Menace of the magic box

[lifeisasong2]

I am posting here after a long time. The argument that the Tambura is difficult to carry around applies to HM musicians too-but how come they perform abroad with not one but two tamburas? In London where I live, I've sometimes seen them performing with three. At least in the big cities in the US and UK, tamburas are available. I have one I could loan to visiting musicians. But even if they are there, CM musicians don't make use of them. The organisers of the Darbar festival and those behind the Asian Music circuit can even supply people to play them. It's been a source of great frustration to me.

[ragam-talam]

lifeisasong - very valid point. I have heard CM artistes giving the transportability issue as the main reason for not using a real tambura in their concerts. Obviously not supported by evidence.

[anonymityatlast]

Transportation might become easier with a lot of money.

[harimau]

Yes. Its convenience aspect and ease of use without any manual work of "meeting" (tamil word) deserves appreciation. Also the simplicity of changing the sruti from one to another by a turn of the knob should be acknowledged. It is unfair to call it a "menace". It is actually a boon for young learners to get on to the sruti right from the beginning. Only wish could be not to completely abandon the tambura, the tonal quality of which is undoubtedly superior. It may also be possible in future that Radel and others can come up with a more advanced model where the perfect reverberation and resonance as a real tambura can be simulated- for a price, of course.

Musicians don't even know how to use the bellows-type sruthi box to select their sruthi. No wonder many musicians cannot tune a tambura.

It is like, after electronic calculators, nobody can do any calculations in his head. People can't even add 1 and 1 in their heads anymore!

So it is going to be electronic tamburas only in the future. There are already electronic veenas. There are drum pads and keyboards and synthesizers. What we lack is the electronic voice. We actually have such a device: the one used by those who have had their vocal chords removed for medical reasons. Who knows, in future, we may have concerts with that device substituting for vocal chords! |(

We can then listen using an electronic hearing aid. The whole circle would be complete!

[kssr]

What a level of filtered skepticism

[Nick H]

Suggest immediate renaming of this forum to doom and gloom . org