Phones in Concerts

Vipanchi · Post by **Vipanchi** » 30 Dec 2018, 19:31

First off, I'm new here, so I hope this is the right subforum - hope the mods will help otherwise.

A quick keyword search shows that a couple of posts on this subject have been made before but they predate the WhatsApp era, which has brought its own set of new problems.

So my phone-related grouses fall under two categories:

1. Actual aural or visual disruption of the event.
1a. Phones ringing, and continuing to ring as the owner shuffles past half a dozen people to reach the aisle and then plods to the door, only to return unceremoniously after five seconds (presumably to tell the caller that they can't talk and will call later. Couldn't a text accomplish this?).
I feel this could be solved if more people knew about the "vibrate" mode and used it. This way, you know about calls/texts immediately, but it does not make noise.
1b. Bright phone screens, especially when the auditorium is darkened eg for a dance programme.
The best solution is to not use the phone at all, but maybe also reduce brightness? Not sure if everyone knows how to do this.
1c. And a new-age problem - people browsing WhatsApp, accidentally opening a video or a YouTube link and not being able to figure out how to silence it.
This is because in most smartphones, media volume is separate from phone volume (ie the phone could be on silent, but videos could still have volume). Again, we could wait for less savvy phone users to figure this out (and have announcers say "Please put your phones on silent AND mute your media volume"), or address the root issue itself, which brings me to the second point:

2. Extended usage of phones, even if not directly disruptive.
This season, my experience has been that a third or so of the audience members around me were on their phones for the majority of a concert. Most of these people are just hanging around on WhatsApp (some live-updating their friends about the present concert or lecdem), some busy Googling and reading about the present song/raga/artist, some are browsing Facebook and so on. One man in front of me was live-streaming an entire concert on Facebook, when it was already being streamed on YouTube in much better quality and not on a shaky arm! Some take notes on their phones for lecdems, which is obviously less bad, but it all looks the same to the performers.
Now, I am not a performing artiste, but I imagine it must not be nice to sing/play to a sea of bowed heads? Also, the people absorbed in these don't generally heed the artiste's requests (eg yesterday Dr Vedavalli asked audience members not to clap; an old gentleman near me put his phone down only to clap).

Now, the first problem can be resolved by better education about phone functions, but the second will require a cultural shift. This is also eminently doable - the large amount of public discourse about "tani avartanam exoduses" definitely helped to reduce them.

Do Rasikas members have anything to add, to the problems or solutions?

ratanabhinav · Post by **ratanabhinav** » 30 Dec 2018, 21:08

Vipanchi wrote: ↑30 Dec 2018, 19:31 First off, I'm new here, so I hope this is the right subforum - hope the mods will help otherwise.

A quick keyword search shows that a couple of posts on this subject have been made before but they predate the WhatsApp era, which has brought its own set of new problems.

So my phone-related grouses fall under two categories:

1. Actual aural or visual disruption of the event.
1a. Phones ringing, and continuing to ring as the owner shuffles past half a dozen people to reach the aisle and then plods to the door, only to return unceremoniously after five seconds (presumably to tell the caller that they can't talk and will call later. Couldn't a text accomplish this?).
I feel this could be solved if more people knew about the "vibrate" mode and used it. This way, you know about calls/texts immediately, but it does not make noise.
1b. Bright phone screens, especially when the auditorium is darkened eg for a dance programme.
The best solution is to not use the phone at all, but maybe also reduce brightness? Not sure if everyone knows how to do this.
1c. And a new-age problem - people browsing WhatsApp, accidentally opening a video or a YouTube link and not being able to figure out how to silence it.
This is because in most smartphones, media volume is separate from phone volume (ie the phone could be on silent, but videos could still have volume). Again, we could wait for less savvy phone users to figure this out (and have announcers say "Please put your phones on silent AND mute your media volume"), or address the root issue itself, which brings me to the second point:

2. Extended usage of phones, even if not directly disruptive.
This season, my experience has been that a third or so of the audience members around me were on their phones for the majority of a concert. Most of these people are just hanging around on WhatsApp (some live-updating their friends about the present concert or lecdem), some busy Googling and reading about the present song/raga/artist, some are browsing Facebook and so on. One man in front of me was live-streaming an entire concert on Facebook, when it was already being streamed on YouTube in much better quality and not on a shaky arm! Some take notes on their phones for lecdems, which is obviously less bad, but it all looks the same to the performers.
Now, I am not a performing artiste, but I imagine it must not be nice to sing/play to a sea of bowed heads? Also, the people absorbed in these don't generally heed the artiste's requests (eg yesterday Dr Vedavalli asked audience members not to clap; an old gentleman near me put his phone down only to clap).

