Carnatic Music Teachers - Can technology help them?

[Shyamala Rangarajan]

As a teacher of Carnatic Music (Vocal), I face a real challenge for which I wonder whether technology can offer a solution. Our member Smt Radhika Rajnarayan (RADEL) or any one with IT background can perhaps help me with a solution. Now coming to the problem – I have a heterogeneous group of students - children, young boys and girls and grown up men and women. Their sruthis vary from 1 kattai to 6 kattai, whereas my basic sruthi is 4.5. As a teacher I need to teach my students in their sruthis. This practice puts a lot of strain on my vocal chords. This is where I want technology to help me and other similarly placed teachers.

Is there an appliance available for changing the sruthis? When I teach my students in my own comfortable 4.5 kattai, the instrument should convert my vocal output into input for students in 1 kattai to 6 kattai, as needed by the individual students. Typically the instrument would have input/outputs thro Head phones at both the teacher and student ends. The instrument should have a simple controller for selecting the input/output sruthis.

Such a mechanism is a felt need of music teachers. If no such instrument is available at present, I suggest that organizations like RADEL could design one.

[vidya raja]

Ms Shyamala Rangarajan,

The sonic foundry sound editing software has this feature where you can decrease the pitch or increase the pitch after recording it in your convenient shruthi. The recording has to then be saved in different pitches and then distributed to the students . I am not aware about the instant change (input /output ) though.
http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/soundforgesoftware

[Shyamala Rangarajan]

A device that could give out outputs in desired sruthi online would be the one that would be useful for the teacher while teaching the students.

[ShrutiLaya]

Interesting idea. As Vidya Raja pointed out, software (including the free gpl'd Audacity) can do this kind of pitch shifting, but only to a point. The results begin to sound really bad and unmusical (while keeping the pitch correct) if you try to shift more than one or two notes away.

But if I understand your planned use correctly, your requirements are far more complex. How would you be able to listen to your student when he/she sings along with you, to correct his/her singing? You'll need a two way conversion, where the shruti is shifted up teacher->student and down student->teacher, and both teacher and student hear only through headphones (which must completely isolate you from ambient transmission; ideally, different rooms or continents eg. skype) in their own shruti (so that what you hear through the headphones matches what is conducted through the bones from your own singing. This is how we can hear ourselves even when we close our ears). AND this conversion must be near instantaneous so that there is no synch problem, or you will not be able to correct Talam. Now if we get ambitious and want to do this with a group of students all singing at different base pitches, we're talking about a supercomputer solution!

- Sreenadh

[srikant1987]

You can try passing some strain on to your students instead.

During the classes, both of you can employ octave jumping wisely. Of course, after a kriti is completed, make them sing the whole kriti without octave jumping in their natural shruti.

Yes, to do this shruti conversion real-time (instantaneously) will be very difficult. Though thankfully, musically trained humans can do it quite fast.

[VK RAMAN]

Interesting discussion. How could a teacher teach student if the teacher cannot sing in students sruti. Teacher will have to train oneself in various sruties and give training in students sruti, IMHO. I wonder how the students learn through Skype!

[msakella]

Dear brother-member, VK RAMAN, Only the person who feels hungry must eat. Why should others eat? Of course, others can show him/her how to eat. To tell the fact, the aspirant must be initiated to sing and the teacher needs to sing very rarely only to show how to proceed further in the lesson. If the teacher plans in such a way that the aspirant works on his own to proceed further it is the only needed way to make him learn. The teacher who teaches the driving of a motor cycle should initiate the aspirant to drive it sitting behind him on his back. In the very beginning, only to show him how to start and operate, the teacher should drive it for a little while keeping the aspirant on his back. Later, he should sit behind him and initiate him to drive. Then only, the aspirant does things on his own and becomes able to proceed on his own. Even, in cooking, the aspirant should be initiated to do things and proceed on his own. This is the best method to follow even in music. But, our teachers are always used to mostly sing or play themselves and ask the aspirants to follow them which is absolutely wrong. Of course, they do so lest the aspirant may hesitate to pay the required fees if they won’t sing or play and make the aspirant also sings or plays. This is the useless traditional method of quantitative teaching which takes years to learn things that too even without any Manodharma at all.
In fact, music cannot be taught by Skype, as the true ‘bhava’ cannot be brought out and conveyed by Skype to the aspirant. But, the aspirant could very well be initiated by Skype to do things on his own, learn the lesson and proceed further. But, to do so an efficient plan of teaching is needed. To make such a plan the ‘Casio-MA-150’ (in India) or ‘Casio-LK-230’ (in USA) is needed to rely upon. Even from the 1st day of lesson it helps the aspirant a lot not to miss the right path if he is properly initiated to use the ‘Casio’ and rely it upon. This is my long experience. I did the same in respect of my aspirant-kid, Aditya of 7 years old, son of Mr. Vasanth and Mrs.Nirmala Vasanth from California, USA. He had started learning music from me from 30-08-2010 by Skype. I told his father to arrange any one of the above ‘Casio’ and he brought the ‘LK-230’ in which the facilities of ‘metronome and transpose’ are furnished. I also told him to download the contents of my CD, AMS Easy Methods-2007 from http://www.sangeethamshare.org/chandra/ ... hods-2007/. From the 1st day itself I have started initiating him to listen to certain audio-tracks of the rhythmical exercises furnished in the 287th post of ‘AMS Easy Methods-2002-Teaching/learning methods’ of the main thread ‘Music school’ and render them along with the 120 bpm of the in-built metronome of the ‘Casio’ which he could finish them successfully within 2 months. Later, I have fixed his Shruti with the help of ‘transpose’ and initiated him to play the while-keys of Shankarabharana-raga-saralee-svaras and later to also sing along with them gradually. Thus he had successfully proceeded further and further and now started playing and singing the 1st Varna in Natakuranji-raga with all the required ‘gamakas’ on his own. He himself plays and sings mostly and I very rarely sing to point out his mistakes only. amsharma

