This is a kirtana in six beats. The lyrics, Tulasī-dalamūlacē santōṣamuga, translated from Telugu mean “I worshipped you with tulasī leaves, Śrī Rāma.” The first track is an extended performance in the important, traditional and popular rāga māyamālavagauḷa, which is traditionally the rāga in which beginners learn their scales and other technical exercises. It is a subtle rāga whose notes do not take much oscillation without spoiling the mood and identity of the rāga. As is the way with the periya mēḷam tradition, this performance starts with the tavil player followed by the nāgasvaram player exploring the rāga in an extended improvisation. It’s important to note that, though the drummer plays along with the nāgasvaram player, the latter plays completely unmetered melodic passages. This juxtaposition of metered and unmetered playing is an aspect almost unique to the periya mēḷam, though singers and other instrumentalists sometimes indulge in this. At the Navaratri music festival in Trivandrum, in particular, singers and players of melodic instruments are required to perform ālāpana with a drummer.

The goong is a plucked stringed instrumentmade of a bamboo section. Its two ends have nodes. Its length is eighty centimeters and its diameter is five to eight centimeters. In some places, people tie a dry gourd to this instrument to increase resonance. The goong can have from eight to eighteen strings, but nine to twelve strings is the most popular. Each string produces one sound. To play this instrument, the instrumentalist puts the bottom of this instrument against his stomach and puts the head of this instrument in front of him to create a 45˚ angle. Two little fingers support the instrument and the rest pluck it. The goong instrument is only for men. It imitates the sound of the gong set. While gongs are allowed to be played only in some special occasions, the goong instruments can be played in anywhere in the Central Highlands.

Ala flute is an aerophonic instrument, free-vibrated reed branch. Ala flute is made of a hornless bamboo section with two open ends, fifty centimeters in length and two centimeters in diameter. A small hole is pierced at one end to attach a rectangular box with reed. Three pressing holes in a straight line but slanted an angle of 90˚ toward the box with reed are pierced at the other end. Ala flute is played in daily activities and usually played as solo or to accompany love-exchange singing. In performance, the players hold the full reed part in his/her mouth. Different from the aerophonic instruments, players inhale to play ala flute. When inhaling, the thumb of the right hand is used to open and cover one end of the sections, the fingers of the left hand are used to press the three pressing holes as playing common flutes. The ambitus of the ala flute is an octave.

Bình sa lạc nhạn consists of three sections, thirty-seven eight-bar phrases and is one of the four popular Oán Ngoại pieces of Đờn ca tài tử music. This musical piece was written based on the story about Ms. Chiêu Quân, who was brought to the Hồ country as a tribute. To express the feeling of missing her husband and country, she played this musical piece. This musical piece is played as ensemble by the tranh (sixteen-string zither), the kìm (moon-shaped lute) and the cò (two string fiddle) For information about these instruments, please refer to the descriptions for tracks 1, 2, and 3.

Bỉ is the opening melody of a văn thờ song. Bỉ is one of three main melodies, called Bỉ-Mưỡu-Thổng, which are only performed in hát văn thờ, not hát văn hầu. The bỉ melody is used to sing eight-sentence poems with seven words in each sentence. The bỉ melody is sung in dồn phách time, which is not periodic. When the singing stops or there is an interlude, cung văn rolls the stick on the phách clappers. The instruments for the bỉ melody include the nguyệt (two-string lute), the nhị (two-string fiddle), clappers, cảnh (small cymbal), and a small drum.

Karma is a festival celebrated by the tribal communities of Central India from Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to Jharkhand. An important aspect of the festival is dancing through the night after a Karma tree is planted. Men and women dance together. This is a Karma dance of the Gond community. In this track, five women are dancing with a group of three men, accompanied by musicians. The instruments are the mandar (drum), timki (small kettle drum), and manjira (brass cymbals). The dance consists of men and women dancing in rows facing one another, going three steps backwards and forwards.

This is an asaare song, a rice planting song sung in June, when the men are ploughing and the women are transplanting the seedlings from the nursery fields. Damai musicians sit along the water-retaining dykes of the paddy fields, playing their panchai baajaa instruments and singing. The lyrics are very light-hearted and comical, with many innuendos to help ease the pain of hard labor in the heat and heavy rain.\nInstruments: panchai baajaa

The Tharu people of the Terai region perform this song during Maghe Sankrati, in January. The lyrics are about love and courtship, friendship, and daily life activities. This song is performed at a medium tempo and is accompanied by dances. Instruments: maadal, baansuri, saarangi, chum chum and machetaa

This chutka song is sung at local festivals in the western region of Nepal. First, the men lead the song and the women repeat the lines, and then the roles are reversed. Musicians also sing and dance as they play. Instruments: khainjadi, majiraa, baansuri

The n’nung tere is the name of Mnông ethnic minority, referring to musical instruments like the đinh tác ta (Please refer to track 8)

Đing buốt is an aerophonic instruments. It is a vertical flute with reed. The flute has four pressing holes on the body and one blowing hole before the reed. From the hole before the reed to the first pressing hole on the body is a distance of one span. Đing buốt is for only the male and performed solo or to accompany singing. It can be used to play musical pieces with fast tempo and flexibly play finger techniques such as tongue, vibrating, trill, etc. Đing buốt can be played everywhere, in the field, on the road, or in love-exchanges. However, there are also strict taboos on the repertoire; for example the piece “Crying wife” is never performed on weekdays.

Marriage to the Nùng ethnic minority is not merely that of a couple but has a greater meaning that is the ritual of community cohesion, keeping the ethnic group’s cultural identity. A wedding ceremony takes place in accordance with certain traditions and customs, such as bride and groom welcoming, ancestor worshiping, groom receiving; asking for a bride welcoming, etc. In the celebration to ask for the bride, the heads of the groom’s family will play music or sing to ask for the bride, and the bride’s family also plays music or sings in response. The instrumental music in Nùng weddings is mainly performed by men. Musical instruments may include the nhị (two-string fiddle), wind instruments, and cymbals.