Bassist Mohini Dey awes Berlin audience by blending Konnakol with rock

Bassist Mohini Dey knows her forte and we couldn't disagree. The musician, who is one of the most prominent faces of AR Rahman's band, was seen the ancient Konnakol art form at a rock concert in Berlin.

For Mohini Dey, Konnakol was her secret weapon in Berlin

In her recent performance at the Sonic Pluriverse Festival in Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), Berlin, Indian bassist Mohini Dey blended the ancient Indian art of Konnakol with modern rock, which created a sound that was not just rooted but refreshing too. Known for her precision on the bass and deep understanding of rhythm and newest designs of music on her instrument, Mohini brought a traditional vocal percussion style into a contemporary setting with ease and authenticity.

What is Konnakol, the ancient South Indian vocal art form?

It’s inspiring to see an Indian artiste chose to carry forward classical techniques, making them accessible to new global audiences. Mohini’s journey is a great reminder of how art evolves, and how culture stays alive in newer spaces.

Konnakol, is a fascinating and intricate art form of vocal percussion which originates from South Indian Carnatic music. The art form involves performing percussive syllables vocally. These syllables, known as solkattu, don't necessarily have dictionary definitions but are designed to mimic the sounds and rhythms of various percussion instruments, particularly the mridangam.

Konnakol is the spoken component of solkattu, a combination of these vocal syllables spoken while simultaneously counting the tala (meter or rhythmic cycle) with hand gestures. This simultaneous vocalisation and hand-counting is crucial for internalising and expressing complex rhythmic patterns. While Konnakol syllables are related to the articulations of instruments like the mridangam, ghatam, and kanjira, they are specifically optimised for vocal performance, but implementing with a bass guitar seem to be a very innovative eperiment, and we LOVE it!

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