Deconstructing music while preserving its purity. And finding unity in the different notes that ring of centuries of melody. Listening to Bhai Baldeep Singh, the thirteenth generation exponent of the Sikh kirtan maryada, is like tuning on to a musical kaleidoscope.

A percussionist par excellence (exponent of the 400-year-old system of Amritsari Baaj, one of the oldest surviving percussion traditions in India), vocalist who pens beautiful lyrics, scholar with erudition that far surpasses his young age, and instrument maker who strives for perfection to its last note — Bhai Baldeep Singh defies straitjacketing with almost synchronised ease.

“The music I present is not entertaining. It is transforming in nature,” comes a matter-of-fact statement from him. Striking an analytical stance, he says, “Laya (rhythm) de-conditions; it is destructive in nature. Raag (melody) smelts; cast in bani (mystical poetry), it gets moulded into the sacred word.”

When he talks of folk music instruments, it’s as if a picturesque pastoral scene floats through his mindscape. “I love folk instruments…their rustic features…the songs and stories they tell,” words cascade forth with boundless energy.

Credited with the revival of jori-pakhawaj, taus, and saranda (a string instrument that had its origin in the tribal areas stretching from Afghanistan to Assam, and that was redesigned by Guru Amar Das), his latest innovation is suranda, a special kind of string instrument.

“Instrument-making is not just a skill, it involves much more. It’s poetry…it’s melody…it’s catharsis,” he explains, adding, “It was my chance meeting with Gyani Harbhajan Singh that brought to taus its ancient form. Otherwise these days, taus is often given a dilruba (another string instrument) touch.”

It was his quest to find continuity between the past and the present that led him to give up a career in the Indian Air Force. “I made a transition. In the last 19 years ever since I opted for music, I have lived 190 years,” says this musician whose documentary “The sacred music of the Sikhs” has been much acclaimed.

His latest effort towards the documentation of musical traditions is the founding of the Anad Conservatory, an institution to preserve and promote the Sikh culture and aesthetics. Already, a place for the conservatory has been selected, though the final details are being worked out.

“It’s easy to preserve the tangible aspects of culture. Preserving the intangible parts is the most difficult job. We have to live those parts to preserve them,” he signs off.

Bhai Baldeep Singh visited the Apeejay College of Fine Arts here today for a lecture-cum-demonstration on the occasion of the 146th birth anniversary of noted musician Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande.