VEENA FASHIONISTAS?

We consider ourselves lucky for having got an opportunity, 15 years ago, to settle down in Chennai. Understandably so, since purely from the Carnatic Music performer's perspective, this has always been the place to be. And, we have come a long way, from those times of fighting our disillusionment on the veena scene in the then Chennai concert circuit, to now, where almost everyday a veena concert is happening somewhere in the city. What we need now is to gather more momentum and keep it going. There should be more people coming to listen to veena concerts not because "they feel the need to do their bit to encourage veena players" but purely because they feel this is what they would like to hear on a particular evening. The onus is very much on us to take it to that level. Aural pleasure is important. In the days of yore, veena was the only instrument known, so it might have enjoyed great monopoly. But now, there are so many more, which with their volume advantage are capable of instantaneously connecting with the average rasika. The veena losing out to the violin as an accompanying instrument is a case in point here. As vainikas, we also have another humungous responsibility....to preserve the gamaka-laden purity of carnatic music for which veena is the singular point of reference, particularly when it comes to Dikshitar Kritis. Over and above is the size of the Saraswathi veena, which itself daunts the organizer (who may be laden with the responsibility of transporting the artist and his/her veena from the airport, etc). He is probably thinking whether getting a van/truck to carry the instrument is worth the effort, or should he settle down to arrange some other concert which requires less paraphernalia. We have heard mridangam vidwans telling us that they have had real tough times lifting huge veena boxes while on overseas trips with lady veena artists!

In the past few years we have found a reasonable solution to these issues. We have been using the electronic veena. We are happy. We have not had to sacrifice the "vadya dharma." We have not felt the need to play something that we do not want to, just because it "sounds good" and instantly makes the average rasika connect. People in the audience do not have to guess what we are playing. They can hear. The mridangist does not have to tone down his volume to inaudible levels so as not to drown the music of the veena. We can carry/transport our instruments to anywhere in the world without much ado. All this ....... not because it is "modern" or we are some "veena fashionistas"..... but only because we want more people to be able to comfortably hear what is being played, not having the necessity to compromise on what is deemed classical, with the hope that not just "veena rasikas" but "all rasikas" of Carnatic Music can identify with music produced on the veena and connect with it. Clearly, we are using the option because it is available now, and it wasn't earlier.

Reproduced below is our letter published in The Hindu Friday Review as a rejoinder to a few lines published in a recent review of a young veena artist's concert. Also is given the link to our interview for Radel's Newsletter on our thoughts on the electronic veena and other related topics.

THE LETTER

Veena’s tonal quality

This is with reference to the review of Bhavani Prasad’s veena recital (Friday Review, September 4). We refer to a section where the writer has expressed the desire to see the traditional Saraswathi Veena being used increasin gly on the concert stage. The sound produced by a Saraswathi Veena is undoubtedly unparalleled in terms of melody. However, this is true only if the veena is used in its pristine form (i.e. no contact mike). The moment one uses a contact mike, the sound is no longer a result of its resonance from the hollow of the ‘kodam.’ It may be interesting to note that two veenas using the same microphone may produce a sound that may be as different as chalk and cheese. We are yet to see a perfect contact microphone that highlights the right tonal qualities of a Saraswathi Veena, with the exception of perhaps the instrument used by the great Vidwan S. Balachander. To reach out to a large audience, we have turned to the electronic veena as sufficient amplification is possible without much ado; tonal quality can be fine-tuned to suit the artist’s need; in case of a duet, the tonal representation of the two veenas is similar; and, the instrument can be easily transported.

Jaysri and Jeyaraaj

Chennai

The Radel Newsletter Interview - Click Here

AN INTERVIEW AND A CONCERT

June 28, 2009 was eventful. We were called to participate in an interview in the morning, and had a concert to perform in the evening.