Now, the first problem can be resolved by better education about phone functions, but the second will require a cultural shift. This is also eminently doable - the large amount of public discourse about "tani avartanam exoduses" definitely helped to reduce them.

Do Rasikas members have anything to add, to the problems or solutions?

There's a medical college in Lahore , where professors smash and break phones of the students if they're found using them in class .
Maybe we should try to implement that here

Sachi_R · Post by **Sachi_R** » 30 Dec 2018, 23:51

There was a Music Academy Awards function or something that was streamed in Youtube a couple of years ago. There was a vast array of young and old musicians on the stage and a couple of speeches were made. MOST of the musicians were shown fiddling their phones.

Obama was caught texting on his Blackberry in a major function.

Politicians are routinely caught browsing skin flicks in assemblies.

Many maamis and maamas would like to show off their smart phones and also show off how they can't turn them off or silence them in public gatherings.

The phoney era with its ills spells the doom of musical moments. It must become a norm that concert halls prohibit use of phones and confiscate them if found in use any kind, video, audio, photo or messaging. We are ALL addicts and we better admit it.

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 30 Dec 2018, 23:54

Actually talking on the phone is getting more common. And it is not the youngsters: it is elders who should have learnt better manners by their age! Perhaps they used to have them: last year they would not do this, this year they do. How come! - I say, making that lightbulb-twisting gesture in their direction.

They even do this when just a few steps from the door - at which I sometimes point.

And what's this head between the legs thing? Do they have the brains of a mouse, that thinks it can't be seen if it hides its head?

This is my basic rule: if the activity is silent, it's ok. Maybe they might just as well be at home, but at least they are not bothering others.

Guilty: yes, I do check and send messages sometimes. My wife and I use phones as a notepad to talk to each other. I'd rather people did that than chatted.

Bright screens is a good point. Have never been able to make my wife understand that hers is a distraction to me when driving. But perhaps mine is a distraction to others in concerts

. I do reduce the brightness. I would not do what I do in normally-lit music concert of I was in a darkened dance performance.

Mobile phones can be good, even in the concert hall. It's a matter of how we use them.

On the other hand, perhaps Sachi is right!

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 31 Dec 2018, 01:06

OTOH, all of us enjoy Srinath’s, Suresh’s, and Vijay’s on the spot reporting... and theirs may be some of the phones that’re on...But none of them have reported live from a nATyam performance...presumably, a phone screen that’s on during a music performance should not be as bothersome...

I think offenders should be bonked on the head when they disrupt a program with calls/unmuted media etc... but phones should be spared!

It’s the people folks (an argument way more potent than the NRA’s, IMO)...

ratanabhinav · Post by **ratanabhinav** » 31 Dec 2018, 07:08

ratanabhinav wrote: ↑30 Dec 2018, 21:08
Vipanchi wrote: ↑30 Dec 2018, 19:31 First off, I'm new here, so I hope this is the right subforum - hope the mods will help otherwise.

A quick keyword search shows that a couple of posts on this subject have been made before but they predate the WhatsApp era, which has brought its own set of new problems.

So my phone-related grouses fall under two categories:

1. Actual aural or visual disruption of the event.
1a. Phones ringing, and continuing to ring as the owner shuffles past half a dozen people to reach the aisle and then plods to the door, only to return unceremoniously after five seconds (presumably to tell the caller that they can't talk and will call later. Couldn't a text accomplish this?).
I feel this could be solved if more people knew about the "vibrate" mode and used it. This way, you know about calls/texts immediately, but it does not make noise.
1b. Bright phone screens, especially when the auditorium is darkened eg for a dance programme.
The best solution is to not use the phone at all, but maybe also reduce brightness? Not sure if everyone knows how to do this.
1c. And a new-age problem - people browsing WhatsApp, accidentally opening a video or a YouTube link and not being able to figure out how to silence it.
This is because in most smartphones, media volume is separate from phone volume (ie the phone could be on silent, but videos could still have volume). Again, we could wait for less savvy phone users to figure this out (and have announcers say "Please put your phones on silent AND mute your media volume"), or address the root issue itself, which brings me to the second point:

2. Extended usage of phones, even if not directly disruptive.
This season, my experience has been that a third or so of the audience members around me were on their phones for the majority of a concert. Most of these people are just hanging around on WhatsApp (some live-updating their friends about the present concert or lecdem), some busy Googling and reading about the present song/raga/artist, some are browsing Facebook and so on. One man in front of me was live-streaming an entire concert on Facebook, when it was already being streamed on YouTube in much better quality and not on a shaky arm! Some take notes on their phones for lecdems, which is obviously less bad, but it all looks the same to the performers.
Now, I am not a performing artiste, but I imagine it must not be nice to sing/play to a sea of bowed heads? Also, the people absorbed in these don't generally heed the artiste's requests (eg yesterday Dr Vedavalli asked audience members not to clap; an old gentleman near me put his phone down only to clap).

Now, the first problem can be resolved by better education about phone functions, but the second will require a cultural shift. This is also eminently doable - the large amount of public discourse about "tani avartanam exoduses" definitely helped to reduce them.

Do Rasikas members have anything to add, to the problems or solutions?
There's a medical college in Lahore , where professors smash and break phones of the students if they're found using them in class .
Maybe we should try to implement that here

Using phones in concert halls to text isn't disturbing at all . Maybe if it rings loudly it is . We need to focus on the performer and not the person sitting next to us . After all , the person might have got important texts on his phone to reply to immediately. People have lives outside the concert hall and concerts are meant only for entertainment . . This isn't a national or international delegate conference of secret national ( or international ) affairs or a school or a college for mobiles to be confiscated .

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 31 Dec 2018, 07:12

if you are an artist and if you have 300 in the crowd . in that 300 if 250 are fiddling with phone think about motivation of performers

sureshvv · Post by **sureshvv** » 31 Dec 2018, 08:11

As long as the accompanists don't start checking their phones during the performance, I think the artistes will be okay

ratanabhinav · Post by **ratanabhinav** » 31 Dec 2018, 08:16

rajeshnat wrote: ↑31 Dec 2018, 07:12 if you are an artist and if you have 300 in the crowd . in that 300 if 250 are fiddling with phone think about motivation of performers

They ( performers ) should know what is good music and just give it out ,( not bothering about these people). If the music is really good , people will automatically put their phones down and listen .

Sachi_R · Post by **Sachi_R** » 31 Dec 2018, 08:33

Guys,
I disagree with this:

Using phones in concert halls to text isn't disturbing at all . Maybe if it rings loudly it is . We need to focus on the performer and not the person sitting next to us . After all , the person might have got important texts on his phone to reply to immediately.

I really would like to resolve that in 2019, my phone will remain in my pocket in Vib mode and silent. If something as urgent as deciding the next CM of Karnataka comes up, my phone stirs. I will wait for an opportune non-Tani break, decently edge my way out, check it, and give my damn judgement, and sneak back unobtrusively, perhaps after turning off the beast so no more disturbances in a concert.

Imagine a sabha or audience which can tell the artistes:
Our sabha audience DOES NOT USE OR CHECK MOBILES OR OTHER GADGETS.
Huge USP.

Sachi_R · Post by **Sachi_R** » 31 Dec 2018, 08:59

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 31 Dec 2018, 09:00

sureshvv wrote: ↑31 Dec 2018, 08:11 As long as the accompanists don't start checking their phones during the performance, I think the artistes will be okay

I think they sometimes do.

Funniest thing I saw was a singer, after requesting phone silence from the audience, looking around furiously as the ring tone went on... And on... And on... Until the Mridangist pointed out that it was the singer's phone!

Maybe the next thing will be texts from the audience to the artists. Requests... And even comments?

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 31 Dec 2018, 09:05

most of the elders donot even know to keep ringtones in silent and vibrate.Also many of them think they can talk softly when music is on. certainly disgusting. of late texting in whatsapp also gives minimal sound . As such go to big hall like kamaraj hall atleast one of them will endlessly talk.

SrinathK · Post by **SrinathK** » 31 Dec 2018, 09:43

I totally agree. On one hand, the phone is useful for communication, but it is also the thing that has completely disrupted our entire experience of life itself. Now I'm writing these reviews here because I like contributing and people like it, but mainly because I have zero free time outside the kutcheri to write. But I regret that it is disrupting my ability to sit and pay full attention to the concert itself - I have a separate musical ear that can stay on the concert, but still. I feel I'm chopping my vegetables far more than tasting them.

