Anytime I see a movie or show w/ an Indian wedding in it, there’s this great, fast drum heavy traditional music. The drum I’ve id’d, I think, it’s a mridangam. I thought I’d found the right kind of music via google, called carnatic. I downloaded some, but on listening it’s way too slow to be it. What am I looking for? I appreciate your input!
Carnatic music is south Indian classical music. Just like Occidental classical music, it encompasses many forms. There are Varnam, Keerthanam, Ragam Tanam Pallavi, etc. just as western classical music has sonatas, concertos, and symphonies. Unlike western music however, there’s no sheet music. Melodies for devotional songs may be transcribed, but the accompaniment is played by ear and improvised.
I assume you are looking for melodic music, and not just solo percussion (In which case the form of music you are looking for is called a “Tani Avaratanam”). If the music you have downloaded isn’t fast enough, it may be because the accompanying percussionists have chosen not to play quickly. It may also be a choice of the vocalist (Is this vocal music?). It could also start out slow and get faster. In ragam tanam pallavis (my favorite form) the tempo starts out excruciatingly slow and by the end is blisteringly fast. These pieces may be upwards of a half-hour long, and are completely improvised over a chosen “raga” (scale). They also usually include a Tani Avaratanam, or percussion solo, near the end.
As to how you could go about finding the Carnatic music you are looking for on the Internet, I have no idea. If you are looking for Indian classical with fast percussion, I think you could grab just about anything featuring Zakir Hussein and be happy. He is one of the best Tabla players in the world. This may not be Carnatic music, and would feature Tabla instead of Mridangam, but good music is good music and it could be a start. And of course many Indian weddings feature the Tabla as well 