Abhishek Raghuram @ Unnati Aug 13

Rsachi · Post by **Rsachi** » 17 Aug 2012, 17:41

Dear Rasikas,
Abhishek Raghuram, accompanied by V. Srikanth, R. Sankaranarayanan and Guruprasanna, gave a blockbuster=perfect=ThisIsIt concert this week at Unnati.

Started off with Natakurinji varnam, then Chandram Bhaja Manasa, Neevadanegana, Kadai kann, Thaye Yashoda, and a 75+ min RTP in Natakurinji in which he did Ragamalika+Talamalika+Grahabheda all together in the Pallavi.

It was like a ride in a Disney rollercoaster set to some extraordinary Laya+Manodharma+Mridangam accompaniment.

If Chandram Bhaja Manasa made us feel a high like a moon-landing, Kadaikann was like accompanying a world champion sea-surfer.

Abhishek's Begada swaras, Gaa-Ma-Pa matching the neraval/swara point in Sahityam were simply thrilling.

His Thaye Yashoda, started off with Anupallavi, was simply breathtaking. I had once heard KVN with UKS on this and remembered it very much. This Abhishek version was V2.0 on steroids.

The only thing I could say about the RTP was it was Natakurinji's ANoraNIya+MahatOmahIya avatar. (? a trifle too long robbing me of the chance to stay back for tukkadas -already 3 hours into the concert, it was 9:10 PM).

The fusillade of ragas and swaras- I recall only some - Mohana, Shanmukhapriya, Kanada, Janaranjani, Behag...

He then said he would do a talamalika also for a change, and while at it threw in some grahabheda for good measure. So you had flashing rollercoaster views of raga+tala+grahabheda as you dearly clutched at the rails.

I was lucky to hear a musician with a Tendulkar+Kasparov+Tiger Woods+Phelps type of genius. His voice was not at its best, but on his day, this guy can give anyone a total abhishekam.

I felt Srikanth and Guruprasanna were a bit bemused by the deluge. but I must say I heard Sankaranarayanan for the first time, and I think he is a superstar. His left (he's a southpaw) and right were equally nimble, he could produce crisp+deep+complex+razor-sharp responses ALL the time. I just read Rajeshnat's prediction of 2007 that he will go places. I surely wish him VERY WELL.

PostScript:
Here is a snap. It can be titled as Culture vs. Commerce. See the intoxicating combination of McDowells packaged water +RMKV Silks. By the way I wonder why McDowells even bother to advertise their packaged water. Did anyone buy it in the last one year?

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 17 Aug 2012, 22:24

Rsachi
Thank you for your great review ,abhishek - v sankaranarayanan combo is one that I have not seen , in chennai it has not happened atleast in the last few years.When Abhishek gets going which is always the case , that must be a real treat.

Rsachi · Post by **Rsachi** » 17 Aug 2012, 23:27

Yes, Rajeshnat.
Here is a profile of R. Sankaranarayanan on the mridangam:
http://rsnmridangam.com/wp-content/uplo ... rofile.pdf

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 17 Aug 2012, 23:36

Rsachi wrote:
Here is a snap. It can be titled as Culture vs. Commerce. See the intoxicating combination of McDowells packaged water +RMKV Silks. By the way I wonder why McDowells even bother to advertise their packaged water. Did anyone buy it in the last one year?
I am reminded of the saying:
'பனை மரத்தடியில் அமர்ந்து பாலைக் குடித்தாலும் அதைக் கள் என்றே கருதுவர்'

Rsachi · Post by **Rsachi** » 18 Aug 2012, 05:04

Punarvasu, unlettered in Tamil, I resorted to Google Translate:
'Palm tree to sit down and drink milk as it suppose that s'

mahavishnu · Post by **mahavishnu** » 18 Aug 2012, 05:08

Rsachi, A more accurate translation would be: Even if you drink milk under a palm tree, people would only suppose that it is toddy"

thanks for your lovely review. It is nice to see your seasoned perspective!

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 18 Aug 2012, 05:16

Rsachi wrote:Punarvasu, unlettered in Tamil, I resorted to Google Translate:
'Palm tree to sit down and drink milk as it suppose that s'

Now I understand what is a 'WORD to WORD' translation!