A real music student can grasp little if his mind is not as focused as Lalgudi Jayaraman insisted that it should be in his classes and in concerts - with a smartphone that grasp quickly tends to near zero. I do not think anyone of our generation is capable of such prolonged focus or memory anymore because of all this tech. In fact take the smartphone away for a few days and everyone will need psychiatric treatment. I say that the attention span must have dropped from at least 2-3 hours to mere minutes at the most now.

I can see myself everyone recording everything on their mobiles, people, pictures, music, mother nature, but no matter what it will never, ever be the same as a live experience. We don't even have the time to rewind and watch or listen to whatever we stored anymore because of the hectic pace at which things go, so only retired people have any time at all for any sort of recapitulation. It looks like the phone is far more involved in the concert than we are. What is the use of this over archiving? In those days, recordings were scarce, so every preserved one was valuable. Now it's just obesity. There is a limit to how much a human can digest.

You have all these whatsapp videos and posts and pics coming in daily. It all vanishes from memory within the next 24 hours (or minutes) - so essentially it is useless beyond instant gratification. If you actually try to consciously memorize and try to use some of that information you get, it will take at least 2 weeks to properly learn one or 2 things, and that will only be 0.01% of what info you get - I can vivdly see the rest fading away from my mind in seconds. I have already cut whatsapp down (especially all these groups and more groups) and prefer to talk over phone more. It's dehumanizing.

And if retired people think they have time to rewind, well the concept of retirement might vanish in my generation or by the next one as well. This world will keep losing this world and this life to make a better world that no one will inhabit, because they're too busy losing theirs to make a better one for the future. There are many more smileys, and far fewer smiles. Doesn't it all seem too "phony"? (pun intended)

Yes, there is a separate volume for media. For that you must open a youtube or whatsapp video and as it starts, you again press the volume button to zero. Or else, shortcut, pull down the easy access menu, put the phone in complete silent mode.

My next concert will not have any live review most probably. I am going to try something else for my learning - a new brainwave. @rshankar I know next to nothing about dance itself. It might take a decade or two minimum or never. No spot reviews for dance, I need my eyes on the job as well.

@arasi, I want a poem for this phon(e)y madness!

ratanabhinav · Post by **ratanabhinav** » 31 Dec 2018, 11:09

/quote]
Maybe the next thing will be texts from the audience to the artists. Requests... And even comments?
[/quote]
That' s the best thing ever - in this age of e transparency and responsiveness. Spot reviews , suggestions and requests to artists. They may choose to act upon what they like .

SrinathK · Post by **SrinathK** » 31 Dec 2018, 11:33

Surely you're joking. It will get crazy. If that happens, soon the focus will be on everything but actual involvement in the concert. All it means is that we keep getting distracted on stage also. What for? How will distractions and disruptions help a concert get better that too if 200 people in a hall send whatsapps and live feedback at once? Will the artist spend the whole time reading feedback and spot replying on her phone? Just imagine. Not even 0.1% of this noise is even useful. If there is one thing bigger than individual insanity, it's collective insanity.

Nothing of any deep significance can be achieved if you are getting distracted every 2 minutes. This so called fast paced life is really a very shallow one. This is a completely wrong idea of what real productivity means. I know, I struggle with it wherever I go - it's information overload. I plan to go on a technology detox soon.

Sitting quiet in silence with minimal talk and all ears, free of the incessant need for distraction and anesthesia, focused on music, using tech only for focused learning - this is the musical experience. All the sms and whatsapp should ultimately serve that. It cannot become the very thing that ruins it.

What social media tells me is that the mind is worse than a marketplace's worth of noise - the mind a truly insane object. It works well when creative energy and intuition flows through it and is a disease at all other times. Social media is powerful as a tool, but right now it mostly only reflects the mind's incessant need for more noise.

RSR · Post by **RSR** » 31 Dec 2018, 14:30

Why not have a sound-proof cubicle for the stage?..I mean(!) , audience can hear the music but musicians cannot hear any sound from the hall.
Similar technology can be used so that the audience(!) can see the artistes on the stage but the artistes cannot see the happenings in the hall? why not? this may tackle the problem of people leaving during 'thani' ? I thought smartphone-craze is of younger generation much more than 'retired' guys! No?

