Six Degrees of Attraction - what makes a musician a star!?

[Sachi_R]

After reading about Sanjay the Kabaali Da Whistle Podu Thalaiva of Carnatic music, after seeing other fanboy Heil So-and-so, after seeing articles and reviews of a successful 2017 season, a question comes up. What makes a star!?



I have conceptualised a model. I call it the Six Degrees of Attraction.

A musician may score in any one of these six degrees

Here are the Six Degrees proposed:

Cadbury Silk - smooth, sweet, silky Oomph, wrapped in golden colours.

Aavin Kova - Sweet, universal appeal, but lacks Oomph.

Ginseng - gives you a high. Is unpredictable, exotic, and full of mystique.

Degree Coffee - pure, authentic, appeals to head and heart.

Puli Inji - unique, sharp, niche appeal.

Tenga Manga Sundal - light, snackish, not so wholesome, but popular like on Marina beach.

So think about it. Where do you place your favourite star?

Remember, some stars may be Ginseng mainly, but also a good Sundal on occasion. Some may be Silk, but on occasion Coffee or even Ginseng.

What do you think of this model?

Now don't come back about parampara, shruti, manodharma, laya strength, stage presence etc. All of this goes to make up the total package of course. Finally, I feel every musician is aligned on one or more of these six Degrees.

What say?

[shankarank]

The analogies have gone from grandmas's food, to finger food, to fast food, to chat, to junk food, to packaged processed carcinogen that does not decay for years - like the fruit cake that gets gifted around during Christmas after Christmas .

Good going!!

கழுதை கெட்டா குட்டிச்சுவர். வர வர மாமியார் கழுதை போல ஆனார்!

Somebody said I made an ass of myself in the forum! So here it is

[Sachi_R]

OK, I get it, you don't like this post.

BTW don't eat that Christmas cake. It was perhaps cooked with margarine, which has a chemical structure close to plastic so is indigestible (it doesn't go rancid even after months.)

[Sachi_R]

Just updating that two diehard fans and knowledgeable rasikas reached out to me with their positive response to the model, and they were pretty clear what the two most important factors were for them vis-a-vis their favourite stars.

So some positive feedback, too!

[sureshvv]

Looks like you were on all of these when you came up with the model.

May I request you to come up with some examples for each category so that it becomes crystal clear as to how your scale may be used?

[Sachi_R]

Sureshvv,
Maybe you're right

Examples of artistes and my mapping them to these "Degrees" will actually spoil the fun somewhat. I do believe that if you think of a musician, and reflect what you like about them... then some of these "Degrees" will fit very well. I truly believe that.

When it comes to any aesthetic experience like music, quantitative models don't work as well as metaphors. Metaphors and similes allow for a kind or mapping.

And by the way, I have found music to be the most powerful intoxicant.For me.

[Sachi_R]

Ginseng:
https://www.organicfacts.net/health-ben ... nseng.html

[Nick H]

I have my doubts as to just how beneficial ginseng is. Not saying no benefit, but these articles tend to be overenthusiastic to say the least. And I did join in the fad, a decade or three ago... I still aged, though!

[sureshvv]

Rather than musicians I find it easier to place a particular concert in one of your categories.

Think you are missing a couple:

7. Tirunelveli halwa: When items are stretched beyond their elastic limit

8. Suthu murukku: When musician gets lost and is going around without exit strategy

[Sachi_R]

Lovely! You're on board.
You're 100 percent right. We can only define one specific musical experience. But the fandom and stardom are all mind map positioning and leverage extrapolated experiences.

Nick, we are not discussing benefit or otherwise. It is purely a paradigm.

[arasi]

Sachi,
Was fun looking at the categories. Glad that sureshvv added my ancient tribal land's goodies. Elastic (yes, we are flexible) from somewhere else halva we have given home to, and native suTRu muRukku.
My question is, why not make paradigm too a category?

[arasi]

Shankarank,
Being a kazhudai (a donkey) is not a bad thing. We all make an ass of ourselves sometime or other here.
So, here we are, gathered by the low wall (kuTTi suvar), the forum, we member folks...

[shankarank]

7. Tirunelveli halwa: When items are stretched beyond their elastic limit

adu tirunelvElikkE koDukkum halvA - ( that is a halva served to a tirunelvEliyite! - meaning a tirunelvEli native can see through the game!)

