T.R.Mahalingam - Mali (Flute)

[mridangamkid]

Oh I see.

Perhaps it is possible to post the link on this website (in case someone missed the chance to download it earlier).

If not it's quite alright, I'll try my best to be as patient as I can

Thank you again.

[Nick H]

With all due credit to the original poster, for I am only passing this on, the concert can be accessed here:

http://www.sendspace.com/folder/wz7626

It is a free account. Apparently the files will be deleted if nobody downloads them for one month.

[Enna_Solven]

Nick,

I downloaded the concert. Let me try my hand at cleaning up the noise. This seems to be available at Sangeethapriya as well, but probably much compressed, it is only 54MB there.
http://sangeethamshare.org/sridharan/44 ... embai-MVI/

[Nick H]

Let me try my hand at cleaning up the noise.

If it could be made even better, that would be great, There is, at times, the rumble of --- I guess it is a reel-to-reel tape recorder? Some might say that it adds to the general atmosphere!

[Enna_Solven]

Hi Nick,
Please try this sample and let me know what you think. I tried to remove as much noise as possible without spoiling mrudangam tone.

http://www.mediafire.com/?0lnaflvt31006r2

[Nick H]

You have really cleared up a lot of the wind that was blowing through the Tyagaraja Sangita Vidwat Samajam that day!

Has a tiny percentage of the guts of the flute been lost too? Let better ears than mine decide! It is certainly a lot easier to listen to.

Just curious... what software did you use?

[Enna_Solven]

I use a combination of GoldWave and Audacity. This clip was done entirely in GoldWave. I run multiple routines: Hiss reduction, low-high pass, noise reduction based on the noise signature at some part of the clip where only noise is present.

I keep an eye (ear?) on the sounds before and after applying a filter to see if I am damaging the core. I generally keep away from touching stuff between 200 and 6000Hz. Most of the older tapes have a special signature that I have come to identify: lot of noise below 200Hz (rumbling) and hiss beyond 6k. Even though there is music beyond 6k, it is normally lost in these old tapes.

I think I have not damaged the flute signature. It sounds full.

[Nick H]

Thank you. Will you be applying your medicine to the whole concert?

[Radhika-Rajnarayan]

noise reduction based on the noise signature at some part of the clip where only noise is present.

I tried that using Audacity, but get a 'bubbly' sound and a lot of the natural harmonics are lost. I even tried using 'less' noise reduction several times instead of trying to do it at one go. Doesn't seem to help with these old noisy recordings.

Any suggestions?

[Enna_Solven]

Thank you. Will you be applying your medicine to the whole concert?

Yes, I will finish over the weekend and try to split the file into songs too.

[Enna_Solven]

I tried that using Audacity, but get a 'bubbly' sound and a lot of the natural harmonics are lost.

Hi RR,
Yes, that is a problem but less of a problem in the other software, GoldWave. I have better control over pecentage cleanup. I can actually see the graphical representation of the song over time and decide what to do. But even there, I use 20-50% correction mostly. I do the corrections incrementally (takes time) and if I sense any loss of music or introduction of tinkilng, I abandon my effort.

It cost about about 50$ a few years back.

The trick is to find a place in the recording where tanpura is not present. Otherwise, it will result in a lot of tinkling noise. For radio recordings, the hum/hiss present when the announcer picks up the mike is an ideal place. Cleans up whole recording nicely.

If you want send me a clip. I will use only Audacity and if successful, I will send you the steps.

[Nick H]

Goldwave used to be free!

But then, in the beginning, was Cool Edit, which has long since been sold to Adobe, and even longer since not been anywhere near free. Cool Edit is by far my favourite audio editor, and I'd stomp up the money to make my copy kosher (paid for but not by me) if Adobe had kept it anything like it was.

Anyway, I go Linux now, which means I am stuck with Audacity. One day I will see if Cool Edit works in a Virtual Machine (it doesn't in Wine).

