The combination theory is a closely guarded secret and I believe it is the first time it is being openly published .No body knows any thing about the "genius" who discovered it but I have heard carnatic musicians talk about "Sruthi Bedam " (meaning change of octave) , but the flute is practically one of the very few instruments that needs to practice this theory while playing extensively . I believe that is what makes playing south Indian Film song backgrounds so difficult .-- And that is also the reason why there are so few light flute players around . To fully appreciate the theory one has to start playing a few tunes in these film songs .
A SIMPLE EXAMPLE OF THE COMBINATION THEORY
Can you believe that if two flautists sat together and played different notes on different flutes of different octaves the listener would hear only one SOUND ?Sounds unbelievable doesn't it !
This is how it works . For example if Flautist A was asked to play the note Saaa in a C octave Flute (carnatic one) he would have to play with the first two holes closed and the rest would be open . If flautist B was asked to play the note Paaa on a F octave flute flute (carnatic four) he would have to play with all the first five holes closed . But the sound the listener would hear would be one !
COMBINATION THEORY IN PRACTICE
The basic point to note is that in a "light" South Indian film song and in Indian film songs in general a number of flutes are used in a single song . It is rare to find a song where one only one flute is used .It is very rare to find a song in which the flautist uses only one flute that too a flute in the same octave of the song . However there are instances when the flautist uses the same octave flute in which the song is based ie "samam" .
FLUTES REQUIRED FOR APPLYING THE THEORY
To apply this theory one must have a full set of:--
TWELVE MIDDLE OCTAVE SIX holed Hindustani flutes, starting from ONE to SEVEN sruthis
in Carnatic music terminology or C to B in Western music terminology .
TWELVE BASS OCTAVE SIX HOLED HINDUSTANI BASE FLUTES ,
starting from ONE to SEVEN sruthis in carnatic music terminology or C to B in Western music terminology .
and FIVE SHARP OCTAVE (SMALL) FLUTES ,
starting from ONE to THREE sruthis in Carnatic music terminology or C to E in Western music terminology .
THE CONVERGENCE OF NOTES
As we know instrumental music is produced by a combination of 144 notes .
Twelve notes per octave multiplied by twelve octaves . And any note in any octave will equal some other note in some other octave . Though it is theoretically possible to produce a long tune played in flute D with "gamakas "in flute E or flute G or for the matter in any other flute in practice it would be difficult or impossible to do so.
The combination theory is however solves this problem by recommending the best combination for each octave .
It is as simple as that .
Appended below is the COMBINATION THEORY CHART .This chart is the essential
guide and manual for all light film music flautists .
