How much is too much in music?

[Rsachi]

Dear rasikas,
I want to share a question, born in my devilishly unbusy mind, with you.
Is there something as too much of music?

Like every one of nature's lovely phenomena, a moderation and seasonality, a balance and appropriateness of occasion, or the surprise of the unexpected, seems always to add immeasurably to the beauty of anything. Imagine if you got Diwali sweets gift boxes every week. Or you got lovely Raspuri (or Malgova if you prefer) mangoes every day at Nilgiris. Or you ate a 40 course buffet at Taj Corimandel or Marriott UB City (more like 80 course there) ever so often.

So there are natural limits to what is enjoyable. That is the key idea of "Dharma" also. Buddha's middle path.

Now how do you make sure you enjoy music to your best capacity without excess? I want to share my approaches and invite your list:
1. I don't have music go on all the time in the background.
2. I listen with total attention to the best of my availability.
3. I look forward to new musical exposure, eg radio, or webcast etc rather than keep playing from my collection
4. When someone recommends a musician or an album, i try to buy it/give it a listen, with an open mind.
5. I never overdose myself with music from my favourite musician/s.
6. I avoid the round-the-clock music extravaganzas or all night festivals with 10 musicians performing from 6 PM to 6 AM.
7. I don't record during concerts.
8. I don't target listening to all the Begada i can lay my hands on today or have an all Dikshitar akhandam tomorrow..

So now what do you say? Of course you may have a lot more appetite, knowledge or sensitivity to music than me. The definition of moderation varies from person to person. But still, it is important for me to know how you manage this.
So please tell me when is too much and what are your tricks to keep your musical rasikatva at its peak?

Thanks in advance!

[VK RAMAN]

I do not want carnatic or for that matter any music to be an obsession or to force myself to listen.

[hnbhagavan]

Music should be such that you should long for it.Hence listening music all day would not make sense.Sometimes going every day for music program also does not make sense.But this is unavoidable as the programs come in a series.I do look for new collections - may be web or whenever possible buy a new release.I do not like to go for all night programs also.I find it is more chit chatting and eating.I listen to different musicians each day.Generally at home i listen to yester year concerts which no longer will be available live.
Ex: KVN,MSG,UKS or MDR,Lalgudi,Palght Mani or GNB-LGR-Palghat Mani/Raghu
My best concerts of course are the live ones -

[Rsachi]

KVN,MSG,UKS or MDR,Lalgudi,Palght Mani or GNB-LGR-Palghat Mani/Raghu

Superclassic!

[ramamantra]

Boring.

Like CM concerts, the forum appears in danger of being completely taken over by senior citizens and threads being only of ramble-value.

[cacm]

Boring.
Like CM concerts, the forum appears in danger of being completely taken over by senior citizens and threads being only of ramble-value.

I AGREE........WHY DONT YOU START DISCUSSIONS ON SOMETHING "SUBSTANTIAL"? I MAY FAIL TO MEET YOUR HIGH STANDARDS BUT AS YOU KNOW IN FORUMS LIKE THIS L.C.D. (LOWEST COMMON DENOMINATOR) IS THE BEST ONE CAN EXPECT! INCIDENTALLY I AM TOO LAZY TO SHIFT BETWEEN UPPER& LOWER CASE. I AM NOT ANGRY! VKV

[VK RAMAN]

Senior citizens have two horns. Go easy guys. Rsachi comes up with ideas. If you do not like don't shout at him. One can choose tobe silent or can start a topic of his/her choice.

[Rsachi]

rAmamantrava japiso hE manuja
A mantra I mantra japisi keDalubEDa
rAmamantrava japisO

(the second line alone needs translation: don't chant THIS or THAT mantra and become a lost soul )

Ramamantra, I am FULLY (not angry, but added for emphasis), in agreement. This forum is being hijacked by insufferable, senile, worthless, fools like me. Unfortunately, by the time I get this old, I am incorrigible. This forum also has no strict policing of posts.

I wish I could just be constantly in rAmamantra. I would then need neither this forum and I daresay no music either, because "rAma" is the ultimate music.

[ramamantra]

Relax, rsachi. You can carry on your thinnai-talk. I'm nobody to interfere. I'll retire in a decade or so and probably will join you then.

