Lahari,lahari wrote:The 'mridhangam vidwan' in Nickar must have sprung up and pounced. And nobody takes note of that pouncing.
While I mostly agree with the points above, I am curious about point no. 2 where you say shruti levels were far higher than today. What would you say was the average shruti level back in those days for male and female vocalists? From my listening experience which is limited to a few recordings here and there, I do not sense such a wide discrepancy (with DKP being the one exception whose shruti went from 5+ to 2).Purist wrote:
1. The repoitere of artists has expanded substantially with the result a lot
more kritis or songs are in circulation.
2. The music of 50's were more of 'open throat' kind of singing. The shruti(pitch)
levels were far higher to the current. Now the amplifier/speakers does the job
meaning lesser exertion to the artist.
3. The ghana ragas held forte in the past. A Thodi, Kalyani, Kamboji or Shankarabarnam etc
was a sine qua non. Now apoorva (rare) ragas are stealing limelight and to such an extent
that it has become a measure of artists vidwat. Current RTP's are case in point.
4. As an offshoot of 'gurukula' system the music of yesteryears had distinctive stamps of
schools in terms of style and rendering. That has now faded and one can see the migration
to multi styles. this could be even be a ' identity crisis '
5. Lastly ( I know many may not agree with me) 'saukhyam' was predominant in the past
while 'showmanship' is predominant now.
In this answer that MDR gives in 1977, it is not clear which era he is referring to by "those days." Regardless, MDR's balanced view of tradition and modernity is very heartening to me.q wrote: Q: Do you think concerts are better nowadays?
A [MDR]: see, there also this question comes. In some sense it has improved, in some sense it has not, because one thing was very prominent, people used to devote much more time those days, in practice, Sadhana and the devotion they had, they used to work very hard. Because concert platform was their main view, of course natural inclination and mould was there, but naturally they didn't have any other vocation. Liberal education were all neglected, so they took up music from a very early age and they did nothing, but only music. There are still some musicians in their 60's who are present now, they did nothing practically except music. Now, music is part of life, it's almost part and parcel of life, cultural life. So, the status is different. So, concert and musician's function is much more different, and constructive, I should say, in those days mere enjoyment of music, now it is enjoyment with a purpose, purposeful enjoyment, meaningful enjoyment is the tone of our modern days, knowledgable, understandable enjoyment.
This is consistent with my fragmentary experience. However I do not consider a drop of a full note from D/D# to C/C# a "dramatic" decrease, that's all.Radhika-Rajnarayan wrote:My understanding is that the singers of those decades were used to the practise by vocalists of still earlier decades, of singing at a higher pitch to enable the voice to be thrown better without a microphone. Therefore many of them tended to sing at a higher pitch - many male vocalists would sing at D or D# (Musiri, many concerts of Ariyakudi, Madurai Somu, Chittoor etc) - while G or G# or even A was common among women. (MDR was the major exception, and probably DKP). Microphones were in already use in the 50's and 60's, but this practise probably persisted till the next decade when the sruti levels dropped all round, and most males would sing at around C or C#, and many women at around F or F# .
Please correct me if I am wrong.
Radhika Narayan has more or less answered your query.thenpaanan wrote:
While I mostly agree with the points above, I am curious about point no. 2 where you say shruti levels were far higher than today. What would you say was the average shruti level back in those days for male and female vocalists? From my listening experience which is limited to a few recordings here and there, I do not sense such a wide discrepancy (with DKP being the one exception whose shruti went from 5+ to 2).
-Then Paanan
Interesting article about Sruti Bedha discussion in the Music Academy, penned by Sriram V.srikant1987 wrote:He seems more moderate here than in samvAda. He even says some shruti bhedam is OK!
Names! Unless you are prepared to give names, then such passing references to unknown concerts have no validity in the discussion at all. They are just a smear argument.T J Venkatraman wrote:Few days back I went to a concert ( To relax from the work pressure)
Next to me a couple from America were sitting (not NRI's).
There statement after the concert was "We came to India for listening good carnatic music but we heard Rock songs here "
Whats wrong with rock music? I mean if carnatic music is played like rock music then i think its global reach far surpasses modern day music and its universal in appeal. That only enriches it in no way does it diminishes it. However i have to ask this. T.J.V did those foreigners stay during the concert or leave. Because i supposedly went into another mandolin srinivas concert where he played raghuvamsasudhanick H wrote:Names! Unless you are prepared to give names, then such passing references to unknown concerts have no validity in the discussion at all. They are just a smear argument.T J Venkatraman wrote:Few days back I went to a concert ( To relax from the work pressure)
Next to me a couple from America were sitting (not NRI's).
There statement after the concert was "We came to India for listening good carnatic music but we heard Rock songs here "
There is a wide spectrum of carnatic music. There may be an area of it that most of us would agree embodies the best and most classical, but there is a lot else too. The last time I saw Mandolin Srinavas, I thought it was more like a rock concert, I am not damning the music (or even the artist) for one concert!
How many concerts have you been to where there were foreigners who loved the program? Quoting those, though, might not suit your rather poor argument.
