre stage, having been placed on a dry grass mat. Having pairing a blue kurta to a denim pant, Akshay places himself behind the troika and before letting his hands show what they are all about, he has some talking to do. Their raison d’etre needs a explanation.
Akshay — whose day job is that of a cost accountant, with Cognizant Technology Solutions in Thoraipakkam — is a readily recognised mridangist in Carnatic music circles. Mridangam rarely sounds in a vaccum, with solo opportunities as rare the Transit of Venus. The sounds of the mridangam are defined largely by the voices they accompany. Having to carry at least three mridangams that are capable of different pitches, mridangam vidwans are usually more heavy-laden than travelling professional tennis players, whose grab-bag is likely to be packed with a wide selection of racquets.
Akshay decided to lighten his essential luggage, teaming up with his go-to man for mridangams: Anbu Kumar (popularly known as ‘Appu’ in these circles), who makes and services mridangams at a unit off Royapettah High Road.
Reassurance from the guru
R Akshay Kumar learnt the craft of playing mridangam effectively from the legendary Umayalpuram K Sivaraman. He promptly discussed the Trimukhi innovation with his guru and mentor, encouraged by the fact that the latter himself is known for his innovations with the mridangam. Umayalpuram K Sivaraman lives in Mylapore; but for the pandemic, Akshay would have merrily tripped over his mentor’s doormat, Trimukhi in hand. “Due to the pandemic, I could interact with my guru only online. He asked me a lot of questions and the effort received his blessings. He offered invaluable advice on any future innovations I might attempt with the mridangam. He was impressed that I had retained the standard length of the mridangam — 24 inches. He said increasing the length of the mridangam to, say, even 25 or 26 inches, and playing on such an instrument for a long time could have a deleterious effect on one’s health.”
Akshay notes inspiration for this project also partly sprung from the memory of mridanga vidwan late Prapancham Ravindran.
“And ‘Puvanur’ Viswanathan, a senior mridangam vidwan, helped me coin this name — trimukhi — for this mridangam.”
Akshay shared the specifications of a three-in-one mridangam with Appu.
There would be no change in the length of the mridangam: The standard 24 inches would be retained. Only that a part of that mridangam would be made swappable. The right side, engineered to provide various pitches, would be the focal point of this exercise.
Akshay explains that for the right side, three swappable heads were created, with each capable of being tuned to a new set of pitches. The circumference of the drumming area in each of the three heads would vary in size. So, there is the head with a 6.75 inch diameter in the drumming area, that is tuned to B; C; and C Sharp. On the head with 6.50 inch diameter, it would be D; D Sharp; and E. And on the head with 6.25 inch diameter, it would be G; G sharp and A. The heads can be clamped easily, Akshay demonstrates.