Mahavishn , thanks for the translation.

nadhasudha · Post by **nadhasudha** » 18 Aug 2012, 05:37

Sounds like it was a great concert!! Are there any plans to release this concert as an album commercially? I would like to purchase if available

Rsachi · Post by **Rsachi** » 18 Aug 2012, 10:48

Mahavishnu, thanks for your kind words.

Nadasudha, I noticed that many senior and junior citizens were pottering about, snapping photos and videos and also recording. There was also an official video on. But alas, the power went off a few times.

I feel to enjoy Abhishek's music, you need to immerse yourself in it live. But there are two outstanding concerts in S'priya- GNB tribute and 2011 Blr.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 18 Aug 2012, 11:02

mahavishnu wrote:Rsachi, A more accurate translation would be: Even if you drink milk under a palm tree, people would only suppose that it is toddy"

The Hindi equivalent would be 'dUdh kalAran hAth lagi, madhu samujhE sab tAhI'

varsha · Post by **varsha** » 18 Aug 2012, 12:18

I wonder why McDowells even bother to advertise their packaged water. Did anyone buy it in the last one year?

That is the way they have been circumventing Indian Laws which prohibit the advertisement for liquor . They used to it with Soda too . The earliest of such ads was by Dharmendra - Soda Ads are still in vogue on TV

Rsachi · Post by **Rsachi** » 18 Aug 2012, 12:46

Varsha,
you got it. I feel sorry SGBS needs to display such cheap banners in our face.

mahavishnu · Post by **mahavishnu** » 18 Aug 2012, 21:52

I believe Sri R Sankaranarayanan is a member of this forum (username: rsn.mridangam). I am sure he will be pleased to see such a positive review of his performance.

I really like his playing, he has absorbed the Srimushnam style in toto. I think he played a kappi instrument the last time I saw him. Very nice nadham. My best wishes for his continued success. It is good to see him with Abhishek.

The Hindi equivalent would be 'dUdh kalAran hAth lagi, madhu samujhE sab tAhI'

I am reminded of another quote (from watching a Vijay Siva video from another thread)

"mAngAi pAl undu, malaimEl iruppOrku, thEngAi pAl edhurkadi?"

Rsachi · Post by **Rsachi** » 19 Aug 2012, 11:55

Nadhasudha
Sorry my information was wrong, there are no concerts of AR downloadable at Sangeethapriya.org

CHIGO · Post by **CHIGO** » 19 Aug 2012, 12:16

Will anyone complete the review with what he sang after tani. Is there no bangalorean to complete the job. The incomplete review arouses the curiosity more than what is reported

srikant1987 · Post by **srikant1987** » 19 Aug 2012, 12:45

By the way I wonder why McDowells even bother to advertise their packaged water. Did anyone buy it in the last one year?

Yeah, like Varsha says, it cannot advertise its liquor, so the (same) brandname is promoted advertising the drinking water instead.

I think many offices use big McDowells water bottles in their water dispensers.

Rsachi · Post by **Rsachi** » 19 Aug 2012, 14:28

Srikant1987,
The phrase is 'surrogate advertising' - heard it first time 40+ years ago

Rsachi · Post by **Rsachi** » 19 Aug 2012, 20:16

Hello CHIGO,
Lest you be irritated, here is what I did. I called Mr Abhishek himself. He was kind enough to list the remaining items in the concert after the Tani and speeches:
Hey Gopalaka Shloka from Mukundamala+Naneke Badavanu (PD) in Behag
Chandrashekhara - Sindhu Bhairavi
Mangalam.
I am glad I was able to convey my thanks and best wishes to the young maestro.
Thanks
Sachi R

kunthalavarali · Post by **kunthalavarali** » 22 Aug 2012, 09:11

By the way I wonder why McDowells even bother to advertise their packaged water. Did anyone buy it in the last one year?

Yeah, like Varsha says, it cannot advertise its liquor, so the (same) brandname is promoted advertising the drinking water instead.
[/quote]

Subliminimal shall we say?

sais72 · Post by **sais72** » 23 Aug 2012, 17:38

It was a good concert as noted by others.

