Responsiblities of a reviewer

[veeyens3]

Carnatic music, being a dynamic creative art,cannot be confined to artificial borders subject to rules and regulations. Yet, a performer cannot be his/her own judge and has got to rely on external impartial assesment of any expression of his/her creativity to know whether aesthetic norms are not compromised. A reviewer fulfills this role.Now a question arises a to how far the review should go. While no reference to negative aspects will not result in an y great damage to the art and the artist, going overboard in highlighting the positive and negative aspects are definitely harmful to the artist. Any excessive importance is given to any aspect will go to the artists head and create overconfidence, but incalculable damage may be caused to the artist's psyche causing him/her to lose self confidence and possibly damage the carrear. In a recent incidence, some artists, who are normaly violinists , became vocalists, may be for the first time, but their performance got a beating from a knowledgeable reviewer with impeccable reference. While another was more uncharitable and suggested that they stick to violin

The undersigned maintained that calling a spade a spade cannot go to the extent of harming a budding artist's musical carrear..Since this appears to be moral issue, valuable opinion of rasikas is solicited

[hariniraghavan]

The young artists in question should not go by the review of any one person. Some times it becomes questionable as to how well qualified a reviewer himself is. More over the subjective part will be viewed and reviewed differently by different people. The best thing to do for an up coming artist is to listen to his guru, his well wishers and parents and objectively review his own singing and also take the negative reviews in the right spirit and give it a thought as to why it was reviewed that way. Similarly when all positive things are written, try to see how true it is. The reviewer on his part should give credit to what ever was presented well besides being critical about the bad part. Over all, at the end there should be encouraging words as to how an artist can improve and on what points he should improve, point out strengths and weaknesses.

[Nick H]

thoughts...

1. A newspaper reviewer? Or a reviewer in a forum like this one?

I think that the main responsibility of forum reviewers is to be sincere. It is not to be expert, or even right --- although we come to know each other and our respective levels of expertise.

A newspaper reviewer, on the other hand, is given some weight of authority, by virtue of their position. I think they have a much greater responsibility.

2. Critics are not something that comes as a surprise to the young artist after their first commercial appearance. If they have, up until then, been a part of a music performing/learning/loving community, then they are familiar with the critics, and how they can be fair, unfair and even downright wrong. Of course, I guess it is still not nice when one experiences that for the first time.

[veeyens3]

The young artists in question should not go by the review of any one person. Some times it becomes questionable as to how well qualified a reviewer himself is. More over the subjective part will be viewed and reviewed differently by different people.

If an young upcoming artist displays this trait, then he/she qualifies to become a "sthithapragnya"

[sureshvv]

If an young upcoming artist displays this trait, then he/she qualifies to become a "sthithapragnya"

Youngsters have it together much more these days! Must be from all those pirated self-help books that are being sold on the pavement shops

[munirao2001]

Veeyens3
A work of art is a reflection of the aesthetic ideals, concepts, imagination, creativity and expressions of its author. It significantly represents the cultural milieu of its time, consists economic and social aspirations and demands of the times, duly reflecting the preferences of artist’s patron(s), requirements and demands of event manager(s), opinion makers and finally the rasika- both the learned and not learned ( Pandita and Pamara).

Criticism is purposive deployment of skills involved in analysis, evaluation, reporting, reviewing and judging the quality of artistic work of art. The quint essential attention, focus and concerns of the music critic is clear and perfect understanding, experiencing pleasure or displeasure, describing, interpreting, commenting or delivering judgment upon the musical experience of his own and also the connoisseurs present-implicit and explicit.

“Creative activity of the artist is called as prakhya or kaarayitri pratibha (creative flash of intuitive genius) and that of the connoisseur, upaakhyaa or bhavayitri pratibha (reproductive or contemplative genius). The connoisseur and the critic, thus becoming ‘sa-hridaya’.”

Art criticism is always based on its co extensiveness with the art and should cover all aspects, con temporarily relevant. Inherent and constant challenge is conflict management of ‘cultivated’ and ‘mass’ consciousness and communication. But the intrinsic value, quality and strength of a work of art and the artist with its possession are directly proportional to its/their capacity to withstand and survive, unfriendly(unjustified) or opposing criticism or idolatry, retaining and reflecting originality.

Please note that I have used the writings of great musician and musicologist Dr.R.Satyanarayana, in his seminal book “Music Criticism: Principle and Practice”, published by Dr.RK.Srikantan Trust, Benagaluru, in this post, including the Quote.

[vasanthakokilam]

Thanks Munirao for that. The bold-emphasized portions do convey a lot of ideas worth thinking about.

One thing that bothers me is, the critic is always, by the very nature of the work, a parasite to the artist. Meaning, with out the artist there is no critic but not vice versa. But sometimes, the critic becomes the bigger-than-the-artist phenomenon and gains more prominence than the artist. ( to some extent, this is true of Sabha and music festival organizers and administrators as well, but that is a related but different issue ). As we have seen many times, it gets to a point where the critic can make or break an artist's career. Of course, not all critics wield that much power, one has to work on it over the years to get that reputation.

I think one of the responsibilities of a good critic is to not let that happen. When a critic senses that he/she is acquiring such power, it is the responsibility of such a critic to properly educate the masses and discourage them from blindly consuming what the critic offers.

I do not know if any critic will follow such a critic-dharma but I will have a lot of respect for such a critic.

[veeyens3]

capacity to withstand and survive, unfriendly(unjustified) or opposing criticism or idolatry, retaining and reflecting originality.[quote][/quote]I wonder how many of the upcoming young artists can display this trait and swim against the current of unfair criticism

[Nick H]

From those that I knew who had attended art school in UK, it seemed that, at least for the first year or so, a sizeable part of the instruction was the demolition of their egos!

[vgovindan]

demolition of their egos

How easily said! - "ETTuc curaikkai" (for information of nick, this means a kind of book-gourd with which one cannot cook)

[munirao2001]

veeyens3
All the musicians/performers have successfully overcome and achieved the rasikas acceptance and support, taking in to stride temporary set backs, through their sadhana, with few exceptions. Not receiving the rasikas acceptance and support and suffering in ignominy, is altogether different aspect of music, but irresponsible criticism by a critic playing a minor role. If one critic makes irresponsible criticism, there are many who make responsible criticism. The critic, who uncharacteristically criticized taking 360 degrees, as amend or bowing to the popularity of the artist/performer also is fact.
Unlike the past masters, the present times musicians/performers are highly educated formally, highly intelligent, tech friendly and better prepared to face the challenge(s). Trend has been firmly set by YACM'ians like Vijay Siva, TMK, Unnikrishnan, Sanjay Subramanian,RKS and many more currently popular artists/performers- pakka and upapakkavadya artists, in particular.

The critics of the present times are also highly responsible and balanced in their reports/reviews, aberration(s) being very rare.

[vasanthakokilam]

Let us look at this from both sides: Critic and the performer.

The solution for critics is more critics. This at first may be counter-intuitive but market place of opinions is what works in practice, though it is a bit messy. As rasikas, we can do one simple thing: Don't be a Hindu person or an Indian Express person, read both if you can. Work it out with your neighbor to share. No one person can have the final word. There has to be atleast two, more the better. That is where forums like ours work so well, though occasionally messy as we see.

In other words, tree is bad, forest is good in terms of hierarchy and control structures.

On the performer side, how they take criticism is highly personal. I can not really relate to the artist's psyche, I suspect they are a very sensitive lot since creativity and artistic nature may go hand in hand with being too sensitive to harsh words. That may either cause them to withdraw or be overly defensive or as a reaction be offensive or as is common, be very passive aggressive. All are not ideal, of course. This is not different from how we all take criticism, it is not easy. Sometimes a comment or two at the wrong time when we are least prepared for it, can hurt so badly that it affects what ones does for a few decades. Sometimes it is good, it is a great self-motivating agent.."I will show them how wrong they are".. But that is not the most healthy way to get motivated. Here is where parents and teachers can prepare the youngsters. Do not protect them too much from criticism but guide them how to deal with it. That is one of the biggest favors you can do to prepare the kids to live in the real world. A big dosage of the sense of humor helps.

Moreover, in addition to teaching Bagavad Gita from a spitirual point of view, use its core message "focus on the process and not on the end result" as a way to deal with feedback from others. What this means is, figure out exactly why we do things.. If it is to get approval from others, it is against this dharmic principle and that is why it hurts bad when we do not get it. But if you do it with passion for what we are doing (focussing on the process ), then criticism will be most welcome since it helps that process along. And that gives a great way to assess the criticism.. if it helps the process, use it, if not, simply let it go. Lest this is misunderstood, this does not make someone who practices this a docile person, on the contrary, it makes one a very self-confident person and removes any meanness and bitterness in their interactions with society because they are very sure of what they are doing. It is based on a very simple BG principle which is our cultural heritage but it requires constant work and contemplation. It is by no means easy but it is highly rewarding.
Give it a try as an experiment. Next time you feel "I had good intentions, I did good things but others are ungrateful and are idiots".. stop..don't withdraw or go on the offensive or defensive... that is a great incident to apply the BG principle and check if you are focused on the process or end result.

[sureshvv]

How about this for a responsibility?

List the names of all the artistes on stage correctly and refer to them with respect irrespective of age!

[arasi]

[bala747]

Ah, an interesting topic. May I add my two (increasingly diminishing in value) cents?

A lot of forumites remember me from the old Sangeetham.com dates as a pretty harsh reviewer. When I was still reviewing I took the 'job' extremely seriously. At times I was served with many a brickbat for openly coming out and saying that a concert was subpar in my view. (One 'rasika' here even went on about how Indians like me in Singapore are failed US emigre's based on my reviews!)

The lot of an honest reviewer is not always a good one. I tried as far as possible to be honest, and if I felt an artiste deserved criticism for his/her lacklustre performance here in Singapore I most certainly dished it out in spades. We often forget that reviewers, like artistes, are human beings and our views are just as subjective as a non-reviewer's. When writing in a forum like this I exercised my right to critique freely, when writing the odd review for SIFAS publications I tried to tone down the criticism but still tried to keep it honest. Maybe I succeeded, maybe I didn't. That is for the reader to decide.

Anyway before I ramble on and on, here's what I think a responsible reviewer and review should be. These are solely my opinions and you can disagree with them as much as you wish.

Above all, what is needed is a deep love for music, not musicians. I saw music as a manifestation of 'soul', which led me to tear apart verbally artistes who showed no 'respect' for 'bhava'. Above all, to me as a reviewer, the question I asked is 'was the raga alapana true to the bhava of the raga or was it just an exercise in vocal/instrumental gymnastics?' I never could respect artistes who played fast and loose with raga bhava, just as I don't see a contortionist as a great dancer. Longer alapanas doesn't equal better alapanas. More sangathis doesn't equal better krithi renditions, and most importantly, brighas don't always equal quality, no matter how many chaps in the audience go 'sabhaash'. To a reviewer, the musician is a vehicle for delivering good music and good music is not measured in length of alapana, number of sangathis and usage of brighas. Yes I am biased, and that opinion is subjective, but all musical appreciation is! My favourite musician is MDR, but I cannot hold his raga bhava as a standard and put down an artiste just because in my view he/she didn't match up.

Which brings me to point 2. No comparing. Yes, there will be some versions of certain krithis you prefer, or certain ways people sing ragas you prefer, but as far as possible, judge each rendition on its own merit. You may think GNB's Himagiri Thanaye is the only one worth listening to. That does not mean everyone else does, or cares that you do. Point out sruthi lapses and other 'defects' when you say a piece was sung poorly. Don't just say 'oh he murdered that song because it was no where near how well KVN sang it in a small village concert in Banganapalli in 1974.. '

Third, what is needed is the ability to identify major ragas. It's okay if you cannot tell a Kaikavasi or a Vandanadharini, but most major ragas should be pretty identifiable. (To those nitpickers, no. Vandanadharini is NOT a common, major raga, no matter how much you plead. It makes you appear pretentious for claiming it is). If you're having difficulty identifying main ragas that the artiste has sung, and you're still confused as he starts singing 'Kaddanuvarikki' it means one of two things, the artiste is beyond atrocious and not worth reviewing or two, you have a long way to go before you can review anything.

Fourth, do some research and get the song names right. Please. It is Orajupu juchedi nyayama, NOT Oraju pujoo chedinyayama (this poor krithi's name has been so badly mutilated!). It's one thing to get the name of an obscure krithi BMK pulled out of his own hat the day before the concert wrong, but common ones, PLEASE get it right or you look stupid. If the artiste got the name wrong and you are sure of it, (and double sure) point it out. There is no excuse for singing Pavanathmaja gaccha unless the artiste is an atheist.

Fifth, a review is not a platform to show how much music you know (Some readers of reviews also might benefit from this information). That platform is the stage. A review is a means for you to assess fairly a performance for the benefit of others. Avoid needless jargon. If you have to use some jargon, explain what it is. If you can't explain what it is, don't use the term. Not everyone is an armchair mridanga vidwan like you, so if you are explaining how good a thaniavarthanam was, throwing in big terms may stoke your ego, but to a reader you appear like a snob. Worse still, if you make a mistake there, the other vidwans will pounce on you like dogs on a three legged cat. Trust me. Once I suggested that a noted female artiste sang a bad version of Manji, but turns out it was Chintamani (for some reason I always get those two krithis of Syama Sastri mixed up), and I deserved all the brickbats I got, including the one from the artiste herself!

Lastly, be fair. If you are judging a 'heavyweight' like Sanjay Subramanian or T M Krishna, the yardstick is different than when reviewing an up and comer. For the up and comer, a good review might be a confidence boost that he/she may desperately need. It should be an honour to write a good review for someone in whom you see a lot of potential, but again don't go overboard. No, keyboard Satya is not a prodigy, nor is the next podiyan who is pushed onto stage too quick by his overbearing parents. If you are assessing a 'heavyweight', avoid needless hyperbole. Just because you think TNS is the greatest being to set foot on this planet and is a combination of the second coming of Jesus, the Kalki Avatar, The Supreme Nadabramham, Thyagaraja v2.0, etc, doesn't mean everyone else does (I for one think he's great because in one song you can hear upto six sruthi bhedams, all unintentional). There is no need for forum-chamchagiri (yes I just made that phrase up). Even if TNS is reading your review, he doesn't need your sycophantic praise. Give praise where it is due, but always read your review again to make sure you don't come off like someone paid you to write nice things about him/her.

Oh and one more thing, NO CRICKET ANALOGIES. It makes your review appear cheap and frivolous.

Yes what I said above is extremely biased, but then again I am just writing what I feel a good review should have. If you disagree, good. That's what makes for good discussions. Just don't be (too) disagreeable.

[arasi]

The Boeing has landed!

Bala,
Good to hear from you! A post that reviewers, rasikas and performers have to read once, twice and more! By the way, something about Singapore has the ability to produce good reviewers as well. A bright lot you are, indeed!
You have been looked upon by some in your earlier days as the Subbudu of the future. Many of us saw the underlying love that you have for CM and your deep appreciation of it.
I don't need to add to all that you have pointed out. Your post is well worth reading by rasikAs, reviewers, performers and promoters. I hope it leads to some introspection in us all. We don't need anything more than our passion for CM and an open-mindedness to go with it.
Thanks for saying that you see music as the manifestation of soul. It sits well with me. We don't need endless arguments about its being purely bhakti-oriented or as a mere form of entertainment. I find that spending time on arguing about this takes us away and away the time that we have in our living with music.
Once again, welcome back

[srikant1987]

In my vehement opinion, bala747's post deserves to be "stciky". I bow to it!