Ananth · Post by **Ananth** » 31 Dec 2018, 15:43

RSR wrote: ↑31 Dec 2018, 14:30 Why not have a sound-proof cubicle for the stage?..I mean(!) , audience can hear the music but musicians cannot hear any sound from the hall.
Similar technology can be used so that the audience(!) can see the artistes on the stage but the artistes cannot see the happenings in the hall? why not? this may tackle the problem of people leaving during 'thani' ? I thought smartphone-craze is of younger generation much more than 'retired' guys! No?

Such technology is already there, it's called live streaming. But even here there's a Live Chat feature!

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 31 Dec 2018, 18:57

SrinathK wrote: ↑31 Dec 2018, 11:33 Surely you're joking. ...

Indeed I was

(And don't call me Shirley )

thanjavooran · Post by **thanjavooran** » 31 Dec 2018, 21:54

RSR wrote: ↑31 Dec 2018, 14:30 Why not have a sound-proof cubicle for the stage?..I mean(!) , audience can hear the music but musicians cannot hear any sound from the hall.
Similar technology can be used so that the audience(!) can see the artistes on the stage but the artistes cannot see the happenings in the hall? why not? this may tackle the problem of people leaving during 'thani' ? I thought smartphone-craze is of younger generation much more than 'retired' guys! No?

Let us go back to All India Broadcasting !
Just kidding.
Thanjavooran
31 12 2018

RSR · Post by **RSR** » 01 Jan 2019, 13:28

@20->Thanjavooran-> Not at all a bad idea. but AIR cannot accommodate so many concerts simultaneously.
Perhaps , they can.?..offer different channels.
---------------------------------------
@11-> Sachi Sir-> The student says..'Sir, I had it ordered to present it to you!'
---------------------------------------

SrinathK · Post by **SrinathK** » 02 Jan 2019, 14:42

@arasi Where is your poetry at a time like this?

nivedita · Post by **nivedita** » 02 Jan 2019, 16:35

No match to arasi-ji, but here I go anyway:

At a concert last evening,
as I watched the vocalists sing
heavenly music, much like nectar,
in walked a mama, wrapped in a muffler.

Seating himself in one of the middle rows,
pulled muffler over his ears so they closed.
Then, out came the star -- the hero -- of the night:
Mama's phone, shining, big and bright!

Promptly did Mama click a picture, nice and clear,
of the artists and the audience in front, their rear.
Then, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap:
Off went the photo to everyone on Whatsapp!

Happy Mama then proceeded to read, and re-read,
all the Whatsapp messages he had ever received.
His head never paused though, shaking itself,
as though to the music, left-right-left-right-left!

An hour later, Whatsapp all done,
he Googled the artists, one by one,
reading their bios, down to the footnote,
until it seemed, he'd learnt them by rote!

Next, he looked up their addresses on Google Maps,
zooming and zooming -- until he saw inside perhaps?!
Then, suddenly, out came Mama from under his rock:
Up went his head, he looked in wide-eyed shock!

The tani had begun -- what blasphemy!
Jumping up, eyes glinting with purpose, he,
like a proud trendsetter, surveyed the hall,
before stalking out, muffler, phone and all!

osmukundan · Post by **osmukundan** » 02 Jan 2019, 17:13

I guess the most ironical thing is the performers (when they sit as audience in other's concerts)use the phone for posting in social media.

shankarank · Post by **shankarank** » 06 Jan 2019, 11:41

From bashing the kutcheri format to aesthetics of a painting as a metaphor for music and then aesthetics of the extending a note in vaRNam, then the socio-political protest art with finally sound bytes like "Carnatic music is melody, tala and text", admitting taLA finally and then text which was immaterial for a while, we need to progress much further to explain this great art form to the phone fiddlers.

So I arrive at : Carnatic music, is unlimited Talk ( - be it organizers sometimes or audience chattering!) , unlimited text ( be it the copious texts from the past and still being output text of lyrics and songs , or unlimited texting by audience - who knows how many useful lyrics are hidden unexplored there!) and unlimited ringtones - yes that is the melody.

After all so much obsession with jingles as the first creation of music, and then perturbations causing gamakas to emerge, that ought to be the right way to know the music!

samavEda is same talk, same text as rigvEda except for new ringtones. Indian sangeetham is sAmA vEda sAram - i.e. newer and newer ringtones emerge and rAgA lakshanas keep changing.

