Indian music is defined by having a complex melody sung by a vocalist, backed by accompanists on the violin and mridanga, a two-sided drum. In the typical ragam-tanam-pallavi form, a drumless, free-form improvisation session is followed by another improvisational, drumless and wordless form which came before the pallavi, a melodious and complex rhythmic song. In the pallavi, which seemed to be the focus of the concert, the lead vocalist sings complex rhythms, accompanied by the violin and drum, and then gives the violin a chance to mimic what he did, after which there is a drum solo and a restatement of the melody.

It sounded amazing. There was an artificial but apt background low and twangy, slowly-changing “desert” note playing throughout the duration of the pieces, and it made the atmosphere all the more fitting. Ramachandran performed rapid and complex singing maneuvers in which he jutted up and down from two notes not at all close to each other, and he would then jump up to a very high and sustained trill, then fall back down again. When his voice reached its minimum range, and he sang a hum, it sounded ancient, melancholy, and genuine. It was very impressive.

Keeping a complex beat with his right hand (it would change throughout the song) and his left mimicking his voice as best as it could, being twirled about expressively in the air, Ramachandran would pass off the melody to the violinist, who played professionally. He always mimicked the run Ramachandran did, and these two runs would sometimes vary in length; the violin would be just a response to the few seconds of vocals, and then at another point after some impressive singing, the violinist would have his turn—never faltering, his hands always running up and down the violin.

There was a long drum solo played on the mridanga to finish off one of the pieces. The instrument is capable of playing anything from light thin taps to very deep bass hits, allowing for some wonderful and entertaining music; the audience applauded before the song was even over.