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I am bliss!
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Mahamaya Experience
The Mahamaya Experience is a project from sitar player and composer Ranjit “Mahamaya” Makkuni. In a modern world that encourages instant gratification and constant stimulus, Mahamaya’s compositions offer pause for transcendence. By fusing ancient musical traditions with a psychedelic explosive imagery inspired by 1960’s musical styles, these compositions encourage the listener to step out from the constant stimulus of digital life and focus on finding harmony in and within the universe.
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DEMO REEL 1
HOME
The kaleidoscopic voyage of Mahamaya Experience unfurls, a sonic landscape of East-meets-West, where the psychedelic soundscapes of Ranjt Makkuni's sitar intertwine with Western harmonies, from rock riffs to mellifluous ballads. Like a chameleon, the music shifts shape and color, from soothing serenades to explosive jams, from introspective moments to festival-worthy dance anthems. A medley of emotions, an alchemy of cultures, this auditory journey breaks boundaries and bends genres, weaving a world where the exotic and the familiar are one.
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DEMO REEL 2
TRACK BLURBS -- DEMO REEL 1
Saxy Sitar is an odd metered funky jam that introduces the listener to Mahamaya’s extremely unique aesthetic. The mysterious tone of the sitar floats above a complex web of percussion that is both hypnotic and propulsive.
Trihatakarana is named after a Balinese term for the pursuit of harmony between man, his environment, and his neighbors. This is represented by five string instruments improvising together, filling in each other’s spaces, and building on each other’s creativity. The resulting sound is a volcanic explosion of melody.
I Am Bliss sets a mystical vocal performance against a backdrop inspired by western pop. The song itself is inspired by the idea that a blissful life can always be attained through manifesting a positive state of mind. The melody serves as a tool for listeners seeking a way to alter their perception.
Come Back My Love embraces the music of the night, with an interlocking web of guitars playing raga scales brimming with nocturnal energy. The melody gradually evolves, building on its themes and growing in stature before peacefully returning to its original form.
I’ll Stay Invested In Love throws the listener right back into reality, telling the story of a stock broker who loses everything in the 2008 financial crash and is forced to reevaluate his priorities and relearn the value of love. Fittingly, the rhythms are rooted in rock music while retaining Mahamaya’s experimental flair.
Why Do We Need Dark Energy/Coal Cats is one of Mahamaya’s more lovable tracks, even though it deals with the dark subject of the coming climate crisis. As the title suggests, it shines on a spotlight on our rapidly increasing need to create a more sustainable world before it is too late.
Butterfly Sitar Jam opens with a mind bending sitar solo accompanied by ethereal backing vocals, setting the stage for a long, eventful musical oddessey. As always, Mahamaya is drawing inspiration from the pursuit of a more equal world. Halfway through, a heavy drumbeat drops, turning the song into an all out rocker. The fusion of old and new is the perfect embodiment of Mahamaya’s one of a kind creative aesthetic.
Bells of Bhairavi/Uma’s Bells represents the purity of a sunrise on a new morning, once again allowing the sitar to paint a picture of calmness and serenity.
Bliss Is Inside is a summary of the philosophy that drives the entire record. True happiness can only be attained by searching deeply within to create a sense of spiritual security. The warm and mystical melodies help the listener turn away from illusion and embrace a rich and rewarding inner life.
TRACK BLURBS -- DEMO REEL 2
Lullaby Yaman Kayan oozes peace and love and is an instant stress reliever for the listener wishing to destress from quickly..
Yaman Kalyan -- This conclusion segment shows geometric patterns building up to an exacting climax.
Rag Bag Bhim -- This song is composed with each line alternating between Raga Bhimpalasi and Bageshree.
Village songs is a song about ecology and village consciousness showing the re-discovery of Nature, and the need for simplicity. It is set in the context of an Asian Village of musicians and sing in the first person of a village leader, a visionary matriarch, who asks her daughter who has just returned from the city to see the power of traditional music, and the value of sustainable village living. The song explores the messages from Tolstoy, Shelly and others asking us to honor eco consciousness.
Get Off the Glass --
This song is a scathing commentary about the ills of the computer revolution, and modern society’s forgetfulness about how the path of love is truly a unique -- and the only valuable -- asset one has in the current state of a digital world, where no one is present in the ‘here’ and the present moment of the ‘now’.
The song shows how computers have been surreptitiously stealing people’s time, attention and health, and distracting people from true peace.
Meditations on a Major Scale is a brisky sitar song set in the major scale. The improvisations of the song show different view points of musically looking at a scale by transposing the tonic of the song to different notes in a major scale.