[sureshvv]

Lots of stuff that I am in general agreement with.

Not everyone is an armchair mridanga vidwan like you, so if you are explaining how good a thaniavarthanam was, throwing in big terms may stoke your ego, but to a reader you appear like a snob.

Not sure about this. Educating the lay reader can be one of the goals of a good review.

Oh and one more thing, NO CRICKET ANALOGIES. It makes your review appear cheap and frivolous.

Absolutely! Boring above all. We seem to tend towards the food analogies mostly

[srikant1987]

If you have to use some jargon, explain what it is.

Suresh, I think this is what he actually means!

[Nick H]

Above all, what is needed is a deep love for music, not musicians

An amazing observation.

[mohan]

Count the typos/mistakes in this review: http://expressbuzz.com/cities/chennai/c ... 40292.html

[mahavishnu]

Mohan, wow! this is unbelievable.

[Nick H]

I'd need your knowledge of ragas and songs to find the mistakes. Whilst I don't like over-blown words like rendition (I don't even like render, rendered, etc) it isn't actually wrong, just bad style.

The New Indian Express has a poor standard of English generally, so not much can be expected of it. I still read it every day!

[srikant1987]

The New IE's still quite fun to read!

[arasi]

The dog ate half the names and chewed up the rest of the homework (sorry, the scribbles this reviewer had made). I hope this does not embolden half-baked reviewers like me into writing reviews, thinking that we aren't so bad after all

[mohan]

You'd think a newspaper would get someone who new a bit more about music to write its reviews. I've made a comment on the site itself and pointed out some errors such as alana (alapana), bhiravi (bhairavi), Hariharam (Hariharan), Dunarga (Durmarga), Thulasi Bil (Tulasi Bilwa), Vidajala Vadhura (vidaja ladhura), Durbar (darbar). I'm sure there are more!

[venkatakailasam]

You'd think a newspaper would get someone at who new a bit more about music to write its reviews. I've made a comment on the site itseld and pointed out some errors such as alana (alapana), bhiravi (bhairavi), Hariharam (Hariharan), Dunarga (Durmarga), Thulasi Bil (Tulasi Bilwa), Vidajala Vadhura (vidaja ladhura), Durbar (darbar). I'm sure there are more!

someone at who new a bit more: read as- someone who knew a bit more

site itseld : read as - itself

It is not my aim to point out the errors. But to that say these happen while typing

venkatakailasam

[Nick H]

The New IE's still quite fun to read!

It also does some good reporting and campaigning work. It certainly would not give it up just because of the grammar!

[mohan]

But to that say these happen while typing

That's why we have proof readers and editors!

[srikant1987]

I've made a comment on the site itseld and pointed out some errors such as alana (alapana), bhiravi (bhairavi), Hariharam (Hariharan), Dunarga (Durmarga), Thulasi Bil (Tulasi Bilwa), Vidajala Vadhura (vidaja ladhura), Durbar (darbar).

On the site itseld? The site's seems to be affecting you!

Durbar is just a different spelling for the same thing. It can be accepted, just as we accept (?) Nick's "tanum".

I'm fairly sure alana, bhiravi and Hariharam must have been typos. Possibly dunmarga was intended where dunarga is.

[ajsriram]

Never knew that this was started on 20th dec last year. Would have writted the same here too.

Before reviewing / criticizing one should ask themselves if they are eligible to comment. If conscious permits they can start writing if not they have to live with what is happening around them.

