T M Krishna @ Bangalore Gayana Samaja, 28.10.12

[sais72]

Surprised to see no discussion on rasikas even after 24 hrs after this incident packed concert.

See K P Jayan's review (http://kpjayan.wordpress.com/2012/10/29 ... 8-oct-2012) for details of the concert.

There was not much love lost yesterday between the Gayana Samaja organising committee members and T M Krishna. He is slated to perform at this venue in November and february next year but it will be interesting to see if Gayana samaja (the institution) would itself invite T M Krishna atleast for the next few years. Things went wrong and along with frayed tempers, there was a lot of misunderstanding.

Here are some facts from that evening
* The audio system did not settle down from the beginning. Just after the opening Todi, after Arjun kumar (mridangam vidwan) complained about it, there were several adjustments made but did not seem to help
* After the devatamruthavarshini piece, Krishna complained that there is no feedback at all and they were singing from what was audible from the audience speakers. He said it was stressful and said if there were microphones, they should be helpful to the artists or we should abandon them.
* During the Yadukula kambhoji alapana, there was a constant hum produced by the sound system and it did not seem to subdue despite the artists not performing for a while. T M Krishna had enough at this point and he moved his mic off the stage and said he would sing with out it. He asked the sound system personnel to switch off. Asked the audience to move on to the stage and started the concert. The yadukula kambhoji alapana was thus interrupted.
* He announced that he will start afresh and started with the pantuvarali kriti
* The organisers seemed to run around quite a bit trying to remedy the situation. I learnt later that the mixer blew out due to a power surge and they got a replacement a little while later. The organisers suggested to T M Krishna to try the audio system again around the start of the tani but he declined.
* The audio system did seem to make some noises in between when the artists thought it was completely off and all of them unplugged the microphones after a while.
* Towards the end, the organisers asked for a short intermission to propose the vote of thanks which Krishna waved off indicating not now. The organisers thought it as though he did not want a vote of thanks.
* Dr. Prasad of Gayana Samaja apologised for the trouble to the audience at the end of the concert but also indicated to T M K that he needs to be more accommodative and that the Gayana Samaja was not just any other Sabha and was an 'Institution' etc. T M Krishna who was clearing up at this time just got up from the stage and seemed to just walk off after acknowledging several rasikas.

T M Krishna was right in demanding the right set up for the concert and the Gayana Samaja clearly failed on Sunday. T M Krishna insistence on several issues during a concert (audio setup, no flash photo graphy, no recording, no interruptions etc.,) and public admonishing of people comes across as being arrogant to a few.

It would have been nice if the organisers had suggested a short break during which they could have tried to fix the audio system instead of trying to fix it during the concert.

[Rsachi]

After a long break, I recently started attending concerts at BGS. I felt the sound system needs attention and wrote to them on Sept. 24 as follows. They have not replied to me:
Date: 24 September, 2012 9:08:47 AM GMT+05:30
To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
Subject: Sound levels in BGS concerts

The Bangalore Gayana Samaja
Krishna Rajendra Road, 
Bangalore 560004 
E-mail : [email protected]

Contact person 
President - Dr. M R V Prasad - 9886044856

Dear Dr. Prasad,
First of all my heartfelt thanks for the immeasurable delight of music and dance programs held in the Samaja over so many decades. 

We discuss the concerts held in the Samaja often at Rasikas.org. You may see the latest thread here: 
http://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=19994

There have been many recent reports at Rasikas.org about uncomfortably loud volumes in the Samaja concerts. Perhaps your sound system needs recalibration to match the sound levels on monitor speakers to match the decibel levels inside the auditorium. A decibel level check would also be in order during concerts to ensure there is no loudness discomfort to Rasikas. 

I do hope you will take this in the same constructive spirit in which I have written the email message.

Thank you.


Sachi

[sureshvv]

T M Krishna insistence on several issues during a concert (audio setup, no flash photo graphy, no recording, no interruptions etc.,) and public admonishing of people comes across as being arrogant to a few.