I noticed that Abhishek used some sort of electronic amplification for his voice microphone. This enabled the lower octave part to be heard quite clearly and loudly. We could hear the vocalist's voice with enough volume even when he was away from the main microphone and did not look like he was singing loudly. It did sound artificial (different) particularly in the lower octave.

Wonder if you all have seen other vocalists use this? What do you all think of the use of additional amplification by vocalists?

Rsachi · Post by **Rsachi** » 23 Aug 2012, 18:20

Yes, Sais72, I saw that too. It seems to be a kind of Pre-Amp+equalizer.
This is a technology developed with electronic musical instruments and Abhishek is obviously adapting it.
At one stage he also asked the Mike guy to adjust the bass amplification for the Khanjira (which was a simple mike feed).
All these are in my opinion welcome if the musicians want to make sure that we hear their best rendition.
However a lot depends on the match between monitor speakers and hall speakers and acoustics. Therein lies many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip.

mahavishnu · Post by **mahavishnu** » 23 Aug 2012, 18:41

All these are in my opinion welcome if the musicians want to make sure that we hear their best rendition.

Couldn't agree more.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 24 Aug 2012, 07:21

sais72 and Rsachi
Thanks I was wondering about something being different , you both expressed it . Also one thing that abhi does is to keep the mike in an angle from ground to top( slant ) like what you see here in http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp ... rge&test=1,

Most of the other musicians keep it as either straight horizontal or top to ground (slant). Does it give a better audio reception to the mike in that ground to top slant.

Rsachi · Post by **Rsachi** » 24 Aug 2012, 08:43

Rajeshnat, my understanding is that a typical concert mike catches the emerging sound flow best when placed directly in front of the mouth horizontally. Imagine how Hanuman entered Surasa's mouth!
All slants will lead to signal drop off. But artistes swerve/tilt etc. to modulate their voice.

CHIGO · Post by **CHIGO** » 24 Aug 2012, 10:15

http://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=
Please see the link. Is it this kind of a mike that he used in unnati? I have seen him using this mike in the recent concerts which has a wonderful capture. But all said and done it is not the mike that matters but the matter delivered vocally.

Rsachi · Post by **Rsachi** » 24 Aug 2012, 10:47

Abhishek's mike in Unnati concert:

Technicalities apart, this was an outstanding recital by the young maestro.

CHIGO · Post by **CHIGO** » 24 Aug 2012, 12:56

http://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=19328
Sorry a wrong link was pasted. This is the right one

Rsachi · Post by **Rsachi** » 24 Aug 2012, 15:10

Hello folks, found a fine video that explains the way one should hold a mike or sing into a mike!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oevSZUU72k&sns=em

varsha · Post by **varsha** » 24 Aug 2012, 16:26

What do you all think of the use of additional amplification by vocalists?

Maybe , the size of the mike should be proportional to the size of the singer ?

VijayR · Post by **VijayR** » 25 Aug 2012, 06:58

What Abhishek uses is a condenser microphone, which is a type of high-fidelity (and expensive) microphone. The most common microphone that we see in sabhas (the one with the big round end) is a dynamic microphone, which is less sensitive (hence, usually less expensive). These dynamic mics have their greatest sensitivity / pickup if one sings directly into the end of the microphone (i.e., position the length of the microphone almost perpendicular to the plane of your face).

Condenser mics come in a variety of shapes (and sizes)... Many condenser microphones have a flat end (almost like a plate) instead of a round end and, usually, the maximum sensitivity/pickup is not if you sing into the end, but rather into one side of the microphone. So, you place the mike almost vertical and sing into the side of the mike, as shown in the picture in @varsha's post (#29) above.

Rsachi · Post by **Rsachi** » 25 Aug 2012, 08:44

Thanks VijayR. I am very interested in these current era mikes.

My own guess was Abhishek uses an AKG D 5 or D 7 dynamic microphone (see http://www.akg.com/site/products/powers ... ge,EN.html).
Is that correct? In such a case, the mike angle can be further explored.

VijayR · Post by **VijayR** » 25 Aug 2012, 18:18

@Rsachi: Yes, in some of the photos in this thread, the mike he used seems similar to an AKG D5. The AKG (and the more popular Shure) microphones are so-called small diaphragm microphones, where the pickup pattern usually extends from the axis of the microphone. These microphones are also commonly known as "end fire" or "top/end address" microphones.

