Saami Brothers awarded Mozilla grant for documentation and study of khayal
Dawn · Images Staff ·
Grant will fund cutting-edge tools and techniques used in sound recording and analysis to preserve 800-year-old sonic tradition.
Pakistan’s renowned Saami Family of qawwals are undertaking a project that seeks to preserve their musical expertise and 800-year-old sonic lineage — with the help of some international partners.
Led by Rauf Saami of the Saami Brothers — master practitioners of both qawwali and khayal traditions — and guided by his father, Ustad Naseeruddin Saami, the Infinite Raag project aims to document and preserve the family’s generational singing and study its “microtonal precision, intricate melodic movements, and sonic depth”, according to a press release issued on Monday.
The project, undertaken in collaboration with the Centre for Cultural Vibrancy — a non-profit organisation uplifting traditional heritage practitioners and promoting cross-cultural learning — is slated to receive funding and technical resources from the US-based Mozilla Foundation as part of their Artists Make Technology initiative. The Saami Family is one of 20 inaugural grantees awarded funding and technical resources to build technologies for use in their field.