But, somehow as of now, I feel oldies are way too hyper. Not only you, rsachi, but ppl I know who are 80+ as well. Perhaps they define the new oldies. Gone are the days when you saw them sitting in a corner of the house and reading Ramayana. The new crop of modern and educated ones simply think it is a waste of time. (they need to do things more 'meaningful'). Plus, they have houses of their own, so they think they don't need to listen to their sons. But, then the worst part is, if they decide to act on something instead of simply talking, they are unable to do it (but they'll never accept). Anyways, that's my experience, that's all.

More than ramamantra, I'm trying (unsuccessfully most of the times) the Ramana-mantra of silencing the mind.

[varsha]

Hours before passing away My Dad called me near and asked me to take good care of Mom.
With these words
Remember Son , Old age requires very little. But requires that very badly .So.....
Rsachis poser is not just worthy of idle talk . Just as our concept of the universe has changed over the past hundred years , Our concept of what constitutes the bulk of our musical legacy has changed immensely after the advent of mp3 , altruistic archivers , dedicated software guys directing their energies to scintillating effect .Leaving People like RSachi bemused . That is a feeling that I have experienced too. And have been struggling to compose an appropriate response .
So let us not belittle old men .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNK6h1dfy2o

[varsha]

RSachi
I will post a reply by tomorrow .
Here is something that should please you and your ilk.
*****
The OLD AND The NEW

There is a world of difference between working with new lumber and wood that has seen years of service to man.
New lumber has the smell of oak moss , leaf mold and sometimes violets. Its smooth uniform surfaces speak of gang saws ripping through the knots and gnarls of a thick log.
Old wood has a woody smell only when it is sawed. Then the heavy fragrance of rotting timber fallen long ago blend with the acrid odour from the finish singed by the saw. There are also hints of the room once inhabited , of a subterranean dampness , or a wine spill.
New lumber has not forgotten the green growth of the forest. It has sticky resin – sometimes a pocket , sometimes a sheen . And juices which make it expand and contract , curl and cup .Bow and warp.
Old lumber is resigned to a life of service to man, and it submits to his will and whim .It hardly moves it hardly changes.It is stable and mature accepting of the time and space found .But occasionally an old board lets out a sigh that sounds like a long forgotten whimper , or a bullet’s report.
New wood looks like a topographical map .
Old wood depicts history as well .Coronations , civil strife and invasions. The ubiquitous nail holes have crowns , halos and lances that can be metallic , russet or black. Discoloured streaks and patches reveal where pictures once hung , the sunlight fell or the molding was.There are bruises and gashes , charred traces of cigarettes stamped out too late and tiny particles of ghostly chalk that seeped through from plaster boards into two-by-fours.
Used lumber is an inheritance that usually goes unclaimed .It becomes one’s own , when it is turned into needless objects. The rehabilitation project is an adjustment .
The start is where others left off.
Charles Fenyvesi in Washington Post

[Rsachi]

Varsha, how eloquent. Only someone who has lived amidst trees and lumber yards and well appointed bunglows with wooden staircases can relate to this fragrant prose.

When I see, driving in ugly urban chaos with roads full of hardware, cement, and construction materials, with occasional yards displaying wooden doorways, carved doors, window frames and ornate pillars and beams, torn down gleefully by demolition businesses during the fall of elegant old houses built with love and pride which are torn down making way for inelegant 2BHK units in the name of development... I wonder. What stories what tears what wedding bells and children's laughter are torn down and stacked away with these wooden relics? Now sold with contempt and priced by cubic feet, these were once accompaniments to a vibrant life narrative.

[shankar vaidyanathan]

RSachi,

I will be retiring in two decades. I have a different perspective.

I listen to CM at least for two hours everyday. Mostly this music is vocal CDs download to my iPhone, Carnatic Radio App, or, Sangeethapriya App. Usually I wake up with a phrase (Pakad/Chalan) of a Raga in the morning, sometimes it stays for several days. This is a completely random process.

Even when I'm not actively listening, I still "hear" an undercurrent of melody or rhythm in everyday things surrounding us. This is passive and it then takes me on to lateral trains of thought.

I prefer live concerts but mostly get by with CDs. I am very selective in what artist's works I pay to buy. I work within a budget to maximize my listening pleasure. Repeated listening is key. I really like the Sangeethapriya radio concerts as they are good quality at no cost. At multi course buffets, I select one item, stay with it but indulge in that.

In summary, I am like the Poet Kamban's cat, wanting to drink the all of the "Sea of Milk" (பாற்கடல்.) So, nothing is too much for me as far as CM is concerned! Moderation, why?! After all, we have one life to live!!