The Link goes here : http://it-all-happens.blogspot.com/2011 ... ritic.html

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Carnatic Music Turns Me On

[mahavishnu]

If conscious permits they can start writing if not they have to live with what is happening around them.

Perhaps they should also ask themselves if they know the difference between "conscience" and "conscious"... :devil:

[ajsriram]

@MV : Just wanted to know if there is any difference between Thoughts and Conscious, if there is please let me know. I am ready to learn. To be precise , if the inner sense of the critics works properly they wont write stupid stuffs.

I am Happy somebody's conscience is Pricked and my THOUGHTS are clear.

[ajsriram]

btw, Mahavishnu thanks for pointing out MY MISTAKE!

[mahavishnu]

ajsriram: Try http://www.dictionary.com
I don't mean to be condescending. The words mean fairly different things. Perhaps your writing could also be as clear as your "THOUGHTS".

Godspeed!

[ajsriram]

You dont have to be condescending, I know you and people know you.

Thanks for your opinion and infact should be treated as advice. Please dont get worked up and thats how rasikas are

[venkatakailasam]

Shri ajsriram
Re: Responsiblities of a reviewer » 20 Jan 2011 19:37

"Never knew that this was started on 20th dec last year. Would have writted the same here too. "

Actually ,this thread was opened on 30th Dec 2010 and not on 20th Dec. Your views "The views have become stale, bad, worse, biased, TOTALLY biased and top of it writting without any knowledge. Yes, I am talking about www.rasikas.org only and nothing else" was posted in your blog on 19th Jan.2011 Your views were on these posting by Shri rajeshnat:
Lack of knowledge : http://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=9851 posted on 31-12-2010

Stale : http://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic. ... 55#p184555 posted on 25-12-2010

Worst : http://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic. ... 55#p183555 posted on 23-12-2010

Bad : http://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic. ... 23#p183423 posted on 24-12-2010

Age factor, Look who is talk about who.. Makes me laugh through out.. Good joke buddy : http://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic. ... 69#p182669 posted on 18-12-2010

What to say, It shows his prowess in music : http://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic. ... 67#p185167
posted on 10-01-2011
So , it would amount nearly a month was taken by you to review the reviews by Shri. Rajeshnat.
And ,so, during this period you have not browsed Rasikas.org as if you have cared to browse you would have come across this thread.
And now after posting it in your blog , you have suddenly found a reason to give the link here.
You are also a member of this forum and you could have posted your views in the same thread where the review was originally posted by Shri rajeshnat itself. This thread is not necessary to post your views.
After all, this would have given us an opportunity to know your views to comment upon.

Did you attend the concerts in question ?
The reviewer had attended the concerts and had given his views on the concert.
You have not provided any reason as to why you consider them as bad or worse or stale etc., and which part of the review
had evoked your above response.

Posting your views in an obscure blog which is not known to many may give you a personal satisfaction initially but it may
not give you many well wishers.

venkatakailasam

[ajsriram]

@ Sri Venkatakailasam : Let me clarify few things

a. 20th was a typo It should have been 30th (unlike conscious which was a mistake )

b. If you have access to the server log of rasikas.org please check what was my last logged on date. If you want to get more details, you can even get what are the links that i have clicked on between 20th Dec and Yesterday. I dont have to find a reason to post a link of my blog here. I always write in a separate thread. I found this thread was apt for the content that i have written and still feel the same.

c. When the reviewers / Critics express their opinion about a particular concert ( surely not by voting or not an unanimous decision), why cant i write about the reviewer/critic which I DONT FEEL GREAT OR GOOD OR BETTER.

d. If the critics / reviewer starts the review by saying or giving a disclaimer saying " I am capable of writing only about melody section (Vocal / Violin) and i do not know anything about intricacies of layam, so i am writing in detail about only about them " then its all fine. If not they don't have to review the concert at all.

Posting your views in an obscure blog which is not known to many may give you a personal satisfaction initially but it may
not give you many well wishers.

e. I am completely inline with the above statement but thats how i am. If possible from next time i will shoot with honey coated arrow so that others will not feel the pain.