During the past season, I have also seen him use large-membrane microphones where the pickup pattern extends perpendicular to the microphone body and are commonly known as "side fire" or "side address" microphones.

I guess it depends on what the sabha gives him and/or what the sabha mixer can handle.

mahavishnu · Post by **mahavishnu** » 25 Aug 2012, 21:44

I guess it depends on what the sabha gives him and/or what the sabha mixer can handle.

The microphone in question might be specific to that particular concert. I don't think Abhishek brings his own microphone/pre-amp system to places where he performs, as some other artistes like Unnikrishnan do. Most of the time, as VijayR says, artistes make do with what is provided by the sabha/auditorium folks. For e.g. in his recent concert in Canada they used a very interesting setup with ambient surround microphones as shown in this picture. This way the sound is not restricted to what the condenser picks up (from whatever orientation).

pic courtesy CML (from the concert review thread). The acoustics in this concert were simply superb!

mahesh3 · Post by **mahesh3** » 25 Aug 2012, 22:40

mahavishnu sir - anand and abhishek also spend a lot of time with the set-up prior to each concert - they did not have this mike set up in toronto - we were there

- and many locals wondered what abhishek had done and told me that the system there had never sounded as good in other concerts!

mahavishnu · Post by **mahavishnu** » 25 Aug 2012, 22:59

Mahesh, this mike set up was from Ottawa. Sorry about the ambiguity in the earlier post. It was not from the Toronto concert.
And yes, Abhishek does take stage acoustics very seriously and it shows!

Rsachi · Post by **Rsachi** » 25 Aug 2012, 23:21

Quiz question: the Hindu photo, Jaya TV photo and Unnati photo all show Abhishek using the same (AKG D5/D7?) type of mike. Coincidence?

mahavishnu · Post by **mahavishnu** » 26 Aug 2012, 01:22

Rsachi: perhaps it is time to call Abhishek again

Rsachi · Post by **Rsachi** » 26 Aug 2012, 06:38

Mahavishnu, indeed a burning question. So burn the wires? Burn the bridges? Need some sound thinking on this.

A different world order was witnessed yesterday in Ananya i.e.a MIKELESS concert. A veena concert by Vid Srinivasan who came from Chennai and played on his Guru Smt. Rajeshwari Padmanabhan's Veena in a Karaikudi school tribute concert. For those of you who haven't been there, Ananya hall is a wooden-panelled smallish hall tucked away in a car basement, a labour of love for a great music patron Mr. Raghavendra.

Vid. Cheluvaraj accompanied on the mridangam with an understanding soft touch.

About 30 people defied a torrential downpour not witnessed by the tall margosa trees around in a long time and came and sat through. For me Anandabhairavi- O Jagadamba, Varali- Seshachalanayakam, and Kambhoji- O Rangashayi were memorable.

mahavishnu · Post by **mahavishnu** » 26 Aug 2012, 07:04

that's great to hear, RSachi.

Abhishek gave a mikeless concert for Carnatica a couple of years ago. Just brilliant. I think this is exactly what Palghat Mani Iyer had in mind when he went on his no-amp crusade.

The only problem is that the acoustics don't scale very well beyond the small intimate atmosphere that the music was created for (unless it is performed in a European church or a place designed for non-electric/mikeless performances). In most standard Carnatic settings, in the absence of balanced amplification, the mridangam ends up sounding too loud and thus curtailing the manodharmam of all the artistes to some extent. It takes a very seasoned mridangam vidwan to pull this off with sensitivity.

One of the best performances I have heard of this variety is of Karaikudi Subramanian (of the same school) with Trichy Sankaran. One of their sessions was even recorded and released commercially. A must-have for every rasika.

Rsachi · Post by **Rsachi** » 26 Aug 2012, 08:42

Oh really! Will start searching for that recording. Thanks for the tip, Mahavishnu!
When I met Vid Emani Sankara Sastry in '70s, he gave me recordings of his UN and another US concert with Vid Trichy Sankaran. He was appreciative of his mridangam play for the veena.