One of the many outcomes of the Indian interaction with Europe during the colonial period was the acceptance of mechanical and electrical d...
One of the many outcomes of the Indian interaction with Europe during the colonial period was the acceptance of mechanical and electrical devices that were related to music. This in turn impacted the framework within which traditional Indian music was practised, heard and disseminated. We have on several occasions over the past few years heard how musicians tailored their performances to meet the requirements of the new 78 rpm recordings ushered in at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Similarly, metronomes – mechanical devices that produced a steady click that musicians used to keep time – also made their way into the Indian musical firmament, although perhaps, not to the extent that gramophone players and records became an integral part of the Indian musical reality. There are no documentary reports of whether metronomes were used by musicians during their practice sessions of various kinds of Indian music.
But anecdotal evidence seems to suggest that some Hindustani musicians did use the metronome in later decades to achieve greater control over the rhythmic aspect. However, it was never used by composers to demarcate their choice of time for Hindustani compositions.
Today, beats per minute or BPM for short is a phrase that is understood even by non-musicians,...