[Radhika-Rajnarayan]

Smt Shyamala Rangarajan: see this link where a teacher with a 4.5 kattai uses the Radel Swaravali digital music trainer to teach her students. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAAFAteMLEs
It is self-explanatory.
However the instantaneous and simultaneous conversion to various srutis is not practically feasible for the following reasons:
If you are teaching a group of students at a time, then naturally they all have to sing at any one sruti - it may be 6 or 1 or anything, to avoid discord.
If you are teaching individually, then you can set the Swaravali to the student's pitch. They are able to pick up the vocalisation of sa-ri-ga etc quite easily as evidenced by the way the little girl sings in the video clip.
Best regards
Radhika Raj Narayan

[Shyamala Rangarajan]

Smt Radhika Raj Narayan : Thank you for your views and the link. I listened to the demo of Swaravali. Swaravali’s special features like – options for playing exercises in different Melakartha Ragas (Is facility to go for Ragas other than Melakarthas also available in the instrument?), changing Sruthis, providing support in different Talas, setting different swara patterns/ combinations -are really useful for beginners. It is not clear how Swaravali would be useful for students in advanced levels - say, Varnam/ Keerthana level.

However, the specific requirement of a Carnatic Music teacher I have mentioned in my earlier communication is not taken care of in Swaravali.

May be we don’t have the solution right now; but the technology would find the answer sooner than later. I feel research should be undertaken in these areas. We look to organisations like RADEL to take up the study and come out with suitable products.

I just want to share an interesting experience with our Rasikas. In the early ‘70s, when audio tape recorders of compact sizes were becoming popular, I met a friend of mine - a highly qualified Electronics Engineer. I told him how wonderful it would be if we could develop a device for video recording. My friend said that video recording was not as simple as audio recording and we would perhaps never own a video recorder in our life time!! We all know how technology has made available video recorders of very high quality at affordable costs in the subsequent years disproving my friend’s prediction. I am optimistic that our Engineers would come with the device – Sruthi Changer – as well, in the near future, though it may not look feasible now.

[msakella]

Dear sister-member, Shyamala Rangarajan,

Nearly 50 or 60 years back if we tell that we are bringing water of quarter-litre or half-a-litre in our pocket it was ridiculous in those days. But, nowadays, it became possible and all are able to carry the same in our pocket in a polythene-bag.

In the same manner, carrying hundred music-concerts in our pocket also was ridiculous in those days. But, now, this also became possible by carrying the same in an external hard-disk in our pocket.

In the same manner, along with you, I am also optimistic that our Engineers would certainly come out with such a nice device, Sruthi Changer, which helps the music-teachers and the aspirants alike, in the near future, though it may not look feasible now. amsharma

[vasant]

I can attest to what Akella sir has written about me and my son aditya in post #7. (mods pls remove my email/phone #
if possible though, I can give the same out by PM)

We have had the good fortune of getting lessons from Akella Sir. Our son is progressing using Casio and the AMS-CD.
We have seen that using CASIO with transpose function gives him enough confidence and backing to sing
and practice on his own. The traditional method of using a Shruti or Tambura Box has some dissonance and more
over is very counter-intuitive to neophytes, esp. young children which is overcome when learning in this method.

( moderator note: Email and phone number removed. Thanks. )

[msakella]

In the olden days our people were used to walk all the way to and from Varanasi which was taking months or years to return. But, now, we all are able to fly by air and finish of the same task even within 24 hours. Are we not utilising the modern facilities to do the same very easily, quickly and efficiently? Even now if anybody tries to go to Varanasi in the same manner he must be a fool and he must be sent to the mental hospital. One must properly think over the logic behind utilising the modern facility. The logic is to do the same very easily, quickly and efficiently saving time, money and energy. We must apply the same to everything to save our time, money and energy in every respect.

In fact, in our Karnataka music, all our conservatives hate even to touch the harmonium or the modern Casio as it does not permit us to play all our different oscillations of our music. Yes, that is true it does not permit. But, why Hindusthani-musicians even now rely upon the harmonium only. Its best quality is always giving away the pure note. The pure note is the base and basing upon it only all oscillations must be made. More over, we should not try to teach running to a small kid who is finding it very difficult even to stand on his own legs. Even in music, the aspirant must, at the first instance, be initiated to listen to and sing along with the pure note only. It is always healthier to the aspirant to teach him/her pure notes only up to Gitas to give him/her a good base. Up to Gitas, while initiating him to play the notes, he/she should also be initiated simultaneously to play all the exercises in all the 32-non-vivadi-melas to get acquaintance with all the 12 notes of our music. At this juncture, even more than a teacher, I tell, Casio is far more reliable than any other instrument to the aspirant to have the base of pure notes. Initiating him/her to play the Casio and later to sing along with those notes makes him knowledgeable in dealing with all the 12 notes and also makes him independent in doing things on his/her own. If this is truly followed by one and all our next generation will become more knowledgeable and independent than ever in music. But, no doubt, our conservatives will never think of any logic but certainly oppose this to hinder our progress.

Even the 7 years old kid, Aditya, son of Mr. Vasant, while learning even the Gitas, is now able to simultaneously sing all the 12 different notes by playing all the 32-non-vivadi-melas. Thus, he is able to successfully render many of the 28-Special-laya-exercises and also play all the Svara-exercises in all the 12 notes. How many kids of his age can do so? This is the greatness of the modern methods of teaching music. amsharma
(I am posting this in the ‘AMS Easy Methods-2007-Teaching/Learning Methods’ of the main thread ‘Music School’ also for the benefit of the aspirants and their parents)