I am glad TMK is taking the initiative to do this. No one wants to touch this and it really detracts from the quality of a concert.

[braindrain]

On the musical side of the evening, this is what was sung.

Vocal : T M Krishna

Violin : R K Sriram Kumar

Mrudangam : Arjun Kumar

Ghatam : Giridhar Udupa

Song List:

01. gajavadana – thODi – Kumara Ettendra ( N,S)

neraval & swara @ ‘vAgvilAsa kArtikEya guhavara’

02. evvarani – dEvAmrutavarshiNi – Thyagaraja ( A )

03 YadukulakAmbOji – ( A ) – ended abruptly , thanks to the issue with the amplification.

04 Siva Siva Sivayana rAdA – pantuvarALi – T ( N )

neraval @ ‘Agamamula nutiyinci’

05 SrI vAlmIkalingam chintayE – kAmbOji – aTa tAla – Dikshitar ( A,N,T )

neraval @ ‘shankaram sOmakulAmbikAmbhOja madhukaram’

06 RTP – rudrapriya – Chaturasra Triputa x 2 kaLai

pallavi line ‘ AkAsha rUpam Sivam, rAgOtsava(?) vaibhavam bhajE ‘

ragamalika swaras in ‘rudrapriya, sindhu bhairavi, behag, naLinakanti, dEsh, dwijAvanti, nIlAmbari

07 bArO krishNayya – rAgamAlika – Kanaka Dasa

08 sLOkam ( rAmAya rAmabhadrAya rAmachandrAya) – khamAs

brOchevAravarurE – khamAs – Mysore Vasudevacharya

09 nenjukku nItiyum (?) – punnAgavarALi – Subramanya Bharati?

10 rAmachandrAya janaka ( mangaLam) – kurinji – Bhadrachala Ramadas

[Ramam]

There has been some disregard to the SOUND SYSTEM at Gayana Samaja. In my earlier thread I had mentioned about banging mridangams.

The organisers care for theme stage decorations but miss out on the essential , a quality sound system. This was a musical festival and not one single program. They should have the systems with redundancy well in tact. The Rama lalithakala mandira had a separate audio system while using the Samaja in the recent past.

From Krishna's side he could have accommodated for a break and then testing with a fast ravichandrika or kadanakudhukalam and come back to yadhukula..in mind. A new start was unnecessary and did not suit a sabha ( samaja / anywhere). He could have complained more earnestly probably before the curtain took of with a good test.

Although it was nice to listen to artist's voice there seem to be frequently a small amplification from the mikes kept on the floor. The volume was good. The high volume requirements need a re-look. Thanks to the audience who kept near silence, a vintage effect was prevalent, from both the sides.

From the organisers side they took the initial complaints lightly ( one could see a wave of hand to the mixing location than going personally and rectifying the complaint of the artist) and could have communicated to the artist about their plans/ efforts.

The present team on the Samaja side is keen to handle VIP's , stage decorations than earnest GOOD MUSIC. The monthly magazine from the samaja is a mere notice-sheet.

Institutions stand tall by their standards not by mere age. They should maintain it always. Of late the monthly concerts have poor attendance and most of the Samaja office bearers are usually absent.

[squims]

Ah, I guess it was a good thing I couldn't make it to this one. I hope Gayana Samaja learns from this experience. For an 'institution', they have a dismal auditorium and sound system. The Samaja provides us with amazing concerts every year. It's one of my favourite places to attend a concert, but the ambience and sound system really leave a lot to be desired.

P.S. Wasn't there some big idea about converting the place into a new concert hall with state of the art technology or some such thing? What happened to that?

[devan]

Tm.Krishna,i really appreciate your guts.most of the carnatic musicians are spineless.they accept whatever the organisers offer.kindly do the same thing in Naradaghanasabha and Krishnaghanasabha.Morethan the rasikas, the musicians will be eternaly grateful to you.

[sureshvv]

KGS is usually good. NGS definitely needs attention. Yesterday it was quite good and when they attempted to fiddle with it during the thani, TMK said "correct-a irukku... Anavasyama nondadhengo"