Karnatak music from the South of India has one of the most highly developed and ancient rhythmic systems in the world. In the process of studying the kanjira (South Indian Frame drum), I ran across a document called "Mrdangam Mind," a P.H.D. Dissertation by David Paul Nelson at Wesleyan University, from 1991. It includes interviews, analysis, transcriptions, and videos of Mrdangam solos by five masters of the instrument. I don't play the Mrdangam, but wanted to understand how these compositions were made. In watching one of the videos, I took some notes which are on the following pages.
The notes show the skeletal structures of the main compositions in one solo, performed by the great mrdangam artist Karaikudi Mani. They are written in a simplified "high/low" binary notation, based on my own listening (In reality there are more than a dozen unique strokes on this instrument). The structure of the compositions are written in a way that could be read by kanjira or drumset or any number of instruments. In no way are they meant to represent fully what is played, but they can be used fairly accurately to navigate the recording and see what is going on in a general way.

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