We reached Nageswara Rao Park, Mylapore at 7:30 in the morning for an outdoor video interview by Mr D Murali of The Hindu Business Line for his YouTube Channel Pitstop4performers. The topics on which we were interviewed ranged from music, archiving, corporate sponsorship, banking, economic recovery, medical transcription, etc. The session lasted almost 2 hours. The ambience of the Park was fantastic, helped by lovely weather that day. Come to think of it, we have been visiting various cities lately, some of those actually known for their wonderful weather, but this summer Chennai has actually been more liveable than most of the others! An excerpt from the interview is embedded above. For the entire interview please click below.


Interview for YouTube Channel - Pitstop4performers

About the concert in the evening, the mridangam accompaniment of Shri Mannargudi Easwaran and upapakkavadyam of Shri N Govindarajan was special. Playing for Naada Inbam at Raga Sudha Hall is always great, and we were really looking forward to this one because of who the accompanying artists were. Before the concert, we got a call the same day in the afternoon from someone requesting us to play Jambupathe Mampahi of Muthuswamy Dikshitar in Yamunakalyani. We were only happy to oblige. It is one of our own personal favourites too!

REMEMBERING THE ONE AND ONLY "GNB"

A couple of months back there was an article in the Times Of India Chennai edition describing GNB Sir as the first poster-boy of Carnatic Music. We would like to go ahead one more step and say that he is Carnatic Music's only poster-boy. Even for people like us who were very not fortunate to have even a glimpse of him, let alone be able to attend his live concert, the very mention of his name is an inspiration. We would like to thank The Indian Fine Arts Society and Shri M subramanian for having given us the opportunity to perform in the Centenary Celebrations of Sri GN Balasubramanian.

After our concert senior vidwan Shri Trichur Ramachandran sang. His ritigaula alapana was one to be cherished for a long time to come.

It was an occasion where we could meet members of GNB Sir's family and Prof MS Swaminathan, himself a true legend, who had been invited to be the chief guest.

Below is the link to the report that appeared in the Friday Review of The Hindu Chennai Edition.

Genius Remembered - Click Here

ALL FOR A GOOD CAUSE

Sanatana Dharma Foundation, based in Dallas, USA, sponsored an All Women Instrumental Ensemble to tour 14 cities in the USA for raising funds; their noble objective being Vidya Daanam - Empowerment Through Education. The team was led by Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi on the violin, followed by Mala Chandrasekhar on the flute, myself on the Veena, Rajna Swaminathan on the Mridangam and Bhagyalakshmi on the Morsing. The concerts were all very well received. A huge word of appreciation for the sponsors who left no stone unturned to make the tour a success. Hospitality for us artists was overwhelming. We had a wonderful time. Here are some pictures taken during the trip from Bhagya's camera.... and my favorites include the one with the three of us in a jewelry store, New York City by night, and a stunning view of the snow-capped Iranian mountain ranges from the Air India flight on our trip back home.

A PROUD PRIVILEGE

Nadha Kala Vipanchee Award and Nalli Felicitation


It was a proud privilege for us to receive the award "Nada Kala Vipanchee" from the hitherto unparalleled giant of a musician Dr.M.Balamuralikrishnaji, and a double honour to have played a concert in front of him. Shri TN Seshan, the ex-Chief Election Commissioner of India was also present as guest of honour on the occasion. The event was organized by the Vipanchee Trust, whose founder is Dr. Balamuralikrishna and director is Dr. Saraswathi. Dr. Sudharani Raghupathy was awarded the Acharya Kala Vipanchee. Senior vidwan Shri Anayampatti Ganesan (Gana Kala Vipanchee) and Sri Injikudi Subramanyam (Vadya Kala Vipanchee) were amongst the other awardees for this year. A felicitation function was held by Sri Nalli Kuppuswamy to honour all musicians who had received titles from various sabhas this year.

Featured in this blog post below is an excerpt from an interview of Dr. BMK by the news channel NDTV, expressing his views on "tradition".