[Rsachi]

Shankar,
Thank you for your detailed response. That was indeed my expectation for this question.
I have 192 GB of reasonably high quality (CD quality mostly) music of CM, HM and WCM in my pocket (micro SD cards+phones help in that).

For 40 years i was travelling (or living) by myself in all sorts of environments. But my trusty - noise-cancelling or isolating-headphones (a wide array now with Bose, Sennheiser and Sony) and several players were always handy for me to listen to any music of my choice.

Like you, i have heard my favourite pieces and musicians with a heavenly thrill in so many places. They are all geotagged in my memory in a strange way

I hear a few hours of music on any typical day. Right now it is Ariyakudi +TNK +PMI playing on 100.1 FM Yadukula Kambhoji (Yarendru Raghavanai)

But moderation is always present if not an ideology then a phenomenon. I bet you're also moderating your choices, by duration, genre, artiste, etc. but what we call one man's moderation becomes sometimes another's excess.

Thank you again.

[Purist]

Varsha wrote-- "So let us not belittle old men .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNK6h1dfy2o"

Very nice and touchy video Varsha. I had read about this earlier as a story, but the video makes you feel it.
I have come across a lot of such situations in real life and often wonder
" how much patience is less in life " ( a la in Rsachi's style

[Rsachi]

Dear Varsha and Purist,
I loved that short film.
Here is something I wrote when I saw a French film, a few years ago:
http://rsachi.blogspot.in/2010/12/if-yo ... ghban.html

It is a wonderful story about being old, being good, being able to love and give.

[VK RAMAN]

Started sobbing after watching the video. Story of our life.

[Purist]

Rsachi..reverting to main thread 'how much is too much in music' , we all are aware about 'law of diminshing returns'.
Its application is universal. I dont have fixed schedule for hearing, yet do listen for an hour or so, as and when possible.
My take is, when you sense diminshing return is setting in give a break for few days/week (individual choice) and get back.
(diminshing return here is waning interest)
I guess 'how much is too much' is beyond quantification.

[SrinathK]

It happened to me once on a free Saturday, when I was all alone (WARNING : The following stunts were performed by a teenager in an IIT hostel with unlimited freedown on an idle weekend with NOTHING to do. Do NOT try this at home)

1) Wake up in the morning, freshen up, start work, listen to music, music, and more music --- <tick tock tick tock> Somewhere in the middle remembering to eat (probably forgot lunch) -- alapanas, songs, padams, varnams, neravals, swaras, RTPs, bhajans, tanis, basic lessons, concerts.
2) Reach the point where your brain has been pushed to the breaking point of absorbing music like an ultramarathon, then push even further a little beyond that limit.
3) Reach the point where the only music your brain wants is PURE SILENCE! Then read a book on music subjects after a 15 min bathroom break.
4) Finally when your eyes are ready to close involuntarily and you find yourself microsleeping without realizing (not to mention --- Look at the clock : "AAARGH! It's 3:30 a.m! @$#$#)@#)@#!"
5) Realization that you have the rest of your life to attend to as well....
6) Hit the sack promising yourself that you would live a more balanced life from next day and that you don't want to hear any music for a week after that ultramarathon.
7) Understanding that the line between inspiration and insanity is very, very thin. (Hint : The secret is the ability to control the "off switch" at will.) and that people have dropped dead after gaming for days together non-stop.

Never did that again... -- by the way, this wasn't nearly as crazy as the things which some others have done.

But I did keep the music running to keep myself sane if I had to put in a late nighter at college (didn't listen much to it though).

Some years later when I was not a teenager and wasn't willing to put all nighters anymore -- (ok, this happened 4 months ago ), I once did spend another Saturday and the Sunday mass downloading a huge collection of compositions and adding as many as 230 songs in the song list + several DOZEN youtube downloads (that because most of them were well known to me). Added 14 days of playing time to my CM playlist in the process. Thank you Sangeethapriya and your tribute pages, thank you Youtube uploaders -- you helped me strike gold!

Swore after that day to add only 3-5 songs per day to that list at any time.

[kvchellappa]

That brings balance to this post, Sri Srinath. 'Too much' is relative after all. That also explains your mastery of music in theory and practice. Your posts bear out you understand what you write, a very admirable quality. Thanks for all your posts.

[Rsachi]

SrinathK,
Spot on!