HM and CM have just two different ringtones that's it!!

shankarank · Post by **shankarank** » 06 Jan 2019, 11:49

If you are still not convinced about the importance of ringtones , two great music directors from the south ( not sure of North) fought pitched battles of royalty with phone companies for using their songs as ringtones. High tech beggary , cents and paisa for each use , scaling up a rail station beggar musician who begs for coings and small denomination notes!

Or should we call it internet information highway robbery?

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 06 Jan 2019, 16:02

Absolutely the phone companies should pay up. Their customers do.

Thyagaraja, today, would probably have a big legal department. And... we wouldn't have free concerts

unlimited text

The expert speaks!

shankarank · Post by **shankarank** » 06 Jan 2019, 18:37

Yeah Nick , I left myself out , since self flattery is not a virtue. You did the honors!

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 06 Jan 2019, 19:31

Touche!

shankarank · Post by **shankarank** » 07 Jan 2019, 21:04

Now we should explore how important are the text and lyrics. We only need to look at how much of that royalty reached singers , lyricists until some recent amendments : https://www.thehindu.com/features/frida ... 956071.ece

They were all just employed by the director for the day and got paid. Thats it. Music exists somewhere in some exotic space, in some corner of the cerebral chamber of some creative genius!

Like the american football coach - may be the quarter back has some fleeting judgement, and the rest of the players are pawns!

Because lyrics is language, which is something else unconnected with music, appeals to the rational, sixth sense endowed humans , carries meaning , which all intelligent humans can make sense of and get empowered!

Even the singer who lends voice is after all an accompanist to the great creative music created by the creative genius , and the singer lends his appealing voice.

There is no concept of nAdA as sacred. The sound producer has no value , except may be the celebrity value provided by the fans.

Now we know where the idea of "lyrics" set to "music" comes from. Follow the loot to know the truth.

Let the phone fiddlers have merry, as the whole thing is treacherous to the very idea of Indian tradition and civilization. Let them burn it down!

The very idea of listening to what you like and enjoy is treacherous to this tradition. Unless you bow and prostrate before it, you don't belong here.

Just do one favor and fiddle the phones, get the ringtones and burn the whole thing down!

SrinathK · Post by **SrinathK** » 08 Jan 2019, 09:29

We missed you all music season sir.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 08 Jan 2019, 18:15

Niveditha,
Awsome lines! So, you are/were in chennai for the season! Hope your little one is growing up to be as good as you and yours

Srinath,
Just saw this thread. Thanks for asking. Niveditha took care of the verses, to please us all...:)Yet, here goes another...

Confessions of A complete Nerd ...

Turn the clock back to five years,
I can't--because I wouldn't know how--
That is, on my phone, cell phone that is...
Give me your cell number, they say--
I don't know, I say; imagine the looks
On the enquirer and those around!
A dinosaur come alive, a museum piece!

Nothing to do with age, one knows, of course--
Sheer idiocy, which I stubbornly own up to--
Women of my age in sabhas and elsewhere
Display their expertise, and I marvel--how
Did they learn the impossible, still an enigma
To this dimwit? Search me! However, here goes...

Fumble, fumble, in their bags, find it, fondle it
Stare at it, press urgently with vehemence,
Light up my surround, sometimes shout into--
Never mind, curtains still not up--so, intense
news bits of how so-and-so still hasn't come
Ah, I see the reserved seat with a bag on side
How the cook burnt the binDi, her matching blouse
Was missing, how this artiste bores her, but
Others think otherwise, and she wants to prove
To so-and-so and say, 'I told you so' --still
Where is she? Curtains up now! Switch off time--
But it rings now, as an accompaniment to that!

The woman who grimaces, has her turn now--
Ring, ring, ring! And all the glaring! Enough!
Music in the air now--but for one to a row filming--
How their hands would pain when they went home!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 08 Jan 2019, 18:35

Continued...

