My outcry

Music, Sound, Noise………….

This post is more my outcry, the aftermath of attending Tanjore S. Kalyanaraman’s 81^st birthday celebrations on June 2, 2011 at Narada Gana Sabha, Chennai. Sri. M. Chandrasekaran, Sri. N. V. Subramaniam were sitting on the stage alongwith Brinda Venkataramanan, Sanjay Subrahmanyam was awarded the SKR Memorial Award. Sanjay was giving his acceptance speech and that is when I entered the hall. Bhushani Kalyanaraman read the vote of thanks. In “The Hindu” City Entertainment column, it was mentioned that an AV presentation would be screened. Though it would have been produced, scripted and directed by SKR’s nephew SB Kanthan, I did not dare take a chance. Have had bitter experiences viewing similar presentations on Ramnad Krishnan, GNB, MMI etc.

Hold on…

Music: vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) combined in such a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion: http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/music

Sound: vibrations that travel through the air or another medium and can be heard when they reach a person‘s or animal’s ear: http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/sound?rskey=g31dtq&result=1

Noise: a sound, especially one that is loud or unpleasant or that causes disturbance: http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/noise

It is not that you all do not know the difference in meaning between the above three words. It is that most of us care too less to decide which one to listen to. Then why have I given the dictionary meaning of those words. Caveat - I may give you couple of more too!!!

Do not worry, am not writing the review of the concert. There are more important issues to write about. This may end up being a very long post but I do not want to stop expressing my feelings.

Check http://sanjaysub.blogspot.com/ and http://www.youtube.com/user/sanjaymobileapp

Narada Gana Sabha, is one of the oldest cultural programs organizing institutions in Chennai. I neither know its legal status nor am I interested. All I remember is that the likes of Kamala, Vyjayanthimala, Hemalini, MSS, SSI, etc performed to generate funds for constructing the present auditorium on TTK Road. The NGS Trust got enough funds to construct a hall large enough to house about 1500 people as audience and a stage to accommodate a 10-member ballet team.

Why am I providing this information to you? For the benefit of those who have not seen the auditorium to sort of visualize it. Why visualize? To expect some good ambience, acoustics, seating systems, etc. Of course, the seating arrangement is much better than the nearest (in terms of distance) competitor Music Academy. The ambience is also good. However, the acoustics is a disaster to say the least. They have positioned one speaker named JAS on either side of the dais facing the audience. Moreover, it is placed on the wall running along the dais covering the green rooms. Now visualize sitting at the last row listening to a Carnatic music concert. Do not worry, you are blessed. Yes, I mean it. If you are caught as a VIP and made to sit within the first twenty rows, then you are in for a punishment. You will listen to nothing but noise.

Now coming to the three words, I mentioned at the beginning of this post. What should be music to your ears will neither be music nor sound but sheer noise. We Indians show tolerance where it should not be shown. In addition, we are intolerant to things, which should be tolerated. When it comes to service delivery of telecommunications, entertainment, banking and the like we are extremely tolerant to deficiency in service. Sometimes, it is just not deficiency service does not exist. We as receivers are made to accept what is being given.

More importantly exercising our right in getting these services in a public place is being branded as being brash. We feel ashamed to decline a coffee with sugar when we have ordered without sugar. Similarly, when AC is switched off as soon as the movie starts in a theatre where they charge you more than a non-AC theatre, we never question these deficiencies. We should feel ashamed to be like a vegetable.

I want to share with you something that you all know and been experiencing over the last 20 years - the one-upmanship attitude of most of the mrudangam players in a Carnatic music concert. One set of mrudangam players over the last 20 years think that the vocalists are surviving only because of the intelligence of these mrudangam players. To some extent, the vocalists are to be blamed for they train under these mrudangam players. I do not say that the mrudangam players lack music knowledge. However, these mrudangam players lack musical wisdom and aesthetics. They demand higher volume levels than the vocalist himself does. In the early 1980s, I have attended many concerts at Srinivasa Sastri Hall, Luz. The mike-man (we used to call him so) Sri. Narayanan used to decide the volume levels and has silenced some of the accompanists. That was possible because he had an ear for good music. Today’s mike-man has an ear neither for music nor for sound. He can only listen to and appreciate noise. Therefore, he cares a damn about balancing the volume levels. When the mrudangam player turns at him and asks him to increase the volume, the mike-man will promptly do so.

Another irony or idiocy is that the violin players of today ask to increase sharpness in the mixer. Probably they think that the bow in their hand is to deploy an arrow in an archery competition; hence, they want to sharpen it. Utter nonsense. The sound should come from the violin naturally. Moreover, to achieve that sound the player should practice until he/she gets it.

Now our right as a listener of these live concerts is to give the genuine feedback on the volume levels to the mike-man. However, we normally do not. But I always do. In NGS about 7-8 months back, Satish Vyas had arranged a concert of Ajoy Chakrabarthy. The sound system was a disaster. From the audience I mentioned to the artistes on stage that the sound levels are bad and offered to help them. Immediately Ajay asked me to do it. Fortunately, I fixed the problem. The same thing happened during a Ganesh/Kumaresh concert at Krishna Gana Sabha during December 2011. When I told them about the imbalance, Ganesh immediately said that such feedback would help them to deliver the best.

On June 2, 2011 at NGS, Srimushnam Raja Rao wanted the volume for his mike to be increased and when it was done, SRR gave a thumbs-up. Unfortunately, it was unbearable for us in the hall. I waited for the bEgadA varnam to get over. Then I shouted from the audience to reduce the volume levels for the mrudangam and increase the volume for the violin. Immediately a dozen people sitting in the audience looked back and extended their hand to thank me. Why didn’t they raise their voice when they felt the volume levels were literally tearing their head apart? In the guise of tolerance, decency and diplomacy they failed to exercise their basic right. And, this tolerance extends to every other deficiency, crime, etc.

People can say that it was a free concert and we have to be content with what is given. Let me tell you we are beggars and there is a difference between an ‘all are welcome’ and ‘entry free’ announcement. In the paper if the advertisement reads as ‘all are welcome’, the organizers cannot stop anyone from entering. As hosts, the organizers should treat the guests properly. In ‘entry free’ program, the organizers can restrict the entrants.

Leave alone free concerts, even in concerts where we pay for the entry we never bother to give our feedback to the performers and the organizers. Also, the feedback should be given in a manner such that they take cognizance of it and implement it at the next opportunity.

I will be happy if the readers of this post not just read but heed to my appeal to exercise their basic right. And let us start listening to atleast good sound if not music.