Study Towards an Illustrated Raga Bhairavi

Vocalists performing in the North-Indian Khyaal classical tradition often move their upper body, head and arms in spontaneous gestures that seem to present a kind of parallel discourse with music itself. Given that the movement of the Khyaal vocalist is itself an physical interpretation of the music, it seems that this movement could act as a bridge between the domain of music and the domain of visuals. This animation is an early-stage experiment in using motion-tracking of an Indian classical vocalist's gestures to control abstract animated visuals. It is based on an audio and motion-tracking recording of Khayal vocalist Tofail Ahmed.