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Fusion of Carnatic and jazz

K.C. ASOK

S. Harikumar customised his violin, altering its colour, pegs and strings.

ONE-MAN ORCHESTRA: S. Harikumar

While perfecting the fingering on a four-string violin itself is an acid test for violinists, S. Harikumar, a young violinist from Thiruvananthapuram, is at ease with his seven-string electric violin. He uses this instrument for his concerts and albums, generating curious looks and questions from the audience and his listeners. "It is like a violin, cello, viola and double bass all rolled into one," says Harikumar about his new violin. "Each octave sounds different, thus giving it the effect of a well-knit orchestra."

This violin was originally tailor made for West Midland-based busker, Pete Hartley, by David Bruce Johnson. The latter is the proprietor of Unison Strings Ltd, in Brimingham (United Kingdom), a retail outlet for piezo-electric, violins, violas, cellos, and basses.It was during a tour to London that Harikumar chanced upon the made-to-order violin, which he subsequently bought from Hartley.

Indian jazz fusion

Harikumar further customised the violin, altering its colour, pegs and strings. When the western tuning for a seven-string violin is based on e, a, d, g, c, f, and b major scales, he has tuned his to e, b, e, b, e, b, and e scales in three octaves. Besides Indian classical music, Harikumar has also learned the nuances of western music. This has helped him evolve a fusion genre, which he calls Indian jazz fusion. This disciple of violin maestro L. Subramaniam was in the capital city to record two solo albums: `Breathtaker,' a jazz fusion album and `Janaranjini,' a Carnatic album.

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