Come Back my LoveThis song is a dialogue between a Sitar and 4 guitars based on night Raga scale Chandrakauns, usually played at midnight. The theme although set in Chandrakauns, keeps changing through scale variations, as a result the initial theme at the beginning of the song and the theme at the middle or at the end are all different, despite the illusion of the main melodic line being the same.
Love the waves of the here and now
As people become educated, they learn all kinds of abstractions to represent, measure and act upon the world, and as a result most educated people live in Urban areas, living in their world of conceptual thoughts using and improvising on new structures modeling, predicting and controlling Reality. So much so that their minds are dislocated from the physical spaces around them.
This song, set in a 12 beat rhythmic cycle, is improvised on a combination of two ancient melodic scales asks the listener to experience the here and now. Set in the drama of never ending waves of form, like the surfer, and inspired by the wind surfer solving problems in the dynamics of the ‘here and now’ the song asks listeners to experience and focus on solving the ‘now’ now and not later.
Love the waves of the here and now 2
Improvisation showing Alliteration of 4 beats against a 12 beat rhythmic pattern.
Postpone my Nirvana --This is a monumental work composed in 3 parts with spontaneously solos featuring synthesizers and sitar. The song discusses the value of postponing one’s enlightenment until everyone else has been liberated from suffering. This mirrors the important changes in Buddhism where the focus moved from self enlighten to service to the others.
“The Mahamaya Experience” is the newest project from Mahamaya, the musical brainchild of South East Asian sitarist Ranjit Makkuni. Essentially, this is a part album sampler/part highlight reel of live recordings, demos and current scores serving as an unofficial introduction to Mahamaya’s style, sound and messages.
I say ‘messages’ because while at face value, this short collection of tracks (clocking in at a mere 18 minutes) is a mostly-instrumental affair, there is a substantial amount of spiritual, existential and creative depth resonating from it. Its overarching theme is the concept of ‘non-ego’; being driven by life’s passions and your own passion towards the beauty of life and not by the influence of ‘ego’-based technology and innovation which govern our ever-developing world.
ALBUM REVIEW: Mahamaya – “The Mahamaya Experience”
Written on: June 2nd 2022 by Matthew Bailey
Mahamaya Experience teams up with Ranjit Makkuni, and Sitar to unveil a splendid musical journey named “Mahamaya Panorama- Demo Reel”.
We will end the week on a joyful and perfect note thanks to that surprising and unworldly musical experience. In a world where music is made with machines and tasteless signatures, Mahamaya Experience has created a whole world effortlessly combining Indian sonorities, with futuristic soundscapes.
It is difficult to describe their music with conventional words as they create with several genres, from pop to rock, passing by some subtle RNB sonorities, and team up with the best vocal performer to offer an unexpected sonic world. It gives you hope, joy, peace and love.
We dive into a mystical, healing and addictive journey, far from what we are used to, with emotions, sincerity and creativity. More than a specific genre, Mahamaya Panorama- Demo Reel is the definition of Art.
Review:
INTO THE INCREDIBLE MAHAMAYA EXPERIENCE
By the-further / juillet 27, 2022
ALBUM REVIEW:
Indian, modern, jazz, pop, and experimental: The multitudes of ‘Into the Mahamaya Experience Vol. 1’
by Eric Ritland
Indian, modern, jazz, pop, and experimental: The multitudes of ‘Into the Mahamaya Experience Vol. 1’
It’s hard to keep up with ‘Into the Mahamaya Experience, Vol 1,’ and that’s a good thing. The multi-part suite encompasses Indian music, modern sounds, and jazz, with a whole lot of experimental/avant garde thrown in for good measure.
The Mahamaya Experience specialize in rhythmic, melodic, hope-filled South and South East Asian music. The best way to experience them is to visit their website, which is a total mind trip, and is a good supplement to their music. The graphic design is truly out of this world.
The group have had many releases over the years, all of which you can find on their website. They include Sonata #1, Come Back My Love, and Butterfly Sitar Jam.
The 13+ minute epic that is “Into the Mahamaya Experience, vol. 1” begins with a couple brief pieces of buoyant instrumental music that are equal parts modern and classical Indian. There’s then a slower, more emotive section with calming vocals.
This is followed by another smattering of parts, each of which come at you with vigor. The soundscapes are always interesting, with layers of keyboards and instruments always keeping you guessing. The vocals are also a highlight.
At one point around 4:00, the drums kick in and go crazy, before fading out and making way for another calmer section.
One major highlight of ‘Into the Mahamaya Experience, vol. 1’ is the percussion. It is the anchor throughout the piece, always adding necessary flavor. The well-placed sitar and other Asian instruments and keyboards are also a highlight.
The epic track wraps up with a fast section led by a flurry of keyboards. It’s a fitting end that evokes the artwork on the band's website.
(c),1988-present, Mahamaya Experience.