Late arrivals, knees bruised, worse, ouch, my foot!
Artistes, no better--unsound time--I mean SOUND time...
A mini round of notes sung, played--signals, mainly 'up, up!'
'NO FEED BACK'! That scares me, for it's the worst--more minutes!
Mind it not, meditate, is the thing, and it all subsides--no
A duo of ringing commences, not tunefully, of course--

Still, I have to admit--I listened to some memorable concerts,
My season was the shortest, but my soul got its share of bliss--
I hear of spas coming up for 'switching off the darned thing
And to get back to a sane way of life! Yes, overkill it has been--
This cave woman says, welcome back to a reasonable way of life

SrinathK · Post by **SrinathK** » 09 Jan 2019, 09:34

nivedita wrote: ↑02 Jan 2019, 16:35 No match to arasi-ji, but here I go anyway:

At a concert last evening,
as I watched the vocalists sing
heavenly music, much like nectar,
in walked a mama, wrapped in a muffler.

Seating himself in one of the middle rows,
pulled muffler over his ears so they closed.
Then, out came the star -- the hero -- of the night:
Mama's phone, shining, big and bright!

Promptly did Mama click a picture, nice and clear,
of the artists and the audience in front, their rear.
Then, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap:
Off went the photo to everyone on Whatsapp!

Happy Mama then proceeded to read, and re-read,
all the Whatsapp messages he had ever received.
His head never paused though, shaking itself,
as though to the music, left-right-left-right-left!

An hour later, Whatsapp all done,
he Googled the artists, one by one,
reading their bios, down to the footnote,
until it seemed, he'd learnt them by rote!

Next, he looked up their addresses on Google Maps,
zooming and zooming -- until he saw inside perhaps?!
Then, suddenly, out came Mama from under his rock:
Up went his head, he looked in wide-eyed shock!

The tani had begun -- what blasphemy!
Jumping up, eyes glinting with purpose, he,
like a proud trendsetter, surveyed the hall,
before stalking out, muffler, phone and all!

This must become a kriti or at least an RTP theme. <Claps>

kcn · Post by **kcn** » 09 Jan 2019, 23:01

I feel that this reluctance to move with times hurts, more than helps, carnatic music.

I would go to a concert to be entertained, I would not want to be policed or judged for what I wear to the concert, how I sit, where I look or what gadget I have. Smart phones are a part of life. Mindfulness is suffering due to use of smart phones in all aspects of life, not just concerts. We need to embrace that.

Keeping phone silent and not lighting up the screen when the ambiance is dark is basic courtesy, just like I would not start dancing in the middle of a concert or play a boom box. But in a well lighted room, I want to check the lyrics and someone stops me from doing it, I will stop going to concerts.

Now I am ready for the strong criticisms for this post

shankarank · Post by **shankarank** » 10 Jan 2019, 09:59

First lets just be clear about basics of Carnatic music. Should be heard - if that helps! pATTA patti pEsinAngaLam, paTTa paDikka vERa vENumAM! ata "lyrics"nu vEra sollranunga.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyrics - set to musicAA?

First stop using Greek and Latin origin words for special terms , when discussing Carnatic music. ( I have to make such a specific exception since I am writing in English - you see

- else Ni(tpi)ck H will start his posts). They are Greek and Latin to me.

You can go to the newly curated spaces where choruses are sung by choirs and refer to lyrics. They may distribute one ahead of time to save you trouble. They say that is not Western, but some new Indian music, but I am not sure. You can find out. You may also see the courtesy you expect there!

CRama · Post by **CRama** » 11 Jan 2019, 07:44

I am in a unique environment. Enjoying serious Carnatic concerts in Swathy sangeetholsavam in kuthiramalika Trivandrum.
I will be posting a detailed one later.
But here nobody keeps their head hooked to see the mobile when a serene kambodi or kanada is unfolded carefully by the musicians. Everybody remains part of the musical experience.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 11 Jan 2019, 09:30

Ken,
You would have noticed that both young Nivedita and geriatric me wrote the verses since Srinath asked for them, and more importantly, with a sense of humor and not at all with an intense resistance for all the marvelous innovations of today. Though, something which would never go out of fashion, we fervently hope, is a sense of humor. Even the smoothest and stupendous miracles of the modern world would have the semblance of a rusty machine, if not oiled with humor and sharing among us...

sureshvv · Post by **sureshvv** » 11 Jan 2019, 09:30

May be each sabha should have its own whatsapp group for rasikas to interact during concert time

SrinathK · Post by **SrinathK** » 11 Jan 2019, 09:55

Aiyyo! Why why why?!!

sureshvv · Post by **sureshvv** » 11 Jan 2019, 10:18

Interesting facts about the piece being performed can be shared.

PS: hmm.. may be not a full fledged whatsapp group.. but a broadcast group.