"In music no one
leaves empty-handed. Everyone gets as much as he can take."
Hazrat Inayat Khan
Hi there!! Welcome to My Space
Dhrupad/Indian Classical Music
I'm Remco Helbers, a student of Indian Classical Music (in particular a style called Dhrupad). I play an instrument called the surbahar, a bass-sitar. I'm since 2005 a student of Ust. Bahauddin Dagar, the Rudra Veena player. I was also fortunate to study with Bahauddins' uncle, the dhrupad vocalist Ust. Zia Fariduddin Dagar. My teacher here in the Netherlands is Marianne Svasek, a student of Ust. Zia Fariduddin Dagar. I also practise with Marianne's husband Taan, who plays pakhawaj.
Before studying with the Dagars I studied sitar with Darshan Kumari (2001-2005) and surbahar with Pt. Ashok Pathak (2003-2005). Early 2007 I travelled to India for 3 weeks to study with Ust. Bahauddin Dagar in Mumbai and to travel to Benares to attend the Dhrupad Mela.
Ambient/Chapman
Stick
Though my main interest in music is Dhrupad these days, I also play the Chapman Stick solo and in bands (including Born For Bliss and Stargazing). A GuitarCraft-course by Robert Fripp in 1998 marked a change in my view on music. I began to search for ways to use music as a form of selfrealisation, rather than entertainment. When fellow GuitarCraft-participant John Kimber told me he was organising an exhibition for his paintings I offered to make accompanying music. The result was released in 2002: "On Some Road". The music consists of ambient soundscapes on the Chapman Stick with various Tibetan Bowls and Bells.
Vinaya is an older (2003) Stickrecording done "live" in the studio, one take, making use of the feedback capabillities of the Oberheim Echoplex. The gradual fading of the layers of sound creates a constant changing flow of the composition.
The fourth song in my player will change from time to time to keep things interesting over here.