IN BETWEEN THE NOTES: A PORTRAIT OF PANDIT PRAN NATH
(1986, DIR. WILLIAM FARLEY)

Finally took a half-hour to watch this short documentary and am glad I did; it’s a nice way in for novices like myself, featuring clips of Pran Nath philosophizing about singing and harmonizing with rivers, as well as interviews with LaMonte Young, Marian Zazeela, and Terry Riley, who is also seen contributing to a raga at the end and offers this striking image:

“When he sings, and we try to copy what he does, it’s like trying to copy smoke. It’s no shape and it’s every shape.”

Dedication to the exploration of sonority at its most inspiring…