Practice of recording at kutcheris

[anandasangeetham]

if the artists are not worth recording why record at all? then again if the concert or the artist is worth recording do we still go ahead and record? to record or not is the question and it is immaterial if the artist is worth recording or not.

second point ...that carnatic music is open source...for most part it is right but what about tillanas and pallavis..these are most of the time composed by the artist themselves..they select the raga, tala and the structure and render them...do we record them or not? not only is the item a matter of copyright but also the voice and who sings matters..an english note by any other artist is never an equal to MMI, similarly sudha mayee of GNB, Siva siva of Madurai Somu...Bairavi swarajati of SSI ...just a sample ...these gems even if rendered by todays top vidwans will never equal to the ecstasy listening to the masters..I do not subscribe to the view of restricting recording but the arguments put forth is not strong enough.

I also agree that the rasikas recording even with the best available gadgets will not be of pure quality and there will be other noises ...somebody walking ,...somone keeping tala etc these recording will not be able to fetch a market. the recording directly from the mike is better and that will fetch a market though it may have some noises like tala (of the audience from the dias) etc. this may also have tag...Live concert and may be able to garner better market but it will ultimately be the recording quality that will decide the marketability.

another thought....many of us rasikas have many MBs, GB, TBs of music but these are not commercialy availble...why? i think it will be because of the recording quality (on a relative comparison to the commercialy available music) and the economies of such an exercise...

I am not a votary to the strciture that concerts should not be recorded. In my opinion if the concert is worth recording (decided solely by the rasika) then he/she may record it taking the sole responsibility for legal consequences if any.

[Nick H]

If a person's rating of an artist is so low, then what are they doing sitting in the concert, let alone recording it?

I don't think there is much "market" for the recordings.

It is a good point that the value of the recordings is further reduced by all the ridiculous noise that is a part of the "traditional" audience participation, or rather interference. The sound of hand slapping thigh is not pleasant live: it is ruinous to a recording.

[VijayR]

There is an absolutely fascinating M.A. thesis on the topic of (South) Indian music and online dissemination that I found (and read cover to cover). I highly recommend it as a light read... It is by Ms. Jessica Dyck from the Department of Music at the University of Alberta, Canada and is available at: http://www.ualberta.ca/~jmdyck/KeyesThesis.pdf

Ms. Dyck touches upon the issue being discussed here on pages 24-25 of her thesis and refers to the "entitlement to music recordings" that the audience feels. Here is an excerpt:

"I believe that this sense of entitlement to music recordings that seems to be reflected in the pervasiveness of music piracy in India represents part of the driving force behind the music blogging community because they freely record covers of copyrighted material without questioning the legal implications of their actions, as part of a larger music culture accustomed to sharing music widely in the easiest way possible."

She also touches upon alternative licensing models (e.g., Creative Commons) among a variety of other related subjects.

Bottomline, it is the feeling of "impunity" that emboldens people to record at concerts (this is something we don't have at a movie theater). If people knew that someone will certainly come after them with a big stick (figuratively speaking, or maybe even literally!), I am sure that many will at least think twice about feeling entitled to such recordings.

[mahavishnu]

Interestingly, the person that is acknowledged significantly for contributing to this thesis is fellow forumite, Sindhuja (from Bangalore now at UC San Diego).

[varsha]

Frankly , None of the music on show today is worth recording . Heck it does not stay in your mind even on the way back home . Where as a MDR phrase haunts us even while listening to somebody else's concert .
This is all much ado about nothing.

[raghavt]

Frankly , None of the music on show today is worth recording . Heck it does not stay in your mind even on the way back home . Where as a MDR phrase haunts us even while listening to somebody else's concert .
This is all much ado about nothing.

Well said... Most of the concerts are like this... barring a few exceptions. A couple of years ago in Bangalore, one of the leading young Vidwan was giving a concert. People were taking down notes and recording it. I wondered why are they doing this??? There was nothing significant either to note down or record. And such people ... I've noticed do not like the yesteryears Vidwans/Vidushis.

What could be the reason for this behavioural pattern?

Please 4give my typos.

~ raghav.

[Nick H]

A quote comes to mind. Let the dead bury their dead

No explanation, no justification, nothing more will be said --- except that I am not, of course, in any way, referring to deceased artists.