8. Suthu murukku: When musician gets lost and is going around without exit strategy

1. One of those long drawn svarams in sarasangi by Sri TNS.

2. Another instance of that would be what Sri kiTTAMani Iyer ( MVI disciple and teacher) told Sri sAttur Subramaniam after a concert ( witnessed by one of my oldie friends - a student of kiTTAmani Iyer). "nETraikku svarattilE sutti sutti vandELE , korvai eDukka teriyAmE". - "Yesterday you went round and round in svarams not knowing when to take the final kORvai!"

2(a) Incidentally around that another anecdote about kiTTAmaNi Iyer nit-picking Sri GNB's DakkA. GNB's response - "enna nInga DakkAlE ellam perisA kuttam solrEL" - meaning "what you are finding fault in a rare (or insignificant) rAgam like Dakka?"!.

3. Sanjay's kAmbOdhi Alapana in the year (2003 or 4) I was front row in Cleveland. He could not strike kAmbodhi - irrespective of what he tried. All virtuous detours. TMK was looking around to others - he was also in the front row - to see how people are receiving it . The sabha was adorned by senior Gurus like TRS/SRJ et. al. May be some pressure. And the fact that he was having trouble was confirmed by a CMANA official immediately outside the venue - after the concert - "kambOdhiya eppaDiyellAmO adicchu pArtAn - varavillai" - "He tried hard today to extract kambOdhi by beating around somehow he could not get it"

[rshankar]

Shouldn’t the rAga be Takka (टक्का), not Dakka (डक्का)?

[shankarank]

aDa nIngaluma? ( oh you as well!!) in tamizh iDakkA? and "Ta" will have a "Da" sound and mostly preceded by "i" like also ilakkuvan! - so enna iDakkA?

[rshankar]

iDakkaiyO valakkaiyO, rAgam should retain its name, right?

[shankarank]

It did in tamizh!!

[Sachi_R]

What juicy stories supporting the ideation! Welcome welcome...

A musician going round and round not knowing when to get off is like a boy who is able to ride the bicycle but hasn't learnt how to get off without falling

A parallel to the Tirunelveli halwa. Long ago, I discovered that my favourite Bombay Halwa is also called Karachi Halwa. I immediately said that the story would have been that the chefs made this wonderful sweet and tried to take a bit each from a single piece. It came apart when one of the chefs had reached Karachi. Both the chef and the sweet portion immigrated and So the name Karachi Halwa

Did you notice how from the six Degrees of attraction we have moved on to musical situations, not all of which are associated with stars in positive terms? That means our sense of what happens is almost always embedded in our mental map of the Star. A bit like calling Shiva, "TaskaraNAm pataye namaH"

[harimau]

Shouldn’t the rAga be Takka (टक्का), not Dakka (डक्का)?

Dacca goes with Bangala, Suddha Bangala (as opposed to Waste Bangla).

[rshankar]

Definitely better than East Pakistan!

[sankark]

And to the actual question "what makes a musician a star!?", it all boils down to the birth star. Nothing more nothing less. Right place at the right time yadda yadda..

[sureshvv]

Necessary but not sufficient.

[Ananth]

9. Poondu rasam. If you like it, you swear by it, and if you don't, you swerve away from it!
And there are no converts, you are either born liking it or not.

Easy to give an example... But I won't.

[Sachi_R]

Anantha,
You've got the spirit of the concept exactly right. The model helps us to find out why we like a particular star. It is subjective and hence can't be discussed and debated.

[Nick H]

It is subjective and hence can't be discussed and debated

Is there mutual exclusion there?

[Sachi_R]

In the sense, Nick, that a subjective liking or attraction to a musician or a piece of music leaves actually no scope for debate. You may like A, I may like B etc.

[Nick H]

But we can still discuss!

To you, curd rice may be incomplete without green chilli; to me, it is an assault on my mouth when what I need is post-kaaram refreshment. Neither of us needs to change that, but we can still talk about it.

Hmmm... OK, it wouldn't be a very long conversation. We would be better off sticking to artist A and artist B!

[ratanabhinav]

Attractive voice , enormous vidwat , boundless manodharma , bhava , aesthetics , unique individual style are the six degrees of attraction which would make him/her a star !

[Nick H]

No chopped chilli and pickle?

[Sachi_R]

Attractive voice , enormous vidwat , boundless manodharma , bhava , aesthetics , unique individual style are the six degrees of attraction which would make him/her a star !

Good, perhaps measurable, list!