To be precise, a reviewer / critic should review the full concert instead of talking only about a specific person on the stage. If it is so then he is biased either about the concept of the concerts or biased only to specific musician category.

I am not talking only about Rajeshnat I could have taken other reviews too, but the prominent reviewer in this forum was rajeshnat, so picked it. I should have picked bharadwaj and others too. Lack of time and lack of patience didn't force me to search through the forum.

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Carnatic Music Turns Me On

[vasanthakokilam]

ajsriram, I am glad you provided the explanation. I request you to do so in your blog as well, without that I did not really get what you are commenting regarding rajeshnat's reviews. Yes, it will be good if you have spread the examples around

Now, I understand the point. The disclaimer you are talking about needs to be there but people have disclaimed that occasionally but not in every review. But why are you singling out rasikas for that? Reviews in newspapers suffer from the same problem. And as you say in your blog, they pretty much use the stock phrases you have nicely collected and make fun of.

Now, let me make it interesting. The collective you, consisting of rhythm enthusiasts, students and professionals, bear some blame on not properly educating the populace at large on what is going on in the rhythm section of a concert and make some concrete efforts to rectify it. Otherwise, all you will get are those stock phrase fillers. May be such efforts are going on but we do not see the results. It is a long term process. Work on giving a path way to rasikas so they can enjoy and talk about rhythm and laya without indulging in technicalities of tala, beat, nadai and what not. That is the friendly challenge I am posing to that collective 'you'.

[srikant1987]

I should have picked bharadwaj and others too. Lack of time and lack of patience didn't force me to search through the forum.

But the reviewers should not pick one musician on stage and present more details on how they did! Wow!

See, Ajsriram, on this forum we know most reviewers, even have an idea of their biases. Because of this, disclaimers like "I am capable of writing only about melody section (Vocal / Violin) and i do not know anything about intricacies of layam, so i am writing in detail about only about them" diminish in importance.

It is a long term process. Work on giving a path way to rasikas so they can enjoy and talk about rhythm and laya without indulging in technicalities of tala, beat, nadai and what not. That is the friendly challenge I am posing to that collective 'you'.

I can't see even melody "talked about" without indulging in intricacies. I believe what is played on the mrdangam can be more completely described by notation than what is sung or even what is played on a reasonably sophisticated melodic instrument. Being described by notation is quality of music with great affinity for technicality.

Whatever I understand of layam comes from sitting through tani Avartanams (and "melodic" kOrvais), putting tALam. I now understand naDais, kArvais, but still can't name the available syllables (after all konnakkOl is so rare).

You can ask for talam-putting to be done discreetly, but to not do it will be much easier in the nearby canteen than within the hall during the tani.

[ajsriram]

May be such efforts are going on but we do not see the results. It is a long term process. Work on giving a path way to rasikas so they can enjoy and talk about rhythm and laya without indulging in technicalities of tala, beat, nadai and what not. That is the friendly challenge I am posing to that collective 'you'.

Challenge Accepted!
To be frank, I don't review the concerts i attend. On the other hand, I am really happy about the way you have replied to my post. I will do my level best to impart what i grasp from the concerts (that i attend) and put it in a way that all can understand.

without that I did not really get what you are commenting regarding rajeshnat's reviews. Yes, it will be good if you have spread the examples around .

I Get your point, Will remove the links from blog or will add a back-track link to this thread from my blog, so that people will get to know more. Again, Its not that I nailed Rajeshnat. I really didnt search for other "rasikas" reviews because of my lack of patience.

Now, let me make it interesting. The collective you, consisting of rhythm enthusiasts, students and professionals, bear some blame on not properly educating the populace at large on what is going on in the rhythm section of a concert and make some concrete efforts to rectify it. Otherwise, all you will get are those stock phrase fillers.