Anyway, it takes more than just having the tools, and although I've done some basic stuff, improving on these recordings would be advanced stuff for me --- which is why I haven't tried!

[Enna_Solven]

I remember Cool Edit but then it disappeared. GoldWave was free till version 3, I think.

Here are the first five songs from your file #1. I had to clean many 5-10 seconds long individual segments further to suppress the noise (where Mali stops playing and his mike is open). I think this how far I can go without compromising quality. See if you like it. I will clean and post the rest once you approve.

http://www.mediafire.com/?r1mbeiuwctcis

[Nick H]

Thank you. Will listen later

[Enna_Solven]

All the songs have been uploaded here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?r1mbeiuwctcis

The original files were problematic. I have tried my best to clean up. I wish I was there to record & keep safe

There were unrelated songs at the end which I discarded (one by Mali and another vocal piece.)

[Nick H]

Thank you! I had a chance to listen to just a few minutes since my previous post, but I did listen several times and make comparison with the original. The result is very good. Thank you again!

[Madhyamathi]

This is my first post in this forum,it gives me immense pleasure do read about this great flautist of the century,however i am a great fan of him,just going through this forum i found the link of the concert where chembai and MVI has accompanied Mali sir,but i am not able to download that concert ,if any one has the updated link please update it.

Thanks in advance

[Enna_Solven]

You are not looking hard enough Look at post #190

[vasanthakokilam]

I also added a note to the original post to point to E_S's post #190.

Thanks E_S for all the work on these files.

[vasanthakokilam]

Can someone please confirm that the sruthi is 7 kattai? Thanks. That sounded a high pitch even for mAli. At first I thought the copy floating around was somehow artificially raised from his usual 5 but then I checked the photo of this concert. It does look small enough to be a 7 kattai flute. Uday should be able to offer some opinion. ( the photo is included in the upload by E-S. Ref. post #190 )

BTW, that paridanamichithe kalapanaswaram is something else. Both for mAli's interpretation of bilahari and also the laya related matters including the kOrvai. Non copy-book all over!! If one is on that same wavelength with his style of creativity, it is no wonder people flocked to hear him, in spite of the uncertainty on the shape of any particular concert. It is quite fortunate that we get to hear the recordings of his live concerts.

[Enna_Solven]

vk, ennuDaiya manda buddhikkum sila nalla vishayangaL eTTuginRana (Even a dull person like me is able to grasp some good stuff.)

Before I attempt to clean any concert from Sangeethapriya or other sources I listen to it to decide if it is worth it. Some concerts leave me awestruck. This one was like that. As days go by, I am going back in time listening to old concerts more and more.

[Madhyamathi]

I would like to add a question along with Vk,s post,(if confirmed the flute used by mali sir is 7 sruthi pitch in the concert posted in #190),Mali sir recommended 5 sruthi pitch for flute,and has used the same in his career,just curious to know did Mali sir has used 7 sruthi flute in this concert for any specific reason or he started his career with 7 sruthi later reduced to 5,please clarify

[venkatakailasam]

Here is an image Mali on flute with Chembai on Violin and Maharajapuram Viswanatha iyer on Mirudangam:






venkatakailasam

[dharanish]

i cannot tell you the sheer excess of happiness i felt when i finally found the mali chembai mvi concert. blessed be his soul

[cpblog]

Dear Rasikas,

Within a few months of first loading this classic concert (held March 14, 1964 in "Parvathi", Mysore along with Madurai D. Krishna Iyengar-V. Sethuramiah-M.S. Seshappa (Kanjira), Rajanna (Ghatam) ), we lost connection with our servers.

Only, after a very long delay and technical struggle, we have managed to retrieve the same and have reloaded it.

The audio is very clear, Mali in a very fine element (sans any puns), and for those of us seeking vicarious thrills between him and TC, the verbiage is there in the third and last piece.

Gratefully,

CPBlog Team