Indian musician Akash Dubey adapts Taiwanese musical traditions for the tabla

Indian musician Akash Dubey adapts Taiwanese musical traditions for the tabla

2023-04-12

Today we meet a musician pursuing a unique musical marriage of India and Taiwan. Akash Dubey plays the tabla, a traditional Indian instrument, a bit like the bongos. He has been living in Taiwan for three years, and loves to collaborate with musicians from traditions all over the world. He and his Indian instrument ensemble have even adapted classical Chinese songs for the Indian orchestra. He spoke to us about the unique history and beauty of the tabla, and what fires him up about making music in Taiwan.

His left hand keeping the beat, his right hand flying through a complex rhythm, tabla player Akash Dubey shows off the traditions of classical Indian music. He is accompanied by another Indian instrument, the sitar.

Akash Dubey
Musician
Tabla is coming from very traditional instrument, mridangam. Modified instrument for different music… but it still is thousands of year old. Different rhythmic patterns – traditional ones, modern ones… And how much you can explore, it’s like ocean.

The tabla is a north Indian instrument, composed of a pair of drums, one large and low-pitched, the other small and high-pitched. Both drums are made of wood and metal, with sheepskin drumheads. The center and sides of the drums are struck with the palm or fingers to create a wide variety of different notes and timbres. Akash has been performing for 19 years, and promoting Indian music while living in Taiwan for the last three years.

Akash Dubey
Musician
I came to Taiwan. I realized I should do some collaboration with different style of music. I met the different artists here, and tried to collaborate with Chinese music, with Western music, and different.

Here Akash and his collaborators perform a classic Chinese folk song, “Molihua,” on the tabla and veena zither. They are rediscovering Taiwan’s music traditions while bringing the beauty of India to their new home.

演奏"塔布拉鼓" 印度音樂家Akash神乎其技

2023-04-12

來自印度的音樂家Akash來台3年，推廣當地傳統樂曲，他擅長演奏"塔布拉鼓"，是一種打擊樂器，透過手指和手掌快速敲打，能發出不同音階和強烈節奏，通常搭配弦樂器演出。讓我們帶您來一起欣賞，來自北印度的傳統樂器。

左手掌拍打鼓面，右手指法快速變化，敲打出強烈複雜節拍，音樂家Akash演奏印度傳統樂器塔布垃鼓，與另一頭的旋律樂器-印度洋琴搭配，演奏優美旋律。

[[印度音樂家 Akash Dubey]]
“塔布拉鼓來自很傳統的印度樂器姆里丹格鼓，為了展現不同曲風改良這個樂器，這有好幾千年的歷史，不同節奏排列組合，傳統的，現代的，有許多可探索的，就像大海一樣廣”

塔布拉鼓來自北印度，一大一小呈一對，大的低音、較小的是高音，鼓身由木頭和金屬製成，羊皮包覆鼓面，透過手指敲打、手掌拍打鼓心和鼓邊，發出不同音階和聲響。Akash有19年的演奏經驗，來台3年，推廣印度音樂。

[[印度音樂家 Akash Dubey]]
“我來台灣後意識到，我應該嘗試不同曲風，我在台灣認識了其他音樂家，嘗試結合中式、西方等不同音樂”

音樂家們透過維納琴和塔布拉鼓，重新詮釋經典中文歌曲，拉近與台灣人的距離，認識印度傳統樂器之美。

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Yes, indeed. Look at the military exercises, and also their rhetoric. They seem to be trying to get ready to launch a war against Taiwan.

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[And Beijing’s way of handling the differences between Taiwan]…and China is through coercion, military threat, and the threat to use force against Taiwan. And these are unacceptable. And therefore the Taiwanese government looks at China’s military threat as something that cannot be accepted and we condemn them.

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We have been procuring military arsenals from the United States for a long time, and when President Biden was in office all these years, they have announced nine batches of arms sales for Taiwan and we have also been increasing our military training so we are ready at any moment.

Wu said that in times of war, determination was sometimes more important than military hardware. He said the people of Taiwan would be ready to defend their country at any moment.

Joseph Wu
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I would say that Taiwan is absolutely determined to fight for our own freedom and to fight for our sovereignty. And we are ready to defend ourselves.

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Angi lifts up a Taiwanese flag to support Taiwan’s participation in the World Health Assembly. She was part of the march at the WHA in Geneva last May. This year she wants to get even more people to Geneva to amplify the message.

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Angi
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I hope we can grow to a group of 500 people or more. We’ll start with a welcome party on May 19. Everyone who has come to support us in Geneva will be invited to a dinner held by the head of the association, Mr. Hsieh Chin. And on the morning of May 20 we will hold the march near the “Broken Chair” in Geneva.

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Chiang Kuan-yu
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A group of 30 will go to Geneva to participate in WHA fringe events. We will hold a Global Health Diplomacy Forum in their ballroom, and we will take that opportunity to speak up together in support of Taiwan joining the structures of the World Health Organization.

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Taiwan has its own land and people. It is already a sovereign, independent country, so there is no need to otherwise declare independence. The R.O.C. and the PRC are not subordinate to each other. A majority of the population opposes unification with China and does not accept the “One China” principle, the “1992 Consensus” or “one country, two systems.” At the same time, the choice in 2024 is not one between war and peace. It is one between democracy and autocracy.

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Under the leadership of President Tsai Ing-wen, the world has seen Taiwan, and affirmed Taiwan. We will walk on a similar road, so that Taiwan’s democracy remains strong.

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A sea of pink petals extends down the roadside as far as the eye can see. This is the village of Yilong in Chiayi’s Zhuqi Township. It becomes a fairyland with the blossoming of the pink shower tree.

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It was the dream of the village head. Over such a long time, the last 11 years, they managed to create an enormous impact, and spread the power of beauty.

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