Chitravina N. Ravikiran (born 12th February 1967 in Mysore, Karnataka, India) is a composer of Indian Carnatic music. He is probably most famous for his concept of melharmony, which is harmony which stays within the melodic rules of an Indian raga (musical mode). A virtuoso chitravina player, he has also played the slide Hawaiian guitar, and is an accomplished vocalist. He invented a variant of the chitravina called the navachitravina, which is smaller and has a clearer tone in the higher frequencies. He currently lives in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Ravikiran is the author of Appreciating Carnatic Music and Perfecting Carnatic Music Level I and II. He is also the founder of the International Foundation for Carnatic Music. Ravikiran has worked with many other performers, from various musical styles outside his native Carnatic discipline, including Hindustani music, Filmi, Western classical music, African music, jazz, and pop. Prominent amongst the Indian musicians he has worked with is Vishwa Mohan Bhatt. He has also performed collaborations with American blues guitarist Taj Mahal, Brazilian jazz pianist Jovino Santos-Neto, American frame drum player Glen Velez, and Chinese pipa player Qiu Xia He, as well as Western classical orchestras such as the BBC Philharmonic and the Cleveland Orchestra. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.