I have started this exercise in Septermber 2008. Have a look @ http://ajsriram.blogspot.com/2008/09/th ... nam-i.html. There are four analysis of the thani avarthanam (only the first part). It was dropped only because i was getting feedback only from laya buffs, people who are interested in layam and not from others. There can be only three reasons, One being I was not clear in what i was trying to say (As many of you feel so ) or people are not interested and finally my impatience. Whatever it is, It was started and ended with in 3 days. There can be another reason too, My writing style doesn't attract many people, which might be true to a large extent.

Leave me, I am not popular, I Crib, I write blogs, I make spelling mistakes, I am not clear in what i write and i pick people. Just wanted to know how many from rasikas.org (one or two or 10 might have attended, dont pick me on this) attended the Thani avarthanam programme conducted only for "Rasikas" who love to enjoy/understand/learn the nuances of thani avarthanam/LAYAM but not able to because of time or not getting proper channel to focus. The topic said "Thani avarthanam for Rasikas Understanding". The Topic says it all, I am sure you would have got the point. It happened in two phases one with 4,3,9 and 5,7 (nadais) on different dates. It was not a full-fledged thani avarthanam nor a Tha-the-Thom-Nam class. It was conducted by Guru Kaaraikkudi Mani and every year this is going to happen during the season. Lets not miss that next time. Leave alone this, How many of US have attended the thani avarthanam concerts held during the last season! Countable!

Efforts have been already taken by musicians long long time back. Lets act, Listen, learn and Enjoy.

You can ask for talam-putting to be done discreetly, but to not do it will be much easier in the nearby canteen than within the hall during the tani.

Out of portion!

-
Carnatic Music Turns Me On

[rajeshnat]

ajsriram
Incidentally most of the time where I browse rasikas any links to blogs and youtube is blocked . I certainly looked briefly yesterday night when you and mahavishnu had some one to one posts . I just saw your crib in general is about reviewers writing only one line about percussionists and I am assuming you did not crib my reviews about the concert or vocal . Unfortunately your writing gave an impression ,that you are taking a jab at only me , even though your intent was to take a jab at those one liner appreciation of percussion artists which is endemic and omnipresent problem.

You dont have to remove your posts on what you wrote about me , I am certainly not feeling hurt but if you feel to correct in general as VK said write few things that you and VK have agreed . We are all ears like this smiile ] .

- Carnatic Turns me on , infact I am wondering in the last half decade how to switch it off :^) .

[ajsriram]

Thanks ! will not remove and will put a back-track link to this post! If you feel that i am picking you its your perception i cant help it.

I know you wont get hurt anyway you dont have to switch it off

-
Carnatic Music Turns Me On

[Nick H]

I'm glad that I understand your intention now: I had misunderstood too.

[mohan]

Here's an interesting review/article (in Tamil) http://solvanam.com/?p=12355

[mahavishnu]

Rajesh: My complaint was regarding Ajsriram's malapropisms.
I have nothing but good things to say about your reviews You knew that already!

[arasi]

Mohan,
Thanks for the link. Great read.

[arunk]

mohan/arasi:

funny but ouch ! Being funny by making fun of others or at the expense of others. We knew this is what comedy can generally be all about for many (i suffer from it to). I didn't know this is what reviews can also be all about. But then again we had subbudu to start it all.

When it is clear that reviewer wants to put more attention on his/her writing than about what/whom he/she is reviewing, it stops becoming a review, and becomes a fiction/short-storycomedic-act. And so begins the ego-trip - although, it would also help to not expose one's ignorance (e.g. about abhEri - but I am presuming Sanjay sang the original one with D1 - don't know for sure).

Arun

[Nick H]

Didn't bala747 say that it was necessary to love music, rather than musicians? To this, we could add loving music more than oneself. Otherwise, it becomes a "column" and columnists, under whatever guise, really only write about themselves.

[arunk]

yes - many them love to "read